Arith7

Hello, I am thinking about buying a 99' civic SI that was said to have had some "head work" done on it, supossedly the work was done wrong and the car does not run now. I know close to nothing about cars and I am just wondering if anyone knew what the problem could be. The current owner raced this car a few times and it is turbo charged. I know this is a very vauge post, sadly the car is about 850 miles away from me and the only way I can get any other answers is but paying someone nearly 100$ to check the car out. I am willing to spend around 2500$ to get the car fixed if the problems aren't too major. If anyone has an idea of what it could be or any possitive imput at all please post!

Swansen

Honestly man, this sounds like a major project, and it was obviously beat on if he raced it, along with it being turbo charged. If and when you do get it running, it will still probably being something that will need a lot of maintenance. You know your getting into something that isn't going to be worth it when repair work wasn't done properly, you can bet the rest of the car is that way.

92shade

you can buy a full swap for 2500 do that

Arith7

Thanks for the tip. The body looks very nice and well kept, I guess i am just woundering if its worth it or not.....running SI's cost double the price of this one with the same mileage. This car has 84k miles and is on ebay right now. I mean how much maintenance are we talking about for the engine? worst possible case i would have to swap motors right? or would a rebuild be more benefical? I really don't know what to do at this point.

92shade

if it were to be rebuilt who would be doing the rebuilding you or a shop

Arith7

I would have a shop rebuild it. I think it would take me far too long to rebuild it and since i don't know a lot about engines

92shade

depending on how bad your engine is it will probably cost more than 2500 to rebuild your engine

Arith7

Ok thanks again for the tips. Im definitly leaning twords an engine swap. My boss knows the owner of a shop so hopefully i can get a good deal on it!

iliv2xlr8

I would recommend looking for another vehicle. With engine trouble and being 850 miles away, this sounds like a money pit and a lot of head ache!!!

I don't think I would recommend a turbo vehicle if you don't know much. Boosted cars are often special needs. Since all turbo Honda's are aftermarket kits or work, you could easily overlook things that will be catastrophic.

Swansen

Yeah, thats what i'm saying, and thats not counting a new transmission, with extra power and him beating on it, it will have worn faster, as well as all drive train parts, suspension, breaks, bearing, etc. Its more than likely not worth it man, seriously.