So on with the story...

I bought a '93 Civic CX with a B18B already swapped in back in August '08 for $2200. This was my first car, bought with my own money at the age of 18, it was also my first Honda. Well, little did I know about this site, otherwise I would've asked you guys to help me out before I bought it. Anyways, i soon found all the problems with it. I drove it fine for about 10 months and then it started bogging...so i cleaned the IACV and it worked fine for about 3 months before having to do it again. The idiots used a b16 harness with a chipped p28 ECu because they were going to do a frankenstein, or LSVTEC. Well, the car really started giving me trouble and after a front end collision and everythign paid by me cuz insurance was a bitch and yadda yadda, I sold the hatch about 2 weeks ago for $1600. So i lost $600, plus the parts to fix it from accident ($500) plus the upgrades ($1000).

So hopefully on May 8th, I will be the new owner of a '94 Integra LS with 180k miles on the speedo. Im 99% positive the car has the origional engine and everything, since this is what i was looking for, something completely stock to start fresh and clean with no bullshit, now that I know what I'm doing, sorta lol.

So what I need to know is, what should be the first thigns I do to the car to hopefully make it last me another 6-12 months if not longer? I really don't want to pull the engine just yet, cuz Im buying it for $1600 and I've promised the GF's family that it would last me at least a year before engine swap.

The car runs great and ive ridden in it...the guy works at my work but hes leaving to Finland in 3 weeks. It is in great condition inside and out. I am pretty sure it has the sir front end but i may be wrong.

so yeah. haha. hes take the car when he first bought it to a shop to have the engine cleaned with the **** they run through it, and weve put injector cleaner and other stuff through it to help get rid of the old gunk.

sorry for the ultra long post, i just want to be able to drive her for at least 6 months with little problems til i get more college grant money to buy another engine- if i need it.

-Arthur

 

thats not to bad i spent 1100 on my 92 GS and all it needed was an alternator...but thats it...if this car seems like it will run and not crap out on you...get it

 

post up some pics

 

Pictures would help, yes. As far as making it last goes, check everything out. Maybe change the oil, spark plugs, air filter, etc. Check all of your fluids, the condition of the timing belt, etc. After you look at it yourself, take it to a mechanic to look over everything to make sure nothing is going bad anytime soon. Hopefully it had all the routine maintenance thus far, but it might be due for some soon.

 

Any pics?

 

yeah it has had three owners. the origional was an older guy who DD'd it, i.e. kept up with the oil changes all that ish. the second was a mom who hd it as a backup and her son was driving it for like a month ors omething and he didnt knw what the **** he had cuz he sold it to this guy for 1600 in pristine condition. i did KBB and a private sale is like 2600+ and dealer is 4000+ even with the miles. so yeah. it runs great i didnt hear any grinds, it sounded like it shifted smooth, the only thing with it is its missing the side molding ont he paasenger side, the one that is after the door...idk how else to describe it...the one on the quarter panel. um and it has a leaking slave cylinder which hes replacing. besides that the interiro is in excleent shape, same with the outside.

liek i said weve run all kinds of fluids/cleaners through it to clean it up a little. i just hope it lasts me for like 6-12 months to drive literraly 2 miles to work and back and to school like 3 nights a week. but hes been driving it since october and hasnt had any problems really.

im just praying and hoping it holds up. i was even contmplating on buying and reselling it for 3k cuz integras that clean go for 5k around here lol.

but i really want to keep it.

 

il post pics up soon i have to get my camera charged so hopefully by thursday il have some pics. the other shitty thing is the maaco paint job, the paint itself is ok, but the overspray in the bay is ugh, shitty lol.

 

sounds like a god deal. i would get it and go through it like people said. do the timing belt and water pump off the bat but you should learn how to do this yourself. its not hard. and you'll save literally like 4-6 hundred bucks from the shop labor if you do it yourself.

 

Seriously go with it sounds like a good car

 

thats my plan. also, i think it is safe to say that the later engine model years have less miles in most cases than the earlier model years (i.e. 98 B18B vs. 94 B18B). so when the engine craps out...what actually happens to the engine? piston? rings? rods? what makes the engine "die?" and if so...what are my options? can i rebuild the engine? and what does that involve? replacing whatever broken parts...and liekt he seals and stuff? or would it be cheaper to buy another LS and just swap it in?

another thing...i believe the 94-97 LS engines have the FITV valve and the IACV correct? and the 98-01 have just the IACV right? cuz i had a 98 LS in my hatch and it didnt have the FITV. so how hard would it be to swap in a 98LS into a 94 integra? is it direct fit? or would i need to run a conversion harness plus ECU? my main concern is the FITV...cuz the 94 LS has it and a 98 engine doesnt.

any help on any of my questions would really make my day. im new to hondas and i just want to have something that will last me till i am able to do an acctual build.
thank you
arthur

 

Here's my experience. I bought an RS integra with a virtually unknown history. The engine was either a rebuild, or a swapped junkyard engine. B18A1 block.. It leaks oil, about .5 quarts a month because of a leaky head gasket. The Odometer was rolled back from 180k before I bought it. It could very well have over 100k miles on the second engine.

Because I'm waiting for an engine to be built, I tend not to give this engine too much TLC, as the money will be better spent on my new motor. The only thing I've done at purchase was replace my BMC, spark plugs, and changed my oil. I drive the car probably about 400 miles a month, and I've only topped off and changed the oil in the car since. I've owned the car for about 7 months now, and the engine/car is still going strong just as i bought it. I've also done some spirited canyon driving a few times as well.

If you intend on keeping the engine, as long as it's not burning oil, you should be good to go for over 200k miles as long as you're changing your fluids and sparkplugs at regular intervals, as well as maintaining regular service.

Edit: My guess is if you're doing a 98 LS swap into 94, you should be fine with an OBD2 conversion harness to utilize the 98 LS ECU. At most you'll just have an extra needless plug on the harness side for the FITV. I would confirm this by doing some searching though.

 

check your distributor, timing belt, belts, spark plugs, wires, radiator.

 

Awsome thank you for the reply. yeah i see it every day at work and im pretty good friends with the guy. Hes moving back to Finland and needs the money to buy a ticket and pay off aaron's for furnitur. anyways, I see him drive it into and from work and ive ridden in it once and it sounded great. we put a cheapo ebau exhaust on it cuz his pipes were rusty and had holes in them. I didnt really care cuz the ebay exhaust is Stainless Steel, so im good there for now. And his brother is a honda guru, hes got an h22 in his teg and is loving it. (btw- im not saying that having an h22 in a teg makes anyone a honda guru lol) and he went with the guy when he bought the teg and told him it was an excellent find and he should definately get it. so that tells me that the guy knew what he was looking at and that the price was a steal. but yeah, i plan on doing just the basics to it firs, cuz i have to mnake it last for 6-12 months before i can start buying the little thigns i want for it.

thanks for the post. i plan on changing the spark plugs/wires, cap and rotor right off the bat. what should i look for when checkign the dizzy, timing belt?

 

check the cap for wear on the contacts. The Ignition control module tends to go out on it. it left me stranded last week but i finally narrowed down the culprit. One odd thing is to keep your oem dizzy and swap parts into it.

aftermarket dizzy=CEL 9
aftermarket dizzy swapped into OEM dizzy=no CEL. go figure.

check for timing depending on engine 16 degrees off red mark, adjust valves. listen to the engine and make sure things are not too loud like a knock or excessive ticking.

 

Hey guys sorry for no updates. Um so here she is: 1994 integra LS completely bone stock. Just got my title, registration and tag transferred today

This is how i got her...after her first wash; back side and front side:



This is some shots of the interior, after a quick (quick mind you lol) detail:



Also where can i get the missing uh brain fart, well here, the MISSING black piece ont he quarter panel? I tried junkyard, but its a small town with not that many tegs. tried ebay but they want you to buy the whole set.


And i need some tires real bad up front. Check ou these uber rare honda wheels =P (and the 4x4 status ftw lol):

 

Also if you couldnt tell from the pictures, it has a really shitty maaco paint job. im not getting into the whoel maaco paint job good vs. bad discussion, but the paint quality isnt bad at all, pretty much no orange peel, its just that they have really bad overspray and the paint is chipping in a few places like the bottom half of the bumper where they were toolazy to take it off and the engine bay where they didnt tape it off.

il post pics of the bay after i wash it, right now its straight raunchy lol...

 

Car looks pretty clean from what I can tell in the pics. Also when you are checking the timing belt, look for any slight cracking or tearing of any sort. Definitely check the oil and all fluids like everyone else is saying. As for it lasting you 6-12 months, I think it's doable as long as you do what has been suggested. I don't see you having problems at all. But afterwards...you plan to do LSVTEC or GSR swap?

 

Pictures of the engine bay... Also the muffler isn't stock.

 

Thank you. I checked all the fluids on lunch break at work yesterday. everythign seems to be sopt on. Also drove it a little more aggresively yesterdya and it sounded pretty solid. My firts thing ont he list is some tires/wheels. Anybody have any blades they wish to selll or some other 15" or 16" inch wheels? PM me please. If not im thinking just getting some tires for the stock wheels just to be safe; the front ones are pretty much bald. And when the engine dies, and the money is right, I want to do everything to it that i always wanted to do, i.e. j-swap, jdm front end/sir-g front end and black out the lights myself, and a few other things that i might get flamed for but idc its my car. lol


will take today after work. i know the muffler isnt stock i mentioned it in my first post.

 

can mod delete this thread please...i started a new thread for the build of this car. thank you