UberXY

About a year ago, I bought a 99 996 that had been built as a GT3 cosmetic clone by Champion in FL when new (no 99 US GT3s at the time...). I didn't buy it because it was a clone; I bought it because it had 8k miles and is a nice car.

The opportunity has arisen to buy a 2003 GT3 engine, ECU, and gearbox with 4k miles on them. Would putting this engine in my 99 be a complete nightmare? My biggest fear is plug incompatibility between the harnesses and ECU, a problem which would be time/$ consuming, or even a potential show stopper.

I say this in light of a conversation I had with someone recently who built a 997 race car, and said the wiring/sensors/computer problems were totally baffling, and some very strange things happened - Porsche looked at the car in Daytona and said they were surprised he could even get the engine to start..

Any thoughts?

Steve

Moogle

it would be cheaper and less of a headache in the long run to just buy a real GT3.

1999Porsche911

You would have to have the GT3 Computer and new harness. I am sure it could be done, but what are you looking for out of the new engine that you can't get out of the current 3.4? A blower on your 996 would give you more performance than the GT3 engine will and at probably 25% of the cost of buying and installing the GT3 engine.

I am sure that there are numerous other electric connection you will have to resolve with the new computer that you car does not have now. Don't forget that the GT3 engine will be egas and not drive by cable.

graham_mitchell

I agree with Moogle, for several reasons

Holger B

And have better resale value & liquidity.

Mikey

GT3 is built around the C4 chassis, so I don't think the C2 chassis can handle the torque/power.

Moogle

i think the reason is the better overall rigidity.

1999Porsche911

Body flex on the C2 no more than the GT3. I have both. A 1999 C2 can handle substantially more power than the GT3 engine has.

Holger B

Then why does Porsche use the C4 chassis? Certainly not any cheaper.

WULF

The C2 body(and the C4)is spot welded while the GT3 is seam welded. From an engineering perspective the GT3 body should have less flex.

Moogle

the C4 chassis definitely has higher structural rigidity than the C2.

you may not be able to feel it, but it is.

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

Thats the heart of the issue; the electrical systems are TOTALLY different in every respect and you would need a new car harness at the very least to make this conversion so the engine will run as well as remain OBD-II compliant.

Its really expensive and simply not practical as all you'd wind up with is a "Frankenstein".,............

Cupcar#12

Steve is dead on here - you would need to replace all engine related wiring harness, gauge pod, CPU, etc. along with the mechanical bits.
Not proactical unless you have the entire doner car to pull from.
I looked into it as well for a time - cheaper in the short run to trade for a used GT-3 once parts and expected labor are added up

MetalSolid

Buy the engine, then sell it at a profit, but I wouldn't invest anymore into the GT3 clone. How much you want for the engine, I'll buy it?

earlyapex

Why would you want a GT3 engine when you would be stuck with a C2 suspension? Buy a supercharger or a GT3.