I feel that in order to get good advice some background info should be given, so please and thank you for the read. I'm 18 and a senior in high school who plans on moving out in August this summer. I already have a Honda to drive that's my dads (Automatic) . However I won't be able to take the car when I leave. I got in touch with someone who will sell me their 1991 EF hatchback with 280k+ for $600. It's drivable and he drives it daily with what seems like no problems. Now I KNOW anything on the car could go bad and it WILL need work and money if I want it to stay reliable, no doubt. I feel it's an good deal for me but what could/should I do from there to make sure I have some sort of good setup in August when I move out? The car will not be daily driven until then, I'll drive my dads. I was thinking I could save for a d16 swap (1-1.5k) from what I know or rebuild the current D15 motor. I'm not looking for lots of power right now just something i can make reliable. I make about $500 a month with my part time job right now and currently have $1000 saved. Is it worth the investment?
Definitely not dude 280 is way too damn high. Just save up at least 1500 and you could find a decent one with at least 130,000 miles less on craigslist or asking around. Thats my plan for this summer maybe we can work on it together. I was also thinking about checking out my local car auction
you can get a clean EF shell for $500. if you just have old D engines laying around and the means/tools to do the swap, i would jump on it. put in the D16 like you said. the D series was the most reliable engines Honda ever made.
Lots of things we don't really know about this car. You said it has a fairly new engine? Is the transmission good? That's gonna be a big deal, tranny's are one of the most expensive things to fix. Overall I'd say just save up another 500$ and get something decent in the 1500$ range.
I doubt anyone here really knows Hondas... So you could have it running for a grand. offer him 500 for it, then buy a complete D15 or D16 they go for like 400 bucks...Dont buy one of hmotorsonline...Just get it off someone with it still running in car. If you can swap it yourself you are good to go.Axles,mounts,etc will all be the same.
If you're going to buy a car with a ton of miles then I'd say go with a Nissan. The 240sx with the KA24 is a damn strong motor that will go way past 200k if you take care of it. Plus if you plan on building the car you can just buy the shell for probably no more than $800 and have it towed to an engine shop and buy and install it there for under $500. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Depends on how much money you have and how long you want to drive it. If you only have 600 dollars and plan to only drive it for a year or less. Not going any place very far and only plan to put 5,000- 7500 miles on if. That's like 1/3 of a year in normal driving maybe 6 mo. Than yeah it's a good deal. If you have even 1200 you can get a way better Honda that will last longer with way less miles. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
depends on the seller i suppose. what kind of driving the car was used for. if the body is solid, i would probably spend $600 on it, or haggle with the owner. if i wanted another civic hatch. i will say, that i haven't seen "abused" hondas hit 300k. from late spring to late fall, i daily a bmw that currently has 380k. maintenance is key, and with miles such as that, i know that something could fail any time i take it out for a drive. which leads me to my next point - carry tools and know how to use them if you drive something with higher mileage.
Most people wouldn't take that. Especially if it was the Si model... But it most likely isn't as he said it has a d15 in it, but people swap Honda motors all the time.... Like me... I have a b16 in my Crx
yeah but its the ef hatch? am i missing something? isnt the d15 a shitty sohc engine? and front wheel drive sucks. get a real car if your gonna do something like swap motors. if your just looking for a daily driver then whatever
Like I said if it is an Si in the Honda community, its worth more.FWD sucks okay smart guy... LOL Oh people who aren't car enthusiasts. This Civic has done 7 second passes. It's not even in the unlimited class. So it has to follow weight,turbo size, mod, etc rules. It doesn't have a one piece front end, still has a full dash, and glass isn't even replaced with lexan... So in some states with minimal smog law this could be a street car. My car with with a b16 swap, full bolt ons, chipped ecu, advanced timing, running 104, would do mid 12's. Not bad for 3 grand... Now I ported the head as seen in the picture, +1mm valves, skunk2 springs/retainers, and im still deciding on what turbo, but something small and not laggy like a t3 .60 so i can still compete in auto x and not just drag. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gG_2cKU5R8A