I picked up a 99 shell from someone local. The car has semi new paint, no rot in the rear quarters, carbon hood and trunk and overall the body is in pretty good shape. However upon closer inspection of the car Im realizing things that are scaring me a bit. Theres cut wires under the dash from a botched alarm install, someone cut the a hole in the rear trunk and covered it with a piece of sheet metal, a lot of interior parts are missing (i have a parts car I can grab the interior from). My plans were to drop a K24 with a 6speed type S trans, 5 lug conversion and Yellow recaros. I have a lot of the parts already for the swap already....but Im just questioning if its worth doing all this work or should I try and sell the shell and get something a little better. On the one hand, I have the shell already... on the other... its gonna take me forever to repair it before it ready to drive.

 

Assume the worst in these situations, when dealing with unknowns from 24 years of prior ownership. Pictures would help, the sheet metal cover is the most concerning aspect.

Wiring issues are extremely common in these cars for exactly the reason you mentioned, people doing botched DIY alarm/sound/accessory installations. Basically, only move forward if you're prepared to deal with potentially a large number of issues there.

It would likely make more sense and be safer to sell this shell, and save up for either a better one or find an EK that's running and driving with a D series that you can swap. That way you'll already know better what the condition of the electronics and such are.

 

Best solution will be to find a complete running and driving car. That way you know everything is functioning.

as far as the botched wiring, your not going to find many cars that have not been tampered with.
With the high theft rates in these older cars, you can only assume that all 90s-00s cars will have an alarm installed (or previuously)....mostly from places like good guys, circuit city, and best buy.

for me, the ideal one will be a stock automatic running car with a blown head gasket.
those are the best bang for buck if the intentions are to do a complete build on it anyways

good luck

 

Or save up and find a clean one to import from overseas (what I wish I had done). Depending on the country IE Japan the theft rate would have been a lot lower too, loweirng the odds of botched wires or evidence of screwdrivers being shoved into door jambs.

 

Building a car is almost never financially worth it. Here are the questions I would be asking myself if I were in your shoes:

Do you have any sentimental attachment to the specific car you have?
How much do you think you can get for the shell you have?
How often are you seeing other Civics that you would want to buy come up for sale in your area, and for how much?
How long are you willing to wait for the right one to come along?
How skilled are you at fabrication, paint and body work, wiring, and automotive repair?
Is this your only vehicle, or do you have another car you can drive while you build this one?
Do you have the space to work on the car for the amount of time you think it will take?