I'm looking at a 90 civic dx hatchback right now. The speedometer doesn't work and neither does the A/C and the glovebox rattles and its a 4spd. However 2 years ago the engine was rebuilt and just a month ago it got a new fuel pump, new timing belt, new tires and new front brakes. The car looks ok on the outside besides a dent here or there and the windsheild has a crack accross the bottom of it. The guy is asking 1600 for it and I just wanna know if its gonna be worth it to buy. Keep in mind this will be my first car and I just started working a job at a local restaurant so money might be a little tight. Also does anyone know where I could find some of those replacement parts?

 

personally i don't think that is very good. LOL i can find one in better condition. try to get a 5 speed because converting a 4 - 5 will cost mony and ish. trry looking for a 5 speed for like 1000 - 1500.

my 2 cent's. peace

Good luck with the car.

 

since you're in NC you can do better. in my opinion, the engine and stuff doesn't really matter, that's all easy, and if its not for you, you can find people to help you with it.

what's hard to fix is body damage.

 

No.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fkguitar &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">speedometer doesn't work
and neither does the A/C
the glovebox rattles
its a 4spd ( )
dent here or there
the windsheild has a crack accross the bottom of it

engine was rebuilt and just a month ago it got a new fuel pump, new timing belt, new tires and new front brakes. The guy is asking 1600 for it and I just wanna know if its gonna be worth it to buy. </TD></TR></TABLE>

You have to think, are you gonna use your ac? If you have a stereo, who cares about rattles? Dents?haha... it's old.

I say go for it but for no more than 1200-1400. Specially if it's your first car, you don't want a high horsepower technologically advanced car, you want a beater

 

Yeah I was a little shocked about the four speed part of it, I was like damnit...I have two questions for that. 1. Is it being a four speed going to suck ***** enough to wanna have a five speed? 2. About how much could I get like an old 5 speed tranny put in it for?

I think my mom is going to try to talk the guy down to about 1200-1400. Although I'm scared because two other people are interested in buying it also and I think they will buy for 1600 so he might tell me too bad. Anyone know of either a 92-95 ex or a 90-98 hb (preferably either the si or dx) around (within 50 or so miles of) greensboro,NC?

 

buy it and sell me the ac setup

 

well, theres plenty of hatches out there, at least there is right now anyway.

dx five speed trannys are usually just given away, sometimes maybe 50 bucks. if you switch out the tranny, camshaft, computer and remove a little metal plate, you can make that car basically a dx (except for the brakes)

and all that stuff is next to free, because people throw away dx engines when they swap in b series' all the time.

 

You should search harder. For all those problems, the price should be around $1000 but I rather look for something else.

 

I'd give him 700 tops

 

yeah, not to be a stingy bastard, but i got a 91 hatch si for $1100 that sounds about like what youve got. my ac doesnt work, but the system is going to be removed anyway, and cosmetically its not perfect.. mine has 212k miles though too.. but the guy was asking 1500 and i got him to go to 1100.. so that was it.. dont pay 1600 you can find something better.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sanimalp &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yeah, not to be a stingy bastard, but i got a 91 hatch si for $1100 that sounds about like what youve got. my ac doesnt work, but the system is going to be removed anyway, and cosmetically its not perfect.. mine has 212k miles though too.. but the guy was asking 1500 and i got him to go to 1100.. so that was it.. dont pay 1600 you can find something better.</TD></TR></TABLE>

sell me your AC stuff!!!

 

Yeah but see I'm new to the hands on part of fixing a car...I've read as much as I can but thats no substitute for experience. Knowing that, How much would it cost not including the price of the tranny itself to get the 4speed swapped out for the 5 speed? Also the car already is a dx so if theres something I'm not getting about that part of your comment please inform me. Putting in a tachometer wouldn't be way to hard would it?

 

putting in a tach would involve finding a 89-91 civic hatch si in a junkyard and buying the guage cluster and swapping yours out with the other one. they are literally a direct swap. no special wiring, not extra plug or anything. just disconnect the old one and plug in the new one.

as for my ac stuff, the compressor is completely frozen, which, if your ac doesnt work, is probbaly what is wrong with yours. i will however have the piping and the condenser and the the in dash radiator to get rid of.. but i need to get out of school for the summer first before i take all that stuff out.

 

my brother in-law is selling his 90hatch dx with zc swap and nos 4 1750 needs money got a baby on the way forget about a 4 speed unless you want yo save gas but who in honda tech cares about gas i know i don't then again i drive a C R X Si

 

Was the 4speed swaped in, or is it original? If it is original it is STD not a DX from my understanding.

 

Well see the guy selling the car said it could be an 89 but that he believes its a 90. I mean it says DX on the back of the car. Still noones telling me how much getting a mechanic to swap the transmission for a 5speed would be.

 

does your brother in law live anywhere near Greensboro, NC?

 

At are shop we would charge 300 to replace the trans, that does not include the cost of the part.

 

Alright thanks man. So this is a just a question for knowledge purpose (unless its not to expensive and wouldn't be idiotic) how would I change a dx to an si, at least enough to be worthy of the badge?

 

IMO engine and tranny would make it worthy, but why not leave the Dx badge on there, and let people think what they want to think.

 

I was just curious...because that would be almost as much as just buying an si in the end. I am having trouble finding a cat-back exhaust for that 89 (possibly 90) hatchback dx though. Because the guy who is selling it is only the friend of the actual owner and the owner took the liberty of taking the tailpipe off the car to make it sound better and I figure I either need to put a stock tailpipe on it from an old one or just go ahead and replace the whole exhaust (not including the headers) since I will do it as soon as can anyway. So far I have only found like end pieces instead of the whole thing and the one I found that was full looked stupid.

 

no good son....get sum money, invest in better one...kabeesh

 

i think in order to be an si you also need front and rear sways.

for the exhaust, look at all 88-91 hatches.

its not too hard to do a tranny yourself, spend the 300 on tools (don't cheap out here) because, just as you said, there's no replacement for experience, you have to start somewhere.

 

so I could put a cat-back that says its for a 88-91 civic si on my dx? I thought it might work but I didn't know if they possibly used different headers and it wouldn't link up right or not.

 

well i got ripped off on my civic i think but oh well.. its a 91 dx hatchback 4 speed, 120k miles, interior is clean, exterior is free of dents and such but has some rust on the thing above the tires thats like an arch on both sides. besides that its clean besides all that... i payed 2800 for it at a dealership technially i didnt pay for it my parents did so ha