Deputy, the only pics I have of the install aren't digital. The car does rock though, very well balanced and one of the most fun cars I have ever driven. You are welcome to email me for any details you might like, John

 

Yeah, 996 engine does fit in 986.

Steven's Creek Porsche prices are a lot lower than Carlsen BTW. I do my own work so can't comment on workmanship. Their customer service seems to be good when talking to the service advisers on phone.

 

2600lbs???? Do you even have seats in that boxster.

Most conversions I have seen still checkin around 2900-3000lbs when stripped down. The 3.4 and 3.6 weigh more than the 2.5 or 2.7L. Also more detail, do you have the 996 6 speed flipped around or did you keep the 5 speed. I understand the 5 speed conversions are actually faster 0-60 due to shift points/gearing, but doesn't pull as well as a 6 speed conversion over 100mph.

As for responses... Remember this board sees a lot of traffic, and being so specific to a certain area if someone from the bay area was not on the board before the message got pushed to another page by new posting, it could be hit or miss if you get an answer, this is true of many boards and why people cross post all the time just in-case). For example I have been traveling again and didn't have much time to board browse this week till now.

FYI: I am not from the bay area, so the only shop I know is Akkurat(I was just there visiting, and they have many "worked" porsches) and the guys seem pretty cool.

 

Djant. I am acutually looking more for performance shop than dealer service kind of shop, but thanks. I have been into Sonnen as it is much closer.

Cory, my car is a very low miles 97 as the year was lighter than the rest. I do have gt3 seats which are another big part of the weight savings. Do you know how much more the 3.4 weighs than the 2.7? I do still have the 5 sp. and for most of my driving the gearing is perfect. I live in coastal mountains and there are lots of empty roads to carve and the 5sp has a very long 3rd gear that covers almost all my needs. I don't find myself over 100 very often except at the track. I love to go fast, but too many bad things can happen at triple digits for my taste.
I have been told opposite things by two shops concerning the gear box and more power. One shop said the 5 and 6 sp boxes are virtually the same, another said the 6sp is stonger and necessary for turbo kind of power. Do you know?
I can't ever seem to get a person at Akkurat, onlly messages and so far, they have not returned my call, maybe next week. Thanks

 

they put snow tires on $120k cars, you tell me

 

What does this mean??

 

Riverflyer,

I think the 3.4/3.6 is about 150-200lbs more than the 2.5L. Also when you put on a boxster intake due to space restrictions, the engine breathes a little worse than the 996, so expect a stock 3.4 to make about 280-290hp and a stock 3.6 to make about 300-310hp. Of course you can do a lot to the engine to increase that.

So your switch to GT3 seats should make up about 1/2 to 1/3 the weight increase of the engine, but you should have 80hp more, which makes a huge difference.

The biggest weight savings people do with boxsters(who race them only, no street cars), is to remove the top and motors, also they put on carbon fiber body parts(i.e. hood, doors, trunk) and remove the factory exhause which is heavy. These are the only 2600lb 3.4/3.6L boxsters I have ever seen.

As for your the stock 5 speed, it should be able to handle the power(it's a VW unit, but may not last 200k miles with the higher power), but you may require a better clutch setup since I'm not sure it won't break under increased load.

Cheers,
Corey

 

Hey Corey, thanks for the great response. I don't have any scales here, but am hoping next trip "out" to find some. The unladen weight for a 97 in 2740lbs. The gt3 seats same another 92 lbs and the hi flo cats almost 20. I am running Fikse wheels that save another 3.5 per corner(if I remember correctly). The TTP headers are I believe lighter than stock also but probably minimal. I did not realize the 3.4 was so much heavier, so you are correct if that is the case and the car probably weighs in the mid to high 2700lb range. STill the lightest car I have ever owned. I have a broken arm on the top assembly so have disconnected the power mechanism and just raise it by hand, maybe I should just take the motor(s) out to save the weight.

 

If your into saving weight for performance, yep take the top motor out. Also look into a carbon fiber hood and rear deck, then start saving for carbon fiber doors and fenders($$$). You should be able to get that puppy down to around 2500lbs or less if you also remove the undercoating and sound insulation in addition to the carbon fiber stuff.

Also remove any non-essentials like the AC unit and stereo with speakers if you are really into that kind of thing, but I personally wouldn't go that far.

I also didn't see it mentioned, which engine do you have the 3.4 or the 3.6L.

Also have you concidered doing some engine mods also?

 

Oh one more thing, on the 97 you may wish to save some money aside for suspension upgrades, as the 98 and up cars had their suspensions re-inforced for larger wheels. I would also concider both a front and rear strut brace for a 97 also for similar reasons as the chassis is not as re-enforced as the 98 and up models.

 

Corey, once again, thanks for the helpful response. This thread started because I was trying to get perf. shop advice and was not getting any response, though I know pcar owners are really into modding their cars. Anyway, I have worked out some advice with various owners and am sorting through the advice I have been given. I have a 3.4 done by Autosport Engineering. They are in Mass. and I am in N. Cal so looking for a closer shop to do some mods. I have intake, headers, ecu upgrade, Bilsteins, Eibach and agree about the strut braces. Any advice on brands?
HOw about sway bars, any beefier set up readily available.
I am going to do all the reccommended susp imrovements when the engine work is being done. Currently, I think turbocharging is going to be the best bang for the $. I will lose some space in the rear trunk for intercoolers but it will be well worth it.

 

Riverflyer,

Sounds like you have a good start with engine upgrades. Personally I would skip the turbo chargers and concider spending the money on aerodynamic mods(such as a wide body kit) as there is a point when too much horsepower will be too much for the chassis. As for suspension upgrades, you may be able to retrofit some of the GT3 components such as the adjustible swaybars. Also you may want to upgrade brakes to some of the beefier brembo kits, which will also require bigger rims. Then again I just love spending other people's money...

Good luck and post some pics, I'd love to see what your baby looks like...

 

I'll tell you one observation I have made about other Porsche owners in the NY area (I'm originally from the south central US). It seems whenever I see a upper-line Porsche(turbo,gt2.gt3 etc), the driver will not respond to you in any way. I pull up next to a guy in a gt2, "Nice car", the dude totally ignores me. I guess my C4S has to break the 100k border first. But if I do the same thing with a C2, a totally different response. I've never figured that one out.
Maybe it's just me, or a NY thing, off my soapbox now.

 

Really, I'm origionally from LongIsland and I don't get that.

I've pulled up next to ferrari's and others in my C2 and even when I had my boxster and there was nothing but mutual admiration. Actually more so with the boxster... The only time I ever get that totally ignoring attitude is with Cayenne's.

Long live the "flash" and the "wave"....

 

I'm probably reading too much into it, just ignore me.