Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins
Mechanically, the engineer in me loves it. Philosophically, the life long Porsche enthusiast in me recoils a bit. Monetarily, I see this as a false economy.
By the time we have purchased the kit and a suitable engine, we are really not all that far behind the cost of rebuilding the Porsche motor.
It also sounds to me like any "savings" are predicated on not having the skills to rebuild a motor, but somehow having the skills to perform this swap. I'm thinking that if a guy has the skills to perform this swap, they should have no trouble rebuilding their Porsche engine.
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I'm going to have to push back on this a bit. Porsche engines are *notoriously* difficult to rebuild, and require MANY special tools , and the experience to use them. I think a DIY rebuild of a Porsche engine is a much bigger deal than most hobbyists will want to tackle. You have to know what you're looking at in terms of machining all of the parts, how to measure to the thousanth, and the "do's and don't's" when assembling. I consider myself quite experienced in the garage, and it's something I'd like to tackle someday, but is still quite daunting to me.
In contrast, when you receive this kit, it comes in a crate and is completely assembled and ready to go. You bolt the engine to the trans run the power and ground wires to the ECU (and a few others) run the pre-cut, pre-assembled hoses, mount the radiators to the brackets, fill it with oil and coolant, and drive away. (That's a bit simplified, but that's the jist)
It can be done in a weekend with a toolkit you buy at Harbor Freight and fluids you get at Autozone, with little to no experience. (I include a tutorial install video) . I would rate it a 3-4 out of 10 in terms of how difficult it is, whereas an engine rebuild I'd rate at least a 9 out of 10.
Plus, all that being said, you're getting a MUCH more modern, tunable, cheaper to maintain, more powerful engine that no one would even know is under there unless you tell them.
It's invisible, by design.