UPDATED 4/18 PICS ADDED BELOW

I picked it up for $500 and so far it doesn't run and has some front end damage. It does have a good leather interior, power options that work, inpection until july, and a 5spd with what I was told is a good clutch. For 216k mi I don't think its really in that bad of shape.
I took the valve cover off and it appears the belt jumped a tooth or two and it is loose. It looks a bit mangled from moving back and forth on the cam gears so I ordered up a new timing belt kit so hopefully that will get it running.







I pulled the plugs and they are clean but super-worn worse than any plugs I've ever seen. This is probably due to both the timing being advanced too far and the plugs not being changed when they should have. The distributer cap is new but the plug wires are original 1996 parts. I'm amazed they still worked.




First upgrade:



This weekend me and some friends are installing the T-belt and water pump so after that if it doesnt run I'll do a compression test. If that test shows low psi at all I'll take off the head and see if it has some bent valves. I do have some LS heads to replace it with so that really isn't a big problem.

*UPDATE*
Timing belt was a bitch, especially lining it up and removing the crank pulley, but it was all worth while. The car runs super-smooth. The engine is quiet and the tranny shifts great. I've decided I'm selling/trading the leather interior for some cloth since $300 is well worth it for me. I'm getting it insured on Monday and it'll be my daily driver till the end of winter when the teal car comes out of hibernation and it should have the turbo kit all put together and installed on it by then.

Beat-as-hell timing belt I took off of it:


Pic of the SE w/my meshies on it since the tires it came with were totally bald:


I fized up the front-end today so I can sell this bitch before I leave for the summer in May. Probably selling it to a girl i'm friends with but in case she backs out, price is $2500 for a perfect running, leather interior'd, buttery-smooth shifting 5spd teg! Located in SE PA, zip 19504.
I'm super amazed at how awesome this things looks after a few hours of bending out the upper rad support!





Modified by Danronian at 5:07 PM 2/11/2006


Modified by Danronian at 5:37 PM 2/11/2006


Modified by Danronian at 5:40 PM 2/11/2006


Modified by Danronian at 5:41 PM 2/11/2006


Modified by Danronian at 6:41 PM 4/18/2006


Modified by Danronian at 6:47 PM 4/18/2006

 

Some day when I actually have time I'm gonna take some daytime pics b/c night pics aren't that hot looking. Ah well, the car isnt either.

 

not bad for $500

 

damn, good find for 500 bucks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RARE_EG2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">not bad for $500</TD></TR></TABLE>
I love that Del Sol in your avatar.
I didnt think $500 was a bad price, though some of my friends think I'm crazy for buying it... Sure it needs some work but after it runs it should be a good multi-colored daily beater.

 

Question?:
Would the timing belt jumping 2-3 teeth be enough to bend valves?

 

good luck with it. Always good to see others reppin the SE's. : )

 

500? u can't even find a wrecked up da for that price. amazing find

 

5 bills is a steal, usually around Ca you find a BARE SHELL for 500

 

nasty interior collor but good steal like they said

 

good find

 

Great deal.

 

nice find.....i got almost the same thing....but in black.....would u be willing to sell or swap ur drivers side door.....i need it badddd......plz man im in ur area too im willing to meet up.....u will help a bootha out....plz man....and if yes u could canu post pics of it ...plz man...id apprecitate it a lot.....yes or no post plz

 

That interior is pretty clean Good find.

 

Sending you a PM regarding trade.

 

I never realized how hard a crank shaft pullet bolt is to get off... I guess I'll give it a day soaked in PB Blaster before I give it another try....

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Danronian &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I never realized how hard a crank shaft pullet bolt is to get off... I guess I'll give it a day soaked in PB Blaster before I give it another try....</TD></TR></TABLE>
haha, i know. there is like 5000 foot pounds or torque on it. use a really long pipe to open it

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GreyDel &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">damn, good find for 500 bucks </TD></TR></TABLE>

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by v-tec maz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">haha, i know. there is like 5000 foot pounds or torque on it. use a really long pipe to open it </TD></TR></TABLE>

First I tried my impact gun that is max 450lbs tq, that was turned all the way up and the psi was 20 over the max...it did nothing...
Next I put the car on the ground, put it in fifth, and with a 3 ft long pipe all it would do is move the car and torque the motor around inside the mounts...
Hopefully all the effort on that little damned thing combined with PB Blaster will make it come out like butter tommorrow night.

 

Wow. After at least 4hrs, I got that crank pulley bolt off...
I tried everything other than sticking something in the flywheel to hold the crank pulley but the thing that held it for me was a home-made tool my friend made consisting of a huge nut to fit into the crank pulley and a big open end wrench welded onto the end of it. After breaking a 1/2in extension and a 1/2in crafstman ratchet, I used an 8ft long pipe (no kidding, it was actually a few pipes put together) on a craftsman ratchet and 20 in extension and that finally broke that bitch so it would spin out. I set the cams back to TDC and they were both off about 4-5 teeth. Since the motor spun freely when it was like that I'm praying for no bent valves but at this point I have no idea...I won't know until I get the new T-belt on and tensioned correctly if the head is trash or not. I should have taken a picture of the ghetto pipe set-up I used, it looked entirely retarded...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RARE_EG2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">not bad for $500</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

nah you wont have bent valves

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RARE_EG2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">not bad for $500</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by v-tec maz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">nah you wont have bent valves </TD></TR></TABLE>
I sure hope not.

 

That's a fuggen steal for 5 bills.