Man Details What He Spent on Porsche 996 LS V-8 Swap

The Problem

Let's say you just happen to have a 911 with a blown engine (or you found a super-cheap one online). You've heard a lot about amazing 911-to-LS swaps, and you figure that 911 in hand, the best way to do the swap on a budget is to buy complete assemblies and then pay someone to perform almost all of the work for you. If this sounds like you, you're, surprisingly, not alone—Car Trader's Tyler Hoover found himself in a similar boat after grenading the engine in his 1999 Porsche 911 at a track day. Granted, the engine in his 248,000 mile 996 series 911—a car he literally tagged "Apollo 911" because it had traveled the distance to the moon and back—wasn't going to live forever, especially on the track. His initial post optimistically proclaimed "I'm also sure it's a worthwhile project, as the total cost of the engine and conversion kit was a little over $10,000—which also happens to be the cost of a thorough [Porsche] engine rebuild."  Also, "More importantly, a few good conversions have sold in recent years—and they fetched thousands more than a comparable stock example due to their improved reliability and engine performance. So if I ever sell Apollo 911, I'd likely recoup more of my investment with an LS swap than I would if I opted for a traditional rebuild." But with the swap completed he confessed, "fixing what once was the cheapest Porsche 911 in the USA has cost way more than I ever expected."

>>Join the conversation about the Hoovies Garage and his LS2 996 right here on LS1Tech.

The Engine

Tyler was told to source an LS2 or LS3 for the swap because, having both aluminum blocks and heads, they weigh nearly the same as the Porsche's original flat-six engine. As instructed, Tyler found an LS2 complete with its computer, wiring harness, throttle controls, and accessories intact—out of a totaled 2006 Corvette with 60,000 miles on the clock—and shipped it to his mechanic's for a total of $4,750.

>>Join the conversation about the Hoovies Garage and his LS2 996 right here on LS1Tech.

The Kit

Enthusiastic, pre-swap Tyler offered, "I know what you're thinking: Figuring out how to fit a V-8 in the same space as a flat 6 will be a nightmare—and it'll be ridiculously expensive to custom-fabricate all the bits to make it work. Fortunately, a Las Vegas-based company named Renegade Hybrids has it all figured out." Tyler was willing to pay Renegade $7,322.00 for all of that figuring, and for the transmission adapter, engine mounts, and "several other bits," including air conditioning, power steering from a Toyota Prius, and a water pump. It was the priciest part of the project, but Tyler expected it to be worth the expense "to make the 996 chassis seamlessly accept an American heart transplant."

>>Join the conversation about the Hoovies Garage and his LS2 996 right here on LS1Tech.

The Surprises

Anyone who's ever done an engine swap, at least one using an engine from one manufacturer and a chassis from another, can probably see where this is headed. Having spent more on the kit and engine than he paid for the 996 in the first place, Tyler was expecting clear sailing. After a two-month wait for the kit to arrive, he and his mechanic were shocked to find that it wasn't as complete as they had hoped, and his mechanic "was further shocked by the lack of instructions." Though Tyler had to spend $3,867 more on parts to complete the swap, he was able to sell the 996's exploded flat-six for $1,500, somewhat defraying the cost. While his Car Trader post takes a more polite tone, his video—during which, taking a page from the Matt Farah playbook, viewers are unable to see his eyes due to the fact that he's wearing sunglasses the whole time—is less circumspect. After mentioning that “the Corvette wiring harness and computer were going to take an enormous amount of time to figure out, so I had to source a much simpler aftermarket set-up,” and that he could have saved $500 if he had known that, he notes that he was relegated to having to manually flick a switch "in the main cabin" to turn the A/C on, whereupon he makes a face and sings, "Go Wizard, go go go!"

>>Join the conversation about the Hoovies Garage and his LS2 996 right here on LS1Tech.

The Total

Maybe he shouldn't have been too hard on his mechanic, because apparently his guy gives a discounted labor rate if you help and he, "generously figured my help with the swap earned a $1,260 discount in the labor charges." All told, Tyler's labor bill came to $3,864 for 85 hours of work, bringing the grand total for the project to $17,043, an amount he says was "enough to buy me nice Corvette C5 Z06," and adds, "If you combine it with what I've invested in the 911 since I purchased it over a year ago, I could have bought a nice 996-chassis 911 Turbo. On paper, this makes me look like a lunatic, or a total idiot—or both." Knowing what he knows now, would he do it again? In Tyler's words, "after the driving the finished project, I don't have an ounce of regret." Let's just hope he services the LS2 before it gets to 248,000 miles. Transplants are nice but they go down easier when they preserve a life, not replace one.

>>Join the conversation about the Hoovies Garage and his LS2 996 right here on LS1Tech.

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