joe19812

Hi Ali, I just had this conversion done a few months ago in Los Angeles. I have owned my arctic silver 1998 2.5 liter Boxster for over 7 years now. It is "the other woman" according to my lovely wife. Needless to say I love it and it is a hobby of mine to work on it and change out interior parts as well as exterior with stuff with more updated parts or go fast goodies. I currently have the 1999 tequipment aero kit on with 18 inch carrera lightweight wheels, 7 mm spacers and RoW M030 suspension upgrade from sunset Porsche as well as Gahh glass convertable top. Misc hacks done for a bit of minor speed upgrades were: --desnorkel air intake -- k&n air filter--power chip. I had the car dyno'd and it made a respectable 220 hp at crank. BUT... as you know, this car can handle so much more power... and I always dreamed of Ruf's 3400 power and reliability. So I went through a lot of research for a 3.4 conversion mechanic. I spoke with several shops and had several recommendations, including Ruf technicians.. Well with 93,000 miles on the 2.5 liter, it was time to buy a Cayman or upgrade my motor... There was something I love about my car and I could not part with it since I have made it my unique hobby. I finally wanted to give it the power it deserves. Plus... at weighing in at 2755 pounds and potential 320 hp.... it was a no brainer for me. First step: I got the 2000 3.4 motor from a good friend "Todd", owner of Los Angeles Porsche Dismantler. (818)-Porsche I was fortunate and we found one with only 18,000 miles on it. Todd was such a great resource of information and very professional, but very busy as well, so patience is key. I also got a boxster S front center radiator as well as Carrera 996 front brake calipers with rotors from Todd as well. He has hundreds of cars that have been totalled in crashes, but yet still have great parts left on them. A porsche enthusiasts buffet table! I later had the steel braided lines installed and system blead while motor was being installed.. The Carrera front brake calipers and rotors are same identical size that Boxter S uses...except painted black. I highly recommend upgrading the front brakes this way. The added hp power justifies the need for stopping power. Super easy installation... Hardest part was just bleeding the brake fluid.... and that is not that hard. 2nd step... Finding the right mechanic with a solid reputation and know how for 3.4 conversions. I finally ended up contacting Claudio Szyszkowski's shop... Foreign Sport Technicians in Santa Monica. 310-394-0369. I First read an article about Claudio in "Excellence Porsche Mag" June 2000 edition. He is Gemballa's go to man for Los Angeles. In the article he performed one of his first 3.4 conversions on a black 1999 boxster owned by Dale Launer. The article mentioned how reliable and "factory installed" the final product looked and drove. So I was already impressed with Claudio. Now, almost 7 years after the article was written, Todd from Porsche dismantler recommended Claudio as one of the mechanics he trusted and that I should contact and see about doing the install. I was pleasantly surprised and happy because I was really familiar with the article and Claudio's name. So I went to Claudio's shop and what do ya know, but the black 1999 boxster that Claudio did his first 3.4 conversion was there at his shop having maintenance and oil changed. He gave me a ride in it and I was hooked. It had lots of power and torque. The torque is not like a big V8 motor... but impressive none the less. Where this motor loves to be is above 3000 rpm. It just hauls *** and screams all the way to 7200 rpm. Claudio admitted that this car was like his prototype and he has learned a lot about the conversion process and what works best since then. He mentioned my car would likely be a bit stronger and faster. Mostly due to updated headers, powerchip upgrade, and I used a 2004 boxter S exhaust where dale still had the original 2.5 liter muffler. So the installation takes 3-4 weeks to be safe and take the right amount of care, preparation, and shake down. Claudio was very professional and allowed me to stop by any time to get quick updates or take photos. He makes fun of me now at how many photos I took. He called me when ever he found a part that needed replacing or just looked "tired" and was ready for replacement. Long story short.... The installation went great. I have had the car dyno'd again and it is making about 315-320 hp at the crank and 270 lbs of torque. It is my daily driver and feels like I bought it from the factory with this motor in it. I did some stop watch runs... not super accurate, but you will get the idea... 0-60 mph 4.4 seconds. 0-100 mph 11.0 seconds... I love it! as far as price...??? really depends... but motor + install..... expect to pay $12K-16k depending on parts, upgrades, and other stuff... great info! I don't yet own a Boxster but down the road I hope to purchase an older one that I can mod for added hp. What are the pros/cons to more hp doing a 3.4L swap vs a turbo or sc setup?