my mom has a '97 honda civic dx sedan. she came to visit one weekend and ended up with a rock through her radiator. that's been fixed but with her driving it overheated for so long, the engine has lost compression. i'm thinking about taking it off her hands and putting a new engine in it. (she will be getting a new car in the mean time). here's what i'm thinking.

$500 car
$500+ used engine
$250-500 misc parts

does this sound correct? can i get some direction from someone that knows civics? i've been out of the civic scene for quite some time.

thank you!

 

well not sure the cost of the car.. but in regards to the bad motor.. u only need the motor not tranny. inless the tranny is bad of course... and misc parts ? meaning rad. fluild . motor oil and sockets. borrow a picker or even do it with a jack if u have to.

 

not sure what happened to the other two posts on this thread.

the stealership will give her $500 for it. I told her I'd give her that for the car 'cause i thougt it would be a good investment.

i have all the tools i need and the tranny is in good shape. i know i'm looking at oil, coolant, possibly some belts, plugs, wires, etc. like i said though...everything other than the engine itself has been replaced in the last year.

what about the computer etc? if i got the same model engine, would it be plug and play or do i have to get a code reader, etc?

 

well im the kinda guy who says if the belts, plugs, wires work then why fix it.. perhaps once its actually running start considering changing it.. motor wise... it should b plug and play

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by importmonkey &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
$500 car
$500+ used engine
$250-500 misc parts

does this sound correct? can i get some direction from someone that knows civics? i've been out of the civic scene for quite some time.

thank you!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Those prices are about right. I did this exact thing last fall, only the car was a '96 (see sig).

Paid:
$400 for chassis
$650 for a D16Y7 block w/ 77,000 miles (over paid a bit)
and +/- $300 in misc. fluids/parts including brake pads/shoes/rotors/drums and tires etc.

I reused as much as I could including the radiator, tranny, alt etc. Now I have a car with a low mileage motor and great gas mpg. It was totally worth my time, money and effort.

I say go for it.