One of the sickest swaps...EVER.

 

The 996 Turbo/gt3 is a widebody car, I wonder if the engine compartment is the same size in the 996 2/4 narrowbody.

 

Well after I read through your thread, you got my attention - bought a 996 minus engine and trans today for 4k! Can't wait to get started.

I've done a few turbo'd ls1 first gen camaros and was looking for the next project that would be a little different. This will definitely fit the bill.

Looking forward to seeing more progress on yours.

 

bone crusher , from what i've read , these transaxles (stock) live happily behind 700 to 800 hp porsche engines , so it should not have any issues whith this engine ( well mybe the torque could be an issue ) but for what i want, i don't think i'll have any problems .

thanks zone!

rodgerdoger, i think the engine compartment should be the same on all models , the difference is in the fenders ( they got intercoolers stuffed in there )
i can measure the compartment for you if you want.

Brianjw4 , i salute you ! ( and i envy you too for the deal you got ! )
how can i help

on to the project :
sorry for the lack of updates , just been busy with other stuff and just found out that the racing season here will kick off in about two weeks ! ( great job BIC for telling us that just now )

For some reason , routing the coolant hoses is kicking my butt! i don't want to do a hack job on it and just run some flexi hose deal , i'm trying to make it look decent and somewhat OEMish , which doesn't seem to be easy !

so , there are two sides to deal with regarding the cooling system hoses in the engine compartment ; pass. and driver sides.

on the driver side , you have the two heater hoses ( still waiting on the stupid metal hoses - the first time the mail service i used lost them , and now i''m still waiting for the replacements) , main porsche coolant line , T from the main coolant line to the expansion tank, and the "L" to the waterpump outlet.

on the passenger side , you have the porsche main return line , the funky stainless hose i made , and the thermostat housing .

on the driver side - after many a head scratch and visits to parts stores , and countless $$$ spent on some really weired looking hoses - i decided to do the following :

from the main porsche hose use a rubber coupling to the funky tube i built , then run a 90 deg rubber elbow into the "new" thermo housing . why a new housing ??? cause the freaking angle and size of the orginal one was giving me a hard time , so it was just easier to go to a machine shop and tell them to make me a straight up housing with a 1-3/4 neck.

here's how the 1-3/4 stainless hose looks like :



and how it looks in the car :



it terminates just before the thermostate housing location , so now all i need is 90 deg 1-3/4 elbow and i'm set ( sorry no pics of the housing or the end result yet)

as for the driver side ,,,,, it gets a bit more complicated ,,,, so to solve this i decided to use a few rubber hoses as possible . i fount a small plastic coupler that has a nipple so i can conncet the main line to the expansion tank , and from that plastic paice i'll run a stainless hose along the engine compartment wall to the water pump outlet. kinda like this :



but then i realized the just where the bend is is the air intake tube hole , so the hose can't run there . so the solution was a few 90 deg. bends to snake around the engine mount bolts and then back to the rear engine compartment wall. this is how the other "funky" looking stainless tube looks like : (trust me the welds look much prettier in person )



this inturn will lead to the other stainless hose ( i'll make these all one peice later on ) i made which is the water pump outlet hose.

for that hose to work it had to clear the engine cover latch ,,,, wich means more elbows!

well since it will take quite a few words to explain , i'll spare you the novel and snap a few pics soon

moving on ,,, i also got the inner fenders in a few days ago and bolted them on and i also got the AC pump fitting in , so i can start routing the AC hoses now
and i machined a fitting/adapter to mate the stock porsche oil pressure sender to the side of the remote oil pump mount .

and i ordered a CTSV powersteering pump setup so i can finally be done with the steering and its hoses . also ordered was an ATI| balancer and a starter to alternator to main harness cable ( oem porsche ) , those should be here in a week or so .

another cool thing i found out is that i don't need a boost guage
i always wondered why i could not find any aftermarket boost guages for this thing,,, and found it odd that there isn't one on there . well it turns out there is one and its a digital one on the dash information panel ( saw it in action last week on another porsche )

i'm still working on the ALT. and A/C heat shields , and also started to work on the upper heatshields ( kinda isolates the coils and other stuff from the headers).


i know its alot of talk for not so much progress , but i will make it up to you guys

as soon as i'm done with this coolant crap , i'll slap on the harness and intake, connect the fuel lines, and maybe take the car off the lift and start working on the interior for a change .

( and no ,,,, i still didn't work on the engine compartment harness )

 

1dirtyZ,

I had a very similar situation with my Porsche 914/LS1 coolant tubes; you're right, it takes a lot of time to get things to fit up right. Those look like stainless mandrel bends. I made a bead roller to bead the ends of my stainless tubing; how are you going to configure your ends so that the hoses don't slip off? Here's the beading tool and the result. Wish I had photos of the tube routing and the various bends. Let me know if you're interested, and I can try and shoot some more photos.

Andy1

 

Hey andy ,

where did you get that tool from ?
and check your pm's

i have a special technique i have been using for ages on any tubes, i've used it on intercooler tubes and coolant tubes as well ; i use a vise grip plier and bend about an 1/8th of an inch of the lip of the tube in three locations on the tube end ( spaced 120 deg appart) . sure it is a pain to get the hose on the tube in some cases , but after you place a clamp behind the three bends its almost impossible to slip the hose off

i like to call it : good enough engineering

 

i think i managed to hit a small milestone last night ;

the car is off the lift and rolling at its own free will



funny thing is like all ls1 conversions ,,,, i need to lower this one as well
check the fender gap in the rear !



and i just noticed something while i was pushing the car into place , the damn thing is light! so light that i had no problem steering it with one hand while pushing it and while at a standstill. this is causing me to possibly rethink my powersteering plans

i also almost finished the driver side coolant tube , its now all stainless with just a few sections of rubber for when the engine vibrates:



here it is before welding it :



you can see how i had to cut back the outlet tube on the water pump a bit to give me more room . i also got the thermostat housing from the machine shop , i had them make me a straight outlet that is 1-3/4 OD to make life easier for me : all i have to do is get a a 90 deg. elbow that is 1-3/4" od and be done with
offcousre after all is done and finished i'll be taking everything to the powdercoaters to get a nice coating of black or silver maybe.

here is how the new thermostat housing looks like :



but there's only one problem : the neck is too long , so i'll be taking it back and shortening it along with the porsche oil pressure sensor adapter that i made ( taking it back cause i told them to machine the threads on the wrong end )
the sensor will be located out of the way on the side of the remote oil filter.

and i finally got the alternator to starter cable done now i have to get a block grounding cable fabbed up and i'll be happy

so now that the car is on the ground, i can take a brake from working under it and focus on the top part , some of the things i'm planning on doing now :

- install intake manifold and throttle body
- plug original oil sensor hole
- get some waterpump bolts and permanently mount that thing
- hook up fuel lines
- modify then lay the ls1 harness in place
- get a throttle cable made
- remove the existing under dash brace ( need to do so so i can swap to a clutch pedal)
- figure out where to mount the PCM

that should keep me busy for a while till i get some under car parts in ( like the balancer and heater hoses )

 

Cannot wait for some results on that thing.

 

As the koreans would say... NICE UH!

 

Subscribed!

 

i can't wait till i put that thing on a scale and see how much it weighs!

 

stop typing and get wrenching dude lol

 

2600#-2800# is my guess.

 

Mr. 1 dirty Z, I have nothing to say, but........ Damm, thats a cool car you have there, I could only imagine the day it rolls out. Im not considering it or anything (money isnt that long), but thats the coolest thing Ive seen. Just stopping to say hello and congradulations on your project. I dont know anything about Porsches, but I just realized in that pic. your car is all wheel drive..... Im going to bed now.... lol.

 

looool thanks guys ! i really appreciate the kind words.

and trust me i'm trying to work as much as i can on that thing , but i'm taking my time so the end product comes out real good

you also have to consider that that thing is located in my garage , which is 30 miles out of town , and i also work on my camaro and mustang ( camaro is in peices and we have a race coming up in 2 weeks ),,,,, which remeinds me : time to update the camaro thread

 

damn. alot of toys. lol. any links to your other threads?

 

This is a great build, good work so far!

 

here's a link to the camaro , i think the last update was around noah's flood
(i'll update it tommorow )

https://ls1tech.com/forums/forced-in...r-427-etc.html

and the heap :

https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...version-d.html

 

Very COOL Swap!!!

 

Looking good, if the 3.4 ever blows in my 996. I'm going to do this exactly!