I've had a few hondas over the years. Sold my precious 94 Civic Si a few years a ago and regretted it ever since. Now i"m thinking about get the Del Sol VTEC. I gota drive a Del Sol S once and thought it was a lot of fun and like the idea of having one, but with the bigger B16 in it. (but they're both 1.6l so is it really bigger? LOL) But is there anything I should be aware of when buying this car? Common problems specific to this one? Like perhaps a JDM b16 swapped into a Del Sol S and the seller trying to pass it off as a Del Sol VTEC, or some other scam that might be out there?

Also whats everyone's experiences on trying to actually buy one of these? Are they hard to find, overpriced, usually drivin hard and modded most the time?

I'm just looking to get all the info I can before I get one.
Thanks!

Wow its been awhile since I've posted on HT. lol

 

You'll have a hard time finding a stock Del Sol VTEC. To make sure it's a real one, check the VIN for the chassis code EG2. I guess a problem you might find with all Del Sols is a leaky top. It is hard to say if it has been beaten on since different people drive differently.

 

yeah, they are getting pretty freakin rare.


Like previously stated, the targas leak, also common are trunk leak, doorpanel arm wrinkle, theres actually a section on this somewhere in the faq forums somewhere i think, shouldnt be hard to find.

 

yea they do leak in the roof but other than that i cant really find anything wrong with them my cousin actually has one. they are getting more and more rare lucky we found his and it was stock only problem is that its a lil rusty but that aint a problem since im a body man but we plan on rebuilding it from top to bottom to keep on of the greats alive.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JdelMsolG &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">yeah, they are getting pretty freakin rare...</TD></TR></TABLE>

They always were "rare"!

Honda didn't make/sell many of them - they were a dismal failure, marketing-wise!!!

Put another way, nobody wanted them...

 

I think I remember hearing that the first years had problems with roof leaking, 93-94.

 

I remember my CRX had leaky windows. lol. I forget why, windows wouldn't always roll up like I thought they did.I think it was a bad window regulator or something. Automatic carwashes were scary! lol

 

lol. my friend had a leaky top, he just used gasket makers and filled up the leaky spots. works good. looks not too good.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 95delsolz6 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I think I remember hearing that the first years had problems with roof leaking, 93-94.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Correct, they changed the seals (or rather, the materials they made them out of) so they wouldn't leak.

The VTEC's are great cars, pretty much like a two seater EM1, due to similar weight. They can be very hard to find though, and for that reason it might be easier/better to buy an Si (very common) or something with a swap. I had a GSR del Sol, very fun car

 

Del Sol VTECs have a B16A3, which no other car had.

So check the engine stamp and ensure it is, in fact, an A3.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hushypushy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Correct, they changed the seals (or rather, the materials they made them out of) so they wouldn't leak.

The VTEC's are great cars, pretty much like a two seater EM1, due to similar weight. They can be very hard to find though, and for that reason it might be easier/better to buy an Si (very common) or something with a swap. I had a GSR del Sol, very fun car </TD></TR></TABLE>

I don't wanna do a swap. Thats the whole reason why I wanted to buy this car. Doing a swap legally requires finding a USDM engine first and foremost. Also, despite what some honda-tech bench warmers may say, its not so easy to find a USDM B series engine and if they can be found they usually have way more miles wear and tear than a typical JDM engine would.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by allmotorEG-SI &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I don't wanna do a swap. Thats the whole reason why I wanted to buy this car. Doing a
swap legally requires finding a USDM engine first and foremost.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Incorrect. You can BAR a JDM engine as long as it has an equivalent in the US. For example, you could BAR a B16A, but not a B16B, because the A has the A2 and A3 in the US as equivalents. Check this thread if you don't believe me


<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by allmotorEG-SI &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Also, despite what some honda-tech bench warmers may say, its not so easy to find a USDM B series engine and if they can be found they usually have way more miles wear and tear than a typical JDM engine would.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Since when are B series engines hard to find??

 

if you do get a leaky top, try greasing the seals before you buy new ones(way to expensive).

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hushypushy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Incorrect. You can BAR a JDM engine as long as it has an equivalent in the US. For example, you could BAR a B16A, but not a B16B, because the A has the A2 and A3 in the US as equivalents. Check this thread if you don't believe me


Since when are B series engines hard to find??</TD></TR></TABLE>

USDM B series engines are hard to find in decent condition. JDM ones are not.

Also despite linking to a thread that may say otherwise, I've spoken with the state ref about this and they have told me that if the specific engine in the car being smogged was offered in Japan and not in America, even though it has an equivalent, its still not smog legal because that specific engine was not available for a Honda in America. The tricky thing here is the guy that is smoging it. Some may let you get away with it and some may not. So its a gamble and not something I wish to gamble with. Furthermore...I would rather not have to deal with the headache of all of this, finding the engine, finding the parts to swap the engine, the actual labor in doing so; when I could just find a Del Sol with the b16 already in it. Sure it may be hard to find, but first search I did on autotrader I found 3 that day. So patience is a lot easier than a swap IMO.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by del sol1658 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if you do get a leaky top, try greasing the seals before you buy new ones(way to expensive). </TD></TR></TABLE>

PB Blaster says that it'll make gaskets and seals like that expand if you spray it on them. I don't know how well that works though as I have never actually tried it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BlackDeuceCoupe &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

They always were "rare"!

Honda didn't make/sell many of them - they were a dismal failure, marketing-wise!!!

Put another way, nobody wanted them...
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I love sols.

I want them all

 

You can BAR a JDM engine:

 

YES!
I know you can BAR a JDM engine. I'm just saying it depends on how nice the ref is being that day. Some may not go for it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dc4iNtEgRa &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You can BAR a JDM engine:</TD></TR></TABLE>

damn, you even have a little thing that specifies B16A and JDM, very interesting.

 

What you should be aware of?

They have a tendency to leak through the top, it's heavy as ****, so it's slow - and the VTEC version is rare as hell.

 

i have both a 94 & a 95 vtec model and never experienced the leaks, but i do live in socal and rain is rare

as for motor swaps, the ca bar ref's are not working at this time, as seen here: http://www.smogcheck.ca.gov

finding del sol vtec models in cali is easier than any other state...

 

Ahhh I miss mine!!! Lol, i actually miss the leaky roof. I never got around to replacing the seals on the targa top. My friend crashed it into a tree before i could do it. Some friend right? Just kidding, he helped my buy a 4 door civic that i have now. I even got $500 bucks for my totalled del sol! I guess thats a test of how rare there are. It was just a shell too. Anyways, I'll def get another one day.

 

you sure about that? my 93 S (d15b7) has EG2 in the VIN