getbleached

So here I am never owned a foreign car and interested in something new so I have decided to find myself a beater Honda and make something fun from it.
Feel free to enlighten me to Honda knowledge that I am severely lacking and/or join me on my budget build street/strip project journey.


as of right now all I know is I really want a mean looking 2 door integra


my questions will be posted here more than likely so feel to check up and throw me a bone


this thread will be updated as I progress so feel free to follow.

getbleached

First things first, i need a donor....

As of right now i have my eyes set on a 93 coupe rocking a b18a1(i have no idea what that means) and an automatic transmission to match(that has to go and would be sold towards the manual tranny)

The guy is asking 350 and i get a title but due to the fact i have to get it towed and it definitely needs work, i believe the final price range will be between 200 and 300 attached are some pics he sent me. He told me the engine and trans ran and shifted fine when it got parked but it will need a new wiring harness to get the whole thing running.

So i suppose the questions that stand are as follows:
Is this a decent deal?
Is the engine worth keeping, is it something i should spend time tuffing up?
Can i swap the front body panels for a later year(95ish) for the smoother looking face?
And finally, is there an option to have the circular headlights on this model?(judge me if you will but i love em)

billabongrob

iTrader: (1)

Decent deal yes. Not great for the amount of work it needs.
B18a1 is a decent motor. Pretty much the same as a b18b from newer models. About 10hp less and would need refreshed if boosted.
Can you put round headlights on it? Yes it's been done but it looks like poo because the body lines don't match up. Also, it's too much work.

Should you buy this? Absolutely not. The bug eye is what you want, there's plenty out there. The auto to manual conversion is going to be a pain. The auto is just about worthless from a monetary standpoint.

FWIW, I like 90-93 better but opinions are like buttholes.

Noneed2hate

$350 is definitely a fair deal especially if you just fixed her up and used her as a DD.

I would just buy a 5 spd integra to begin with. (swap can cost around $1k-1.5k for parts) Pay the extra dollar to get what you want in the end so you can focus on aspects of the car.

The only reason you really ever want to do an auto-manual swap is if most of the 5 spd integras in your area are all F***ed and it's the only way to get a clean looking one. (since most automatics are handled a little more... gently)

getbleached

Mainly the only thing I can find is rolling shells and that will blow my price plan out of the water im assuming. Perhaps buying a high mileage car the swapping in a new engine?

daboy155

Just get a high mileage car and rebuild the engine, you might not even need to rebuild it, no way to know until you compression/leakdown test it. Really depends on what your goals are, DD, track car, drag car, how much horses you shooting for? etc.

getbleached

I'd like to shoot for 400 but 300 is a more realistic goal.

getbleached

What would be an ideal engine, should I be more on the lookout for a vtec equipped engine?

B_Swapped93

that's hardly worth it's weight in scarp.....

as said 94+ a b18c1 would be ideal you won't have to touch anything for 300 wheel, no offence but by the looks money is a BIG concern for your project. Even if you're in high school that's no excuse to not have the proper funds to buy/build a proper car if not set your priorities on things that matter vs hacked up builds as soon so often.


An "ok" running body should be upwards of 2K and even then that's cheap

getbleached

to be honest its more of something I want to use to expose me to the Honda scene since I've never touched it. I was checking out the wiki on the engines and the b18c1 seemed like an ideal option now its just about finding the donor. And what daboy said seems like my best option, the high mileage and maybe rebuilding it

B_Swapped93

you realize that junk builds are what gives these cars such a bad name.... i'm sure you don't want to been driving around in some ugly *** car now do you?. the less of a **** box the less issues such as rust to **** underbody bolts etc there's a line between saving money to make more of a "build" and buying a pos that will just be problem after problem. draining money left right and center and taking away from your actual plans, like so many will tell you doing it tight isn't cheap

getbleached

I don't plan on making some pos build, I have a painters booth, a garage, and a junkyard to use and a budget I want to work with, I'm simply trying to figure a cheaper way to make something fun that I can still drive daily

B_Swapped93

then go look on CL or what ever and get a car any info needed is already out there ppl shouldn't just be given the answers. If you "have money" this shouldn't be hard at all chances are if it's a decent looking car with no rust it's a good donor...



that first car you posted isn't a good support to your statement that thing is fucked unless you want some dirt track circle racer. I'm being real not here to back up your ideas as said it's all out there and I have several builds under my name in a short time from lifted trucks to several imports.

getbleached

Thanks for the input and i appreciate it, I think im just going to find a high mileage integra with the body id prefer so i can keep the repairs and non upgrade mods to a minimum if that makes any sense.

getbleached

Here I am reviving an old dead thread of mine....
today I purchased a 96 teg the specs are as follows

b18b1 engine
180k miles(commuter highway car)
all white aside from a replacement panel on the front left
auto(make me sick)

bought the car and some parts were given and some parts were put on rather recently.
cold air intake, Strut bar, decent rims, halo HID headlights, aftermarket tail lights
paid $700 for it all

now for any issues it has
-usually idles around 2k in park(not sure what its supposed to idle at)
-d4 light always blinks(assuming its a trans issue but not too concerned because id like to swap to manual anyway)
-tail lights are wired wrong so they are not lighting up correctly

other than that its a nice drive, no heat issues, nice mpgs, doesn't look like ***...

Now then what do I do with it(other then the repairs)
posting pics tomorrow if i get a chance.

getbleached

Here's a pic my girl and I went out to get tonight at a place with some okay lighting

xlent00

Looks like you got a good deal.

getbleached

here's some more pics i got before the sun went down, looks like the car was in a minor accident at one point(94-95 hood, mines a 96), need to fix that body panel as soon as I have time, and good god the wheel gap.... that has gotta go.

right now im just looking for a b16 or gsr 5speed trans to do the manual conversion, only problem is not trying to drop a huge amount into the tranny since im not doing any crazy upgrades to the engine so it wont need to withstand to much.

JDMswagSerf

Nice car for $700.

Did the last owner really get "wish you're me" on the license plate? Hahahaha.

getbleached

I've had those plates on my last 3 cars but we won't talk about that haha

getbleached

New update, gave the car a good in and out clean(will post pics when I get to the computer)

Also while I was out I was offered a freshly rebuilt 5 speed gsr tranny for $400, sounds like a deal but I don't have the money for it yet but he said he's not planning on doing anything with it and will probably just keep it until I can come up with the money.

getbleached

Here she is all cleaned up next step will be debadging the rear and getting my subs wired up.




















I am always 100% open to constructive criticism and positive input especially with this being my first import and all

I know I'm getting rid of the Acura logo on the back but may keep the Acura wording and just paint it white and see how it looks

keep an eye out for updates!

JDMswagSerf

Don't paint the ACURA words white. It will look tacky.

Should focus on getting some oem tail lights and getting the fender painted.

getbleached

Think I'm going to keep the tail lights, I was never a big fan of the stock ones. As for the badges I suppose it would look tacky just going to do away with both badges.

jkrout

Looks like you've got a nice base to start with. I agree with JDMswagSerf, get some OEM taillights and the fender painted first. Then catch up on any maintenance that is needed so you won't have worry about any of that stuff when you start doing modifications.