Hey guys, I currently drive a '94 Civic LX and it's been really great. Gets me from A to B while sipping fuel. However, I was thinking about moving up to something faster.

I know a guy selling a '92 Civic VX with some mods. The car isn't much to look at (plus he's selling it with steelies) and a different color hatch, but he says it's fast. He says he'll give me a break on the price since I know him, but I honestly never owned a turbo car before so I'm not sure if this is a good buy. Below is what he lists:

"kyb fully adjustable suspension, traction bars, poly urethane bushings. the motor is a jdm ls with about 35,000 miles on it with a NEW 6 puck act clutch and 9lb fidanza flywheel. the transmission is a 99 jdm b16 last week dave and i replaced the syncros in it and welded the diff. the turbo kit is a garrett 60 trim with a xs blow off valve and huge front mount. it also has dsm 450cc injectors and a chipped computer. it now has a side exit exhaust.car is on 14lbs of boost and does high 11's. the car had a dent in the back of it wen i bought it and they tried to fix it with bondo"

Here are some pics:









So what would be a fair price for the car?

 

well speaking from the ordeal i have been through buying someones else turbo project I would never do it again lol. I would have much rather found a decent car and put all the parts in myself so I knew everything was right, because what I got -everything was wrong-

a 6 puck for DD sucks.. you do get used to it as long as its sprung, but its pretty dumb sitting in traffic.

not sure what hatches go for around your area, I would certainly check craigslist out and see what people are selling stuff for. but from the way things sell around Chi something like that that needed alot of body stuff done would prolly be 3-4 grand.

And even though you know the guy, make sure that you take the car to mechanic that you choose and have them look everything over and see what needs to be replaced and start minusing from the price. thats the only protection you have buying a car from a private seller. no lemon laws apply, it is an -as is- sale.

 

a 6 puck for DD isnt that bad. I DD my 4 puck sprung with no issues at all. Doesnt even really chatter unless you dont know how to drive.

 

^^ +1 my 4 puck unsprung only took a week or 2 to get used to and i can do it smooth as a sprung.

OP: id say 3-4k since u know the dood, you know how he beats on it.. so it up to you if you want to buy someone elses headache.

 

Does he have timeslips to prove it runs high 11's? That's really fast, even for a turbo hatch.

 

^^ second on the 6puck, feels good to me
One thing I am not a fan of is the welded differential, yea great for the quarter mile but not much else. Think about that if you want a DD

 

Good point there. Sorry to hear you had some rough bumps with your car. I guess not only do you inherit the good things, but you also get the faults and problems too. I just figured it was a good starting place for me since I've never had a turbo car before and it'd be nice to see everything assembled properly. Or so I hope lol.

I had a crazy clutch in one of my old cars that was terrible in traffic. It was either grip or no grip. It engaged so well that it was near impossible to daily drive. I got used to it, but it was quite a pain sometimes. Though I guess with a boosted car, a beefed up clutch is necessary?

It seems like his investment was more in engine/trans work than body work. I guess that's ok. If I had to pick one or the other, I'd go with reliability over looks any day.

He's not that close of a buddy so I will be careful before making a commitment. Don't want to get stuck with a pickle. Though if it does turn out well, it should make for a fun little hatch.

 

He claims to have a slip. I'll check it out tomorrow. That did seems rather low but I'm not complaining lol.

I did a little research and it seems welding the diff was a bad idea . I do mostly highway driving but still I was surprised to see how many negative comments/threads I found. I wonder if that's why he's selling the car now? Regretting the weld.

 

no i agree, i got used it in about 2 weeks, i dont let it chatter anymore, only rarely when im not paying attention. I just wouldnt let anyone else drive it thats for damn sure.

 

My personal experience with it was a nightmare. On straights yea since the wheels spin at the same speed but on turns it varies. The thing would hop, try to shut off, shutter, shake u name it. Think having a strong clutch is bad DD, what about when you have to push in the clutch or floor it to take a curve without the engine telling you to **** off...... You tires and other parts wear out quicker as well... all this is worse if you don't have power steering and if you do... well it probably messes up the power steering.

Always built not bought

 

i hear you on not letting other people drive it. Otherwise my fiancee wouldve been hitting some boost by now


Welded diff is kinda iffy for driving. prepare to be spinning while turning or taking all your turns slower than normal.

 

Good news and bad news.

Good-> Looks like I can get the car for an even $2000. Told him that a welded diff makes for a difficult daily driver and chatting with him for about an hour helped him to be more willing to work with the price lol. Looks like he's moving into RWD which is why he's letting the Civic go.

Bad -> Cvcrcr99 (a member on another forum) said that this probably isn't a good build. I believe he said, "He slapped a cheap motor and turbo on it and put an ECU on it." He also says that "XSpower is a cheap 'eBay' brand." I'd hate to invest in a poor quality build. I'll admit that I don't know much about turbo setups so I'm not sure if Cvcrcr99 is right.

So the cons are that it will probably need to be reverted back to open diff or lsd. How hard will it be to change back? Can I just swap in a stock diff or an aftermarket brand? Or did welding it make things more difficult?

 

The question is, how much are you willing to spend for a new car? It will cost you more than 2000 dollars, because now you have to fix problems. This thread should read "I own a 94 civic LS and want more power". You already have a honda power plant, more weight yes but all the power options will make it a better daily driver.

I always see abandoned project cars as a warning sign when they are for sale. I bought a "good deal" on a project car and lasted exactly 15 days before the motor blew up. I didn't abuse it because it had been 4 years since I driven a 5sp and was trying to be easy on it. The whole crank pulley came out while driving and destroyed the crank. It developed a rod knock almost immediately after. All because the crank key was never installed.

Just keep in mind that you might be paying 2k possibly for a headache. If you don't know turbo but want to learn, either buy a stock turbo car, buy a complete brand name turbocharger kit, or build your own after researching.

 

That car sounds a bad deal for you you don't want a welded diff and if you don't know much about turbos your gonna spend a lot of time learning fixing that thing. And an eBay kit on an ls wont run 11's

 

it might.... for 1 pass :D

 

thats a deal for a hatch... around here pos hatch with lots of rus and a tired *** d series go for 2500 or so... could always part of the bs parts and get real parts

 

For $2k it still might be a fun car. Especially if it truly runs 11's (which honestly would surprise the hell out of me, even with slicks). You could use it to play around with and learn the basics and it wouldn't be a huge loss if you blew it up. Building your own turbo Honda would obviously be a better choice, as you can pick and choose each component you want and make sure everything is done right, but it will also be far more expensive.

Also, make sure you see those timeslips. If he's lying about how fast it is, it hurts his credibility and is an indication that he is probably lying about other stuff as well.

 

I seriously dought it runs 11's, but it all depends on the tranny and if it launches hard. My friend runs 11.8 @130+ and we are at over 6000ft elevation. I have also seen my buddy in fl run 10.9 in an gutted EG with a k20 and a 125 shot