DifferentOne

My car:
1993 EJ1 EX with D16Y8 - Roughly 80k on the motor and about 140k on the shell. Clean title.
Two years ago I bought a GSR swap off a "reputable" seller here, only to find out (when I didn't have a receipt or any kind of proof he sold it to me cuz he contacted me on AIM) the transmission was blown (3 synchros were shredded), it had no head gasket, the head had bad carbon deposits. This was after I spent about $750 trying to get the small parts here and there to get it going.

So needless to say, I gave up on the swap and traded it for my D16Y8. I know you're thinking a D16 for a B18C is a bad deal, but that motor needed a new transmission, possibly a rebuilt block and head, and various other small parts. I also blew the virgin P71 or whatever the GSR virgin ECU is, which was a VERY nice and hard to find ECU.

Today:
I was talking to my chick about how I used to race and the stories I had, and in the process I became interested in fixing my car up again. Nothing crazy, I'm a little romantic about the D-series underdog. I mean I know a swap is ideal, but I just want it to have power on the freeway and every now and then. Mostly I want comfort. I know if I *did* decide to go B-series, I could always sell my D16Y8 to make up a lot of the cost, but with lowballers, waiting for correspondance, flakers (I remember the trading game quite well) I don't know if I'm patient for it. That and I don't wanna get screwed with a bad motor again.

Here's the problem though:
My car's not "there" as far as stock trim goes. I need the A/C compressor and power steering pump, I need a P28 (I'm running on a hand me down P06 right now), the drivers side power window keeps going out of alignment and gets stuck and the passenger side window simply won't go down. I have the condenser because I had A/C on the D16Z6 I pulled out and sold, but I kept the condenser. Also, the passenger side speaker keeps shorting out, I think it needs to be rewired.

I don't want small stuff like this to discourage me from fixing up my car. I thought about selling it since it's clean title and OBD1 which is a big target for modders, but I figured I could just be the one that cleans it up.

So a few questions:
1) Should I attempt to build the head on top of bolt-ons? I don't want to invest a lot, but I don't want to simply rely on i/h/e.
2) How can I fix all that small ****? My brother in law's a mechanic but he couldn't figure out if it's the switch or the relay for the window. The drivers window falling out of alignment is a major pain in the ***.
3) Aside from the junk yard, where else can I pick up that small stuff without getting taxed?
4) Over all, what's the best way I can fix this car up without getting raped? Are there any good reputable sites to buy parts? I tried PM'ing sellers on Marketplace, but their "deals" are maybe a few dollars lower than internet prices and easily beat by SleezeBay prices.

thumper64

Choose one path and take care of that one goal. Don't do what I did and kinda get a few suspension parts, a few engine parts....

The way I figured it, the D series will cost more to mod to make the power of a B. A stock Z6, D15B, Y8 make 125-130hp and aren't that torquey. Just say you put a cam in, that's $300 or so, plus another $200 or so for springs and to really get anything out of it you have to tune it.

The window I believe is an alignment issue in the rails inside the door.
The switch vs relay issue, use a multimeter to test if the switch has continuity and if there is voltage coming out of the relay.
The junkyard IS your best bet for the little stuff. You get to make sure it's the correct color, looks right, you can take all the hardware and sometimes they don't charge for the little stuff, especially if you buy something larger along with it.

HMotorsOnline is regarded as one of the best sites for swaps, there are actually decent sellers on eBay but look out for crappy "JDM" parts. I don't know what else to tell you.

DifferentOne

So maybe better to consider a B18A/B or B16A route and focus my money on the one path I want right now (The little ****)?

fizik

1: If you're gonna build a D-series and expect power, go turbo. Or swap. With a built head, basic bolt-on's I hope you're not going to be expecting any more than like 7-10 horsepower if you're lucky. Save your money and swap out to a simple B16 and make that 30 horsepower with much more potential for power later on for like 1500. Sell your motor now for 500 and you spent a grand on a reliable motor. I know that's my route cause I found out how much of a bottomless hole it is to invest in a D.

2: Does the small **** bother you? I know that my driver side window just started going out of alignment and its bothering the hell out of me so I need to get mine fixed. If you're windows going out of alignment it might be a bent track(like mine), and it's not terribly difficult to fix yourself. You could try to find a whole new set of doors for your car used for 150-200, then you wouldn't have to worry about re-wiring stuff and swapping the window guts.

3:You can try the market place here on H-T, find yourself a good member selling all that little stuff for cheap. Most members are trustworthy and will help you out.

4:If you can find good oem stuff on eBay for cheap DO IT! I know I do, I purchased some swap parts off eBay from people selling it for a good price. Then again I also shop inside the market place.

1992Si

You sound like $$$$ is a issue. Keep the D and check out turbod16.com or d-series.org.

More help there then here for the D. Boost your D with a small turbo at 7-8 psi and you'll be happy, until you have more $$$$.

arrocha87

if i was you id definitely fix all the lil stuff first. but thats just me. i started a build thread and all ive really done is gsr leathers,a mishimoto rad, and F1 racing clutch and 8.5lb flywheel because everything else has been all the damn issues this car had. but atleast i knew about them...