I know there's some Boxster owners here among us, so I just wanted to show off my newest acquisition, and give a quick thanks to World's own billh1963.
It's been a couple years since I sold my last 914, and I spent most of that time bringing a worn out 1967 Karmann Ghia back to near factory condition. I had it in a VW show back in Jan, and won a plaque (yeehaw!), and decided it was time to let it go and look for something new. I was planning on getting another 914. But then I stumbled across this beauty that Bill had for sale, so I drove down to SC to check it out. Just another Boxster, right? Well, you might think that, but under that engine cover is a stock 2.5L flat six built by Jake Raby!
Bill had Jake build the engine a couple years ago, and it's got about 1500 miles on it now. A fair number of those put on by me in the few weeks I've had the car! I figured if there were ever a Boxster to own, having one with an engine built by Jake would be the way to go. So I guess it'll be a little longer before I get another 914, but in the meantime I'll be having fun with this modern 914!

Nice car! What does Jake do to the Boxter engine relative to stock. More horsepower and torque? I assume it includes the Raby/LN Engineering IMS replacement?

For all the flack the Boxster gets, they are great little cars. The engine in this one is a sweet revving machine that is a joy to drive.

I missed the car as soon as it left....

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986 Boxsters are cool little cars and great value for money. I’m also curious to know what Raby does differently when he rebuilds these engines?

1st time I drove a small displacement Boxster I wasn't impressed or thrilled.

2nd time the owner told me to flog it and push it harder, that changed how I viewed the car immensely.

Nice car, enjoy it.

Great pic! I'm gonna have to save that one

His larger displacement performance engines are where I think he really throws in the kitchen sink with things like nickies cylinders and whatnot. His stock rebuild is just that, but done to Jake's standards, ie - tighter tolerances, better quality components, everything either new or rebuilt, and some of his own goodies in there like the IMS replacement. I think Bill had said that it took Jake a while to even find a block that met his standards as far as tolerances and such were concerned.
I have the list of all the parts that went in, but from what I've read Jake is pretty much the authority on these m96 engines, with Porsche shops from around the country sending their mechanics to his engine building classes.

I've always liked the look of the Boxster, but all the engine issues kept me away. If there's any Boxster out there least likely to grenade itself, IMO it's gonna be one that Jake built. So for me it was more about being able to trust it. Especially since the entire cooling system had been replaced also.
But it revs like crazy, and having driven basically just 914's and Ghias for the last 6 or 7 years, it's a rocket ship as far as I'm concerned The whine and growl of that flat 6 is just addictive!

Recently drove my old 1999 986, now with 215,000 miles in my brother's care. Original engine, which had an RMS replacement at 27,000 miles~ and never looked back. Only one "expensive" repair to date: the heater core.

Maaaaaaaan does that high-miles 2.5 sound good. No other Boxster makes noises that are as seductive imo, and the engine sounded high-strung and expensive. Better, in fact, than any of the current flat sixes save the GT3 engines. Also pulled nicely, though not fast. Driving position felt weird (too high, when I remember loving the driving position...), and the "vintage" Xenon headlights seemed weak. Other than that, I really found myself wanting another one.

The handling was sweet as it ever was. Truly, these are the new 914s. Would love to drive one with a Jake engine in it...

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Nice buy!

I've pondered the possibility of a 986 with a Honda 3.5 transplant. 250-300 HP, reliable, motor would be $1000 or less.

Congratulations on a terrific purchase.

I have my eyes on my brother-in-law's 2009 Boxster S which I found and purchased for him. He is the 2nd owner and it only has about 19K miles on it. Very clean car with a PDK. It is Macadamia Brown with brown interior and top. It looks stunning in person. I have always been a Boxster fan.

Engine I built for a customer that I'm starting the install on.

996 3.4 now a 3.8 liter, LN nickies, JE pistons, Wiseco rings, Carrillo rods, LN IMS bearing and hex key, filter mod, pinned IMS shaft .5L sump extension, all bearings DFL coated, oil pump mod, etc.
All the rest of the parts are new porsche or OE.
Hp gain not a lot maybe 40hp, this one still has stock cams and FI, but it adresses all of the shortcomings of the 996 engine.

Damn that's pretty.

The engine I'm working on now will be a 4.0 for a C4s.
Just waiting for the block to come back from LN.

Car sees a lot of track time, this will be his 3rd engine. Blew the first one, had an el'cheapo rebuild that only lasted 2.5 seasons (not built by me), and now he's doing it right.

I had a customers 996 (another engine) doing 240kph yesterday, didn't even realize I was going that fast.
Durametric log doesn't lie.

congratulations! I have had 2 boxsters, I had a2001 S and I now have a 1997 2.5 that I picked up a little over a year ago. I was not sure if I was going to be satisfied with the 2.5, but its a blast to drive, and like Bill said they are great high reving engines and the ones that jake actually prefers. and with only 36k miles on it, I could not resist! You sir got a great deal and will get many miles of fun out of that car - its just a modern water cooled 914 after all!
- I just did full clutch job and put the new dual row hybrid ceramic LN IMS in , and so think I am set for atleast another 100k miles ! I am surprised Bill sold that car though.

The new ceramic dual row Retrofit is nice, but LN recommends replacement 6 years/ 60K miles.

LN Solution I installed last week...Plus RMS, 997 baffle, trans mount, fly and clutch.
Got the pic order wrong, bottom is the before pic.

Sounds like you got a great one too. Yeah I don't think I would really want more power than what the 2.5 has for a street car. To me it has just the right amount of power that you can rev it up and have fun on public roads without risking your license. I think it's pretty close in terms of acceleration to the 2270 914 I used to have. But zero to sixty is never the first spec I look for on a car anyway. I'm not a red-light-racer kind of guy. I'm more of a let's-see-if-I-can-make-this-turn-without-lifting-the-throttle kind of guy!
I'm very aware that Bill gave me a killer deal, which is why I wanted to say thanks in public here on the forum. He even gave me a ride back from Enterprise so that I could drop off the rental car I drove down. Really above and beyond! I think anyone looking to buy from Bill shouldn't have to worry about a thing.

Several years back, I started looking at Boxster/Caymans. I did a lot of homework, looked at a lot of choices, read about problems such as the IMS bearing. I've always wanted a modern 914, something reliable with modern conveniences - i.e. A/C.

I finally settled on a new factory ordered Cayman base - took delivery in February 2017. It's a modern 914, and just a blast to drive. Base comes with 300hp, 280 lbs of torque. No PDK, mine has a gear shift.

It is the 'next generation', 4 cyl boxer engine, 2.0 with 20 lbs of boost, (you can turbo a 2.0), and it will run. Gets a lot of attention - "Whut's a 718?"

Wife even likes it.

mine says 75k mile warranty, thst will last a long time, and i did all of that plus the whole hydraulic clutch, tube master and slave, hard to believe someone could wear out a pressure plate and flywheel in 37k miles, but my p.o. did - the flywheel cost more than the IMS! Car shifts and runs like new now- btw i knew it needed clutch work on first drive, took it in for thst and what i thought was a leaking rms, turns out rms was fine(still put a new one in) , the leak was coming from the IMS, it was in stage 1/2 failure - but 20 year old shocks suck, so that will be the next upgrade. - oh btw our cars are twins- Silver with hard top- So enjoy! and if you cant bring the 914 , being the boxster to Okteenerfest- also i second your praise of Bill- i have done some trading with him and i can say more than fair.

The bigger issue with the dual mass flywheel is the rubber dampening center section wearing out.
This year alone I've replaced 3 DM flywheels that looked good but failed the spec test on the center.

You've come a long way; from Scotty B bending you over the barrel to Bill giving you a fair shake. The S model w/ an LS3 will hopefully be my next project. Nice car!

Mark, is there a better option for the flywheel? I know the p.o. didn't do well driving a clutch it was pretty burned up and worn and yes the dual mass rubber thing is a problem- do they make a different one, I believe my new one came from Porsche so its OEM. - I have never worn a clutch out in my life- I only had 2k miles on the car myself when I took it in to do the clutch. my last S I had I put 30k miles on it and no issue, and the next owner has put another 30 k on it for a total of 120 and still on the original clutch and flywheel. should I expect to get atleast 60-75k miles on this new one?
- oh and that motor you are building looks awesome!,
LS3 boxster? hm . seems like the Boxster is becoming the more popular platform for modifications now....

cuz they are so damn common and so damn cheap.
I've seriously contemplated selling my low mile 996 and going spec boxster racing.

Ha, thanks for reminding me! I suppose it evens out with this one
BTW, should clarify it was Scotty Boy, who is now banned from 914world.
Post pics of that thing when you finish it!




Yup, that's actually my first project too. My new rear struts just showed up and I'm doing those this weekend. I'll do the fronts later this summer.

Great looking car! Almost twins - my hardtop is actually a non-metallic grey. I had intentions of painting it to match the car, but the more I look at it the more I like the vintage two-tone vibe it has. Although I don't know if it's a case of affection by association It reminds me of an early two-tone Ghia or 356 notchback, although I wonder if that's a reference that's lost on more modern Porsche owners than not.