D.I.Y. 996TT Redneck Engine Build Thread.
 

Going back to a few years ago I managed to blow up my car. We think it was a hydrolock situation and it destroyed my motor. I think it was a combination of bad gas and boost creep in cold weather that detonated and lifted my heads resulting in a hydrolock. You can see that thread here: https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...otor-pics.html Anyways, I got into riding motorcycles a bit and left my car on jackstands in the garage for a few years while I debated what to do about it. I didn't want to wait this long but I got busy with a few career projects and such. I was planning on getting a pull out motor but after taking my engine apart in my garage I decided that I wanted a built motor and that I could find parts online and build it myself (against much of the advice given here! Sorry BLKMGK :D ). I have quite a bit of experience building motors. I have built a few hot ATV motors, a CBR600F4 motor, and a nice Oldsmobile 455 motor with a friend. I began collecting parts last summer. I got a set of cases from Specialized German dismantler. Prodigymb hooked me up with a set of 997 pistons, liners, stock oil pump, and 997 lifters from his build which were removed with 20k miles on them. CRR hooked me up with a crank and some Pauter rods from his old 996GT2 with less than 10k on them. I got a BBI underdrive pulley from BlackHorseTurbo. Sean at Silly Rabbit drilled and tapped my cases for 12mm ARP studs. I was also able to squeeze some helpful advice out of Sean after loitering around his shop for around 5 hours (I won't reveal his engine building secrets though :D ). I plan to use Sean's Cometic head gasket. I am using the old IMS and heads/cams/housings from my old engine with about 58k on them. I am lightly porting the heads myself and am getting the valves all cleaned up and sealed well. I have new timing chains also. I plan to just go back to my old setup with K24 billet turbos running 1.2 bar and run a bigger setup in the future. I was fine with what I had earlier and I am running out of $$! Yes I am doing this inside my house as it is the cleanest place I have. I am waiting on some new rod bolts but I will post up and update my progress. I spent a lot of time measuring and having things magnafluxed to make sure my parts are good. Feel free to comment with any advice or criticism. I assembled the crankcase already with plastigage to double check clearances and it all looks good, so here we go:

looks great! let me know if i can help in any way.

This man is single. lol

Which 12mm are you going with? Fingers crossed for you!

They are ARP. Sean has a few cars running around with them and they are working great. To simplify here is my parts list:

2003 996TT cases
stock crank, balanced, micropolished
Pauter rods
997TT pistons and liners
ARP 12mm studs
Glyco stock bearings
Lightly ported brnrdtns special order 20 hours with a dye grinder DIY heads
Cometic head gasket
997 lifters
Gasket kit from EBS racing
BBI underdrive pulley
k24 billet turbos from Blouch
inlet pipes
custom 3 inch exhaust
60lb injectors
Protomotive tune
Spec stage 2+ clutch with GT2 conversion
welded coolant fittings

I like to tell people that I skipped my first marriage. :D

This looks like fun!

Lmao, or at least soon to be single.. hilarious...Anyway, OP looking great!! You will have a beast when done!!

Would love to live not far and give you a hand..... Beautiful job!!!!!

Awesome man! I build the engine on my 350Z myself (just outsourced drilling for bigger headstuds). It was my first engine build ever and ran strong from 2007 until I sold it last year. It's been flawless for the new owner as far as I know too!

I predict nothing but success for you. ;)

The great thing about building it yourself is you will take the time to make sure everything is perfect when a shop that turns out engine builds daily might not.

Lol or is about to be

The Porsche motor is pretty difficult to build because its oil gallery system is complex and has a ton of seals in it that you can not damage or they will leak and probably result in a spun bearing. There are a lot of ways to die. I would be nervous about the head sealing procedure if I were using 10mm studs, but with the 12's I am comfortable with it. I plan to have EBS Racing down in Reno set my cams for me and I should be good to go.

Taking on this project is impressive. I'm very handy with a set of tools and would be afraid to try it. I hope it works out well for you. Keep us posted.

Sounds like a blast. Nissan's VQ was no cakewalk either.

I hope it works out for you. Might inspire me to do the same eventually.

Found a nice video for assembling the bottom end. I'm going to buy it. http://pfixit.com/crankcase.html