I have two 91 civic DX hatches. I love the car. I've been driving one off and on since '06. Upon recent conversations with my wife, I have been debating if keeping/improving my 91 civic is worth it in the long run.

The one I drive has 206k on it, needs paint love, new radiator, has exhaust issues, needs new windshield, and has had some exterior seal issues.

The other one I use for parts. It has 199k on the engine. And probably too much rust to keep around.

Currently I am just using one for a daily driver and the other for parts when they go bad. But I am wondering how much longer the 206k engine will last. I have obvious dreams of swapping an engine in, but I don't know if it is worth putting thousands into it.

What do you think are 91's worth it?

 

Keep the better car, get rid of the parts car after pulling the good parts off of it. Honda engine last a long time, you shouldn't worry about that so much. If you were to swap an engine later down the road, and want to get it cheap....use a 90-91 Integra. You can buy a whole swap for about $600 and make more hp, and lots more tq

 

Any car is worth it as long as that's what you want.. I would def keep it and put a little work into it and have a nice clean daily driver.. Those cars are a blast to drive even stock..

 

If the body/frame are rust free then keep it.

 

This right here hits the nail on the head. Worth is subjective and it's entirely up to you. The way I see it for me personally, I don't pay a monthly note, don't pay as much for insurance, still get better gas mileage than most cars out there, and parts are relatively inexpensive (and for you, you have a parts car to pull from at your discretion). Basically, it's cheaper, cheaper, cheaper, and cheaper to keep it. On top of that, you can make the car as fast as you want if your wallet will let you. The only downside to all of this is that the car is old and probably isn't as crash friendly by today's standards. If you can live with that, then you're good.

 

Keep it

 

Here's the interior and engine compartment as off last August (2011)

 

Your motor should, based on driving habits, be good until around 250k miles. You could still push it after that, but unless you were the first and only owner, you should plan on the 250k mark being time for a swap.

There shouldn't be any reason to dump "thousands" into the EF, unless you want a race car, or a show quality paint job, or a crazy engine swap.

Swapping to another D would only cost you at the most like $500, and that is on the expensive side, normally would be cheaper. Then add a low-mid level paint job (after YOU do the prepping).

 

Like other have said, you can swap a new radiator, windshield AND ENGINE in that car for under a grand.

 

91"s are amazing.

 

drive your dd til the engine dies and then have a swap engine built and ready to go in....as for the parts car...keep it as i have a parts car in the yard and its great to have extra parts there when you need them and not have to find a salvage yard with the stuff you need or a run to the parts store

 

If you are going to sell it let me know ... My friend looking for one .

 

In my opinion..id sell both for as much as possible and try and pick up an Si model with as little miles as possible..Then it would be worth it in the long run

 

First picture in post #7,

What's that gauge cluster from? (Year, Model?)

To the OP's quesiton...

Keep the car, everyone saying $500 to swap in an engine is bullshitting. (Unless you already have 99% of the ****, or the **** you're buying is half ***'d/broken, with a million miles from some idiot on CL.) I do plenty of deals selling **** on CL but there are A LOT of idiots.

I had 0 equipment to do a swap besides tools (i.e. no engine hoist, etc.). I also bought the engine from a JDM importer, with a guarantee on startup. Peace of mind right there. From there you buy a new timing belt + water pump, cake walk while the engine is out of the car. Replace all the small ****, cap/rotor, spark plugs + wires, etc. New fluids right before you put the engine in and you're good to go.

To do everything, right down to the fluids, total cost came out to about $1250. But the engine has 40,000 miles and drives like a dream.

A lot cheaper than a new car, cheaper than most shops to rebuild a whole engine.

P.S. I don't backyard joe blow my ****. Do it right the first time and you won't be doing it again. Ex. engine hoist > A chain wrapped over a tree limp. Trust me, I've seen it, people are ****ing idiots.

 

keep em both. EF's for life.

 

an engine rebuilt for that is very inexpensive and its like 0 miles again dude

 

yes,
my 95 civic has 250k and still going strong. She's not much to luck at but but she get's me to work and still fun to drive.

people get rid of cars way too early IMO. back in the day when my CD player ran out of batteries I would take them out, shake em up, anything to get the most out of them. same with a car, do everything you can to keep it going.EF hatch is so convenient, back seats and room in the back for groceries.

 

Please read the rules #4 #5