Del sol fanatic have owned 3 so far lol, i just found a 97 vtec which is super rare for $2500

The ad says it has 202k, new head gasket, timing belt, water pump, seals, tensioner, oil pan gasket, distributor and wires, drives great but has a leaking steering rack

Its also about 2 1/2 hrs away from where i live, since its a vtec i would not doubt that there was some heavy driving on it therefore i want to know if there was a way to determine the condition of the engine especially at 200k

I do plan on paying for a shop to do a pre purchase inspection

 

No real way of telling the condition without taking it apart and inspecting...

Only thing you/shop can do is a cold/hot compression test to determine how healthy it is at that particular moment. I guess if the owner would allow it, you could remove the valve cover and at least get a look at the valvetrain and t-belt to see their condition. The belt should be new, so that's easy to determine. As far as the valvetrain, you can usually determine if the oil was changed regularly if the metal has a golden hue to it as opposed to a dark brown.

But seriously, for $2500(say you get it for $2100ish) and clean, unmolested, not rusted original DOHC DelSol is a great deal. You can always rebuild the engine yourself or just get a swap down the line for cheap.

 

Found out the car was bought in Cali and stayed there for a decade before coming to OR, the car had the timing belt break so the engine was rebuilt, has a LS tranny in it with catback
Got it for $1900 yay, my 4th del sol lol and this would be my 3rd that i own at the moment so time to sell my 97 si

Been looking for a 97 vtec for a while so i took your advice and grabbed it as they are super duper rare

 

Take it to a shop to have it compression tested and leakdown. You'll have something on paper to show owner and also might not be held liable.

 

I'll bet that B16 engine is a dog with that LS transmission, though.

 

+1 on this. Sounds like you already purchased it already though. I'll never buy a used car without a a leakdown and dry/wet compression test performed first. Leakdown is the definitive test for compression loss in valves, rings and headgasket. Headgasket leakdown is better performed with straight shop air (w/o leakdown tester) around 125 psi. Dry compression test used to confirm compression numbers and percentages/ratio in relationship to each other (cylinder). Wet (tablespoon of oil) used to rule of compression loss via compression rings.
Checking spark plugs for fouling, Oil cap and dipstick for coolant in oil. Use dipstick to retrieve oil from oil pan, put on a piece of aluminum foil and heat foil with lighter..if sizzles and pops .equals coolant in oil.
Do a power balance test. A block test for headgasket. Some damn many test and that's just for engine. Really, the seller needs to be tested as much as the engine/car... an honest seller will let these test be performed as long as it's by a competent person/mechanic.

 

Yes i did purchase the car already, should i still have those tests done?

The owner works in a shop and restores mopars for a living

 

Why don't you do the compression test yourself?
While there, replaced the spark plugs and ignition wires.

 

That was my first thought when reading that too.... ouch

 

Can call him and ask him if he has performed any/all of those test and hopefully he will be truthful. Ask him if he would be willing to do (free or minimal charge) a leakdown test on it.
If the radiator's coolant level doesn't drop and the reservoir's level doesn't rise then the head gasket should be okay. monitor both daily for the next week or two.
Power balance test is free and easy..pull fuel injector harness off instead of spark plug wire (no coil pack on 6th gens):

 

I can look into doing the test, the spark, the ignition wires looked new and were NGK however. The only obvious problem and was a problem mentioned to me at sale was a power steering leak.

 

This and the fact the timing belt broke should be a giant red flag, but you captured the flag. Gl..