Macster

Generally one is better off fixing the car's existing engine. Whether to do this of course must take into account the suitability of the engine's current condition before spending no little amount of money on the engine.

I'm not up on the single sleeve replacement solution but if one sleeve can be replaced then if (important if!) the engine is basically sound and the one sick cylinder sleeved returns the engine to rosy good health that's probably the best course of action. The car remains unmodified.

If the engine's too sick to attempt to resurrect then sourcing an engine from a similar MY car is the next best thing, I guess.

Beyond the two choices above...

The BS engine option only works if you can raise the car high enough to attach a blade enclosure and blade with adjustable cutting height. Porsche used to make tractors. A Porsche lawnmower could be just the ticket. Mod the engine controller so the spoiler raises at 5mph!

Sincerely,

Macster.

tcsracing1

Resale?

You wouldnt even get your money back on the parts to do the swap let alone labour.

The car is worth more now as is than with LS1.

You best bet is to find a used engine and install it. Plug and go.
If you decide to re sleeve the block by taking motor out and putting it back in it maybe as much to just install another 996 running engine.
Good time to do the clutch as well.

The resale on a 996 is not great and a V8 swap only confirms it as a lawn orniment for life with a for sale sign in the window.

With a used 996 engine at least you trade it in or sell it for a little under market value.

I dont even want to explain the ABC's of wiring, gauges, fuel presure, suspension and balance issues.

Cheaper to throw the keys in and walk away than swap.

Find used engine, install and sell the car for a 996 turbo.

Same money out of pocket at end of the day if you find the right motor and car.

ttreat

The LS swap is not a new idea and Nitro wouldn't be the first to do this. As for market, somebody has already determined to do this.

Check out this website: http://www.renegadehybrids.com/

Many previous posters do represent the typical Porsche owner by not wanting anything but Porsche parts. However, I would consider myself a car enthusiast before a Porsche purist. If my engine were to go, I would have to think long and hard about not doing the V-8 swap.
Basically you would have an engine with the torque of the turbo with much less maintenance.

IMHO since the prices of 996s have dropped to affordable levels for many car "enthusiasts" many elitists are not too happy.

tcsracing1

I own 2 1998+ LS1 F-Body cars. I swaped one of them in a 1967 F-body.

Alot of fun and alot of work.

To install it a perfectly good 996 body is a waste of both a LS1 and porsche.

A porsche powered 996 is actually more reliable than a LS powered 996.

Fabrication and trial/error are not good combination for reliabilty however Renegade do have alot of issues solved. But at a price.

Money better spent reverting to stock and selling it for a LS1 camaro.

Macster

Having someone put a V8 in a 996 doesn't threaten me or offend my sense of purity of the brand/model.

And while 996 car prices have dropped that didn't factor into my comments either.

A car is a car and the owner can do with the car as he sees fit.

And the value of a car, even a 996 even a Turbo, goes does as time and miles accumulate, whether a 996 with a V8 is produced or not.

I've seen a number of cars with the factory engine swapped and while a few cars have been outstanding most have been, pardon the expression, crap. But if the OP can do a good job then that's one less thing to worry about. But it does make selling the car harder.

Generally I believe a prospective buyer would want to pay less for such a car in order to mitigate his risk that the car is, well like I said above, crap.

IOWs, I think a car with some engine swap like the OP's thinking of doing parallels that of a car that has some major body/paint work or a lot of mods.

The job of determining the condition of the car just got a lot harder. Not many prospective Porsche buyers are able or want to try to tackle determining such a car's condition. In fact I dare say no one really wanting a Porsche would consider such a car.

Now one might see the car and be swept off his feet and have a change of heart and give up the idea of owning a 'pure' Porsche and instead seriously consider this car. But this kind of buyer is not a Porsche fan but more a gear/engine head or just a car nut. (Hey, we all are to some extent.)

Anyhow, the market then for such a car is not with the Porsche market, per se, but a market that consists of a gear/engine head or a car nut, someone who values that sort of car that sort of swap.

Thus while the OP might not find anyone really interested in such a car here there are I'm sure other sites (though I'm not aware of any but I don't get out much) where such a car, even the idea of such a car, might produce a flurry of real interest in owning such a car. But ask for a non-refundable deposit just to judge the level of real interest.

As I think I posted earlier it is the OP's time and money.

Sincerely,

Macster.

nick49

Realistically I think the car with a very professional job and a V8 conversion may fetch a bit more than a 996 without a motor and quite a bit less than the same 996 with a Porsche motor. Either way I think it would be difficult to sell. I've seen several Jag/Chevy conversions and they seem worth less than the same year stock Camaro and about the same as a Jag without the motor.

If your looking at dollars recovered after the conversion, I think your best bet would be to remove the Chevy motor and sell it. Sell the conversion pieces and the Porsche without the motor. I think you'd see the most cash by doing this.

I'm basing this on being in the industry full time since the '70s. Interesting projects are just that. There is little if any way to recoup your investment in projects such as this.

Dharn55

Well here is another perspective on V8's in a 911, and I bet most everyone who has commented on this subject would die for one of these!

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/03/g...8-porsche-911/

Wellardmac

Good point, but I would take a Ruf engine over GM any day, considering that Ruf really know how to design cars and the engines are designed and built by them for their cars.

logray

Good read Doug, and I agree I would want a custom V8 with those kind of specs hands down over a stock or donor engine anytime...

logray

Where are you getting these outrageously low repair costs from?

option 1: you would seriously consider completely tearing down the engine and just replacing the one sleeve (assuming you have access to the $100k's worth of machines to do this with) on that one cylinder/piston and then re-use all of the other existing used parts during tear down?

option 2: just curious, what would you spend the remaining $1700 on after you've spent $4100 on the LNE nikies option?

option 3: If you can do this for only $100, you must own a junkyard and be pretty damn good welder at the same time.

Sue Esponte

If you care about resale then this is not the route you want to take. Sure, you'll find a buyer eventually but there is no market value out there for it. It's only worth what a possible one-off buyer might pay for a car that will largely be perceived as a bastard to most Porschephiles.

What would someone pay for a 'Vette with an engine out of a GTR? I'm not sure but I am pretty sure it wouldn't find it's top bidder from your typical 'Vette owner.

-Eric

P.S. it doesn't offend me either and I even said in a separate post that I'd love to see it...but I'd never buy it.

SSST

If you want to do the swap just to see what happens and because you want to, then that's fine. What it will be worth depends on how it works out and whether you can find a buyer that likes what you did.

I wouldn't go into it assuming you can get your money back however. That might happen, but probably not.

NZ951

You will double your money with a V8 in it, do it and let us know how you get on. Talk later.

dotframe

UNF

Pac996

Darn Dharn this explains why they went out of business