I'm in the market for an R at this time, as I've been a few times in my past. At the ripe young age of 33 I feel it's now or never. I found two in which are good candidates, 1 of which I couldn't find a ton of info on. Was hoping maybe the owners here can help.

The badge number is 00-0648. The owner is out of Texas and has admitted the car is an oil consumer. Currently sits with 108,xxx on the cluster and has everything VIN matching he said. The car is flawless from the pictures I've seen thus far. This will be an out of state deal so the more info the better. Thanks in advance.

The other is 98-0298 and the owner has provided me with sooo much info. Few R owners in my area know him and have also vouched for the car. My only concern with this one is the mileage. It sits with 213k miles currently and needs some odds and ends to make perfect.

What a tough decision as I'd imagined this would be. Can't wait to finally have a piece of Honda history!

 

Looked at the registry. 00-0648 is not listed. So if you buy it put it on there!

Here's the page for 98-0298. 1998 Acura Integra Type R #98-0298

If it was me I'd definitely get the lower mileage one.

 

I wanted the low mileage one also, but he said it burns oil, has what he believes is a oil pan or rear main seal leak. Sounds like the motor was FI at some point in its life. 98-0298 is a solid car. He's driven it to Florida and multiple 1500 mile trips around the US. That's respectable!!

 

sorry, signed in via Facebook. That previous post is from me.

 

Realistically whichever one you buy will need work. You need to determine how far you are willing to go with whichever one you buy.

Getting it perfect means you will rarely drive it as one little nick on the paint will bother you. Figure out how you are going to use the car.

In thd end it is your money so spend it smart. There is a hefty price for ITR parts especially if you are putting it back to stock. Paint alone will go into the thousands for adecent one. 10k for a perfect one.

Good luck with your search and please post pics when you decide which one to buy

 

I would not buy anything with rust personally.

 

Many folks worry about the oily bits, milage, etc and that's understandable, but when it comes to classics or near classics, mechanical bits and bobs can nearly always be repaired or sourced, rust is the worst, the most insidious killers of cars.(Folks from places like Arizona, google "rust" and recoil in horror at what your damp climate fellow petrolheads have to deal with. )

That high milage example has rust on the rear trailing edge of the wheelarch. Start poking at that and it'll most likely be at least three times that size before you get back to solid metal. If it's going there, then it's very likely to be going at the rear sill/rear bottom wheelarch as well. Check out this thread from a UK based R forum(a fantastic resource too IMH, sadly quite quiet these days. They've mostly gone to ArseBook). Before you do, pour a stiff drink and sit down... That's a lot of welding and repainting.

That car is otherwise one helluva survivor and a great example of the basic solidity and longevity of these cars of ours. It so deserves to live on, but for someone with the time, patience and pockets to follow through.

 

Agreed with the posts above. These cars are approaching classics status. Anything can be fixed and replaced, although some discontinued parts are harder to source. Rust free and matching vins are king. Is the high mileage one from Cincinnati? I think he's pretty active on the Facebook groups and dailies his R. So if you want a white one and plan to actually drive her maybe that's the one for you if the price is right.

 

Thanks guys, The other seller backed out and decided to keep it. From the beginning Ive had a thing for the CW 98. Hopefully we can come to an agreement soon and he can make his way over here to CT.

I'm having a hard time seeing why these cars aren't selling anymore. Has the market went down? Are they depreciating now?

 

The craze is over. Only stupid low mileage ones are selling for a premium.

 

They're selling, but ones in stock form are what people want.

 

98-0298 is a personal friend of mines. He does drive that thing EVERYWHERE but he takes damn good care of it.

 

Thats how most adults with cash would prefer it.

Kind of why I want it. Just wondering what it’s going to look like in 3 years if I were to say never drive it and garage it.

When you say the craze is over, what exactly do you mean?

 

I'm sure you already know what it was painted fairly recent.

 

Well, that’s what I mean. The quarters are already coming back through just worried about where it really ends.

 

I'd scratch the high mileage one immediately, especially if there's rust.

The other one would depend on why it's burning oil. If it's just leaky seals then that's fixable, if it's bad piston rings then I'd wait for a better one to show up since a rebuild or swap is in the near future. Has the owner done a leakdown or compression test?

 

My opinion is that all ITR are worth saving. There just aren't that many out there. Condition will determine the price.

I see modified cars as a gift. If you plan to drive and or track your ITR, it is a cheaper way to get into an ITR as collectors generally want factory stock.

 

I’m actually looking for it as stock as possible, while still wanting to drive it. Whatever aftermarket parts I receive with be replaced with sought after OEM stuff i.e exhaust, header, intake with MAYBE the exception of suspension. I’m still toying with the idea of running the OEM ITR suspension. Don’t wanna ditch those well made control arms in the rear.

Speaking of which, what do most R owners do about suspension? The car I’m looking at currently has EG stuff I believe (regular style LCA) if I want to keep the stock LCA what are my options? Seller has the 20 year old OEM ITR stuff I’ll be receiving.

 

Get jdm oem suspension. It's cheap, $200 or less used, and is slightly better than usdm because it's a little lower and stiffer.

 

Lot of people go with the typical koni/GC combo, can't go wrong there.
You can spend a little more for Eibach R2s.
Or just go big with JRZ/Moton/MCS.

 

Usually with these cars, it's more than the rings...the cylinder bores wear ever so slightly oblong and require remaching and going to the first standard overbore piston to solve oil consumption issues if it's the bottom end. You could always have a valve guide or PCV issue too, but at 108K it's not unusual to need a bottom end refresh.