This 996 Porsche 911 isn't just water cooled - it's copping an LS V8 transplant

What do you do when your 996's engine kicks the bucket? LS swap it, of course.

Thats right, our US counterpart Tyler Hoover over at Autotrader's Oversteer is in the process of stuffing a 6.0-litre LS2 Chevrolet V8 from a 2007 Corvette into the 911's flat-six shaped engine bay.

The 996 is notorious for engine issues, and after a massively impressive run of almost 400,000km, a track day caused this one to meet its end (as in, oil-filter-looking-like-a-glitter-tube-style end.)

At least for now... Tyler notes he's already sold his rooted Porsche engine as a rebuildable core for the equivalent of AU$2,000 in preperation for the heart transplant.

Interestingly, the LS2 motor puts out almost as much power as a late '90s 911 Turbo and, thanks to all-aluminium construction, weighs roughly the same as the original Porsche flat-six.

You're probably thinking "surely, it won't fit..." and normally you might be right, but thanks to the prevalence of LS engine swaps in the US there is a company that offers a pre-fabricated kit for this particular Porsche to make it all work.

The cost of the kit and engine together add up to just over AU$13k - which is what it would have cost to rebuild the original block anyway.

Tyler plans to detail the intricacies of the build on his YouTube channel. We'll be watching.

What do you think - should a Porsche ever receive all-American octuple-bypass surgery? Let us know in the comments.