[phatelementms]

It’s been a long time since I’ve been on the forums. I got into tracking my car a few years ago and started sliding down a slippery slope of beating this car up, anddd then the motor blew up on track!

That basically put me out of the Porsche scene for the last two years. But after sourcing all the parts and doing all the machining work, the car is going to be ready for startup by possibly this weekend.

This won’t be just an average 3.8 swap, I really pulled out all the stops on this one including going high compression, porting the head and doing a valve job, all forged parts offered down to a oil pump hex key, special coatings, etc. Hopefully we will see what this motor is really capable of.

if you guys would like to see everything in detail and follow along with the build, this is the YouTube video I made for it! You can also see what happened inside the car when it let go on one of the other videos.
Wish me luck!
3.4 to 3.8L Build Video

It’ll be good to be back!

 

[GT3Twenty10]

Ahha-yes.. I remember that motor pop video… 3.8’s are pretty cool in the 987… good luck! Any idea on full cost would be good info since many will experience this eventually 😩

what was the cause of the blown 3.4? Cooked
Cylinder walls from the garbage coolant system? Bore chunked?

 

[phatelementms]

Ahha-yes.. I remember that motor pop video… 3.8’s are pretty cool in the 987… good luck! Any idea on full cost would be good info since many will experience this eventually 😩

what was the cause of the blown 3.4? Cooked
Cylinder walls from the garbage coolant system? Bore chunked?

I’ll make that video soon once I get the car back! It was a spun rod bearing, luckily it wasn’t major where it destroyed the crank, that would add another 2-4k to the bill or possibly have to replace parts of the block!

 

[GLTHFJ60]

So you're building a cayman M97 into a 3.8l or moving to one of the later 3.8l blocks?

 

[GT3Twenty10]

I believe building his existing block… although I’d find a 991 CS motor instead

 

[phatelementms]

So you're building a cayman M97 into a 3.8l or moving to one of the later 3.8l blocks?

you are correct! I had my stock 3.4L bored out. I think swapping in a 991 3.8 would require a lot more than just building a motor. Such as all the wiring and ecu To run the dfi motor

 

[GT3Twenty10]

Not as hard as ya think… it’s been done a lot,
Non the less it won’t be cheap… you should doc you build on the tube…

 

[phatelementms]

Not as hard as ya think… it’s been done a lot,
Non the less it won’t be cheap… you should doc you build on the tube…

Oo ya, def! I documented what parts have got I to the motor build in the YouTube link on the original post! There’s also other videos about how the motor blew on my other videos on the channel.

https://youtube.com/@phatmanrx7

I’ll be documenting the other parts of this build such as the initial start up and getting the car Dyno tuned to see how much power it really makes

 

[GT3Twenty10]

Any idea on cost? It seems to have really gone up

 

[phatelementms]

It has gone up a lot. Between the time I blew the motor and actually purchasing the connecting rods from LN engineeeing. Which were back ordered for almost a year. The price jumped from like 900 to 1200. However I did find ways to purchase things for a cheaper rate. Like if you take all the part numbers needed for the timing chain and paddles, and shopping on gaudinporsche Las Vegas, you can actually drop the price of the timing parts from 1100 to like 800!

 

[phatelementms]

Any idea on cost? It seems to have really gone up

I’ll have to make another video on total price alone. I did spend about 7,000 in machining alone.

 

[GT3Twenty10]

I’ll have to make another video on total price alone. I did spend about 7,000 in machining alone.

Ya it does not take long…. Dang that’s a big increase… so parts are still on back order? That’s nuts

 

[phatelementms]

they are back in stock now I believe.

ill make a total cost video breakdown once I finally get the car home. I spent a whole year just collecting parts and waiting for discount codes or deals from some sites.


We also fired up the car for the first time this weekend. But it’s too loud. I gotta put some mufflers on. I will be editing that video for this weekend! it is alive tho!

 

[GT3Twenty10]

they are back in stock now I believe.

ill make a total cost video breakdown once I finally get the car home. I spent a whole year just collecting parts and waiting for discount codes or deals from some sites.


We also fired up the car for the first time this weekend. But it’s too loud. I gotta put some mufflers on. I will be editing that video for this weekend! it is alive tho!
View attachment 287057

Looks real good.. forgot it was wide body.. besides that are cars share a lot of details

 

[phatelementms]

Looks real good.. forgot it was wide body.. besides that are cars share a lot of details

Do u still have the 3.8 RS. I wanna see haha

 

[GT3Twenty10]

Do u still have the 3.8 RS. I wanna see haha

It’s not an RS… just a modded S haha

 

[phatelementms]

It’s not an RS… just a modded S haha

Looks sexy!
I designed a rear diffuser for my car too! But requires cutting the bumper 😅

 

[GT3Twenty10]

Looks sexy!
I designed a rear diffuser for my car too! But requires cutting the bumper 😅
View attachment 287064
View attachment 287065

Mine is a Joe Toth… 4 minute install..
You’ve got that great front camber… I need to dial mine in more…
When you have those nice flairs, everything else needs to be equally as aggressive… like yours… nice blend
The one thing I wish was different… on 987’s.. I hate the sunken rear window… hate it!! Lol

 

[Arch]

I hate the sunken rear window… hate it!! Lol

That’s one of the 987’s visual treats! 🍻

 

[GT3Twenty10]

Mine is a Joe Toth… 4 minute install..
You’ve got that great front camber… I need to dial mine in more…
When you have flairs, everything else needs to be equally as aggressive… like yours… nice blend

That’s one of the 987’s visual treats! 🍻

not for me…