New Owner, got some work to do.
02-21-2014, 01:57 PM
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New Owner, got some work to do.
So as you can all guess, I'm new. I have spent an awful lot of time on various forums over the years, looking at imports, motor swaps, wishing I could do this or that, you know. Well, due to some needs for my girlfriend, we recently started a hunt for a affordable car for her to drive, and I was hoping to find myself a Civic Si, just for something fun to drive in the meantime. Been wanting to get a project car for years (I did have a 1966 Porsche 912, but the car was in much worse condition after I started taking it apart that expected, so I ended up just assembling the motor and scrapping the rest of the rest of the car).
Well, I'd been searching for a few weeks, debating between a Civic Si, Preludes, Integras and some Accords. One day while on Facebook, my girlfriend saw her uncle talking about his Civic hatchback having some severe mechanical issues, so she talked to him, and long story short, we ended up with a Civic with a bad engine for 350 bucks. The car had been owned by him since it was new, so there is that.
About the car, the one thing is that it has over 300k miles on it (gotta love that Honda reliability), and the engine had never been rebuilt. Now while I certainly could rebuild this one, I'm not sure if it's worth the effort. Just a stock D16, and I really want to take the opportunity to turn this into a small project car. I've been debating between a few engine choices, but the biggest issue is my year restrictions because of wonderful California BAR laws. I've been jumping back and forth between doing a B16/B18, H22, F23, pretty much anything possible lol.
Thing is, I have to keep a pretty low budget on the project, even though the car was nearly free (I'm worried about things like shocks, brakes, etc too). So I'm trying to keep it under 2 grand or so, but that's another story, and eventually another thread.
Of course this then has to be balanced out with I have to get this swap up and running pretty much in the next two weeks, as my girlfriend needs some time to learn how to drive a manual, and I leave at the end of March to work in Ohio for a few weeks, so I want some time to get her used to driving the car. Anyway, should be fun to do, and I look forward to getting to know you all better!
Well, I'd been searching for a few weeks, debating between a Civic Si, Preludes, Integras and some Accords. One day while on Facebook, my girlfriend saw her uncle talking about his Civic hatchback having some severe mechanical issues, so she talked to him, and long story short, we ended up with a Civic with a bad engine for 350 bucks. The car had been owned by him since it was new, so there is that.
About the car, the one thing is that it has over 300k miles on it (gotta love that Honda reliability), and the engine had never been rebuilt. Now while I certainly could rebuild this one, I'm not sure if it's worth the effort. Just a stock D16, and I really want to take the opportunity to turn this into a small project car. I've been debating between a few engine choices, but the biggest issue is my year restrictions because of wonderful California BAR laws. I've been jumping back and forth between doing a B16/B18, H22, F23, pretty much anything possible lol.
Thing is, I have to keep a pretty low budget on the project, even though the car was nearly free (I'm worried about things like shocks, brakes, etc too). So I'm trying to keep it under 2 grand or so, but that's another story, and eventually another thread.
Of course this then has to be balanced out with I have to get this swap up and running pretty much in the next two weeks, as my girlfriend needs some time to learn how to drive a manual, and I leave at the end of March to work in Ohio for a few weeks, so I want some time to get her used to driving the car. Anyway, should be fun to do, and I look forward to getting to know you all better!
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