K24-swapping the MOST HATED Porsche 911 is our kind of absurd

Purists, avert your eyes. Everyone else, see what happens when you throw the rules out the window: a 996-gen Porsche 911 with a 500+ hp Honda engine inside.

[CARISMA is our show exploring car culture through the eyes, lives, and rides of different enthusiasts across America. See the full playlist:    • CARISMA   ]

"This is a hot rod at the end of the day. It has over double the power. If you're not careful with it, it'll probably bite you," says builder Ben Sipson.

Ben has always loved making things, building things, and seeing where it takes him. A few years ago, he helped out some friends K-swapping a Smart Car and became obsessed with the power and value those little motors could provide, making well over 500 hp on stock internals.

So when the opportunity came up to buy a 996 Porsche 911, the generation least liked by collectors because of its fried egg headlights and extremely late-1990s interior, he knew what he was going to do. Didn't matter that the stock engine worked fine. He ripped it out, sold it, and used that cash to fund the rest of the build. Which involved:

K24a block machined by Cylinder Support System
IGN-1a race coils
Skunk2 magnesium valve cover
AEM400 fuel pumps in a surge tank
Rising Rate fuel pressure regulator
Pulsar 6262G turbos
Haltech 1500 Elite ECU
All custom wiring

"The car's not for sale. I don't have it listed, but you know, something came along with the right offer. I had no problem selling it. I don't fall in love with cars. I enjoy everything about 'em. It's my entire life if you think about it. Cars are what allows me to support my family and own a house and work for myself."

"I kind of use cars as like a tool to achieve multiple things. With this one, for example, I built a swap kit for it. Not a complete swap kit, but I built engine mounts. It took a thing that I was excited about doing. I make a couple jigs for it. Well now I can share that with other people. Make a couple bucks. Kind of fun to do. That's kind of carried on throughout everything I've done."


Produced, shot, and edited by →   / tomgorelik  

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