I am realizing I can't afford to race my 3rd gen GSR and after getting stomped by an ITA Integra recently I am really considering building one. What would you pay for a donor car? I just found the following listing for an LS.

1991 Acura Integra LS, 5 spd., black, 2 dr. hatchback, will run, needs water pump, asking $650.

Obviously I would need to look at it but is that what most people are paying for an ITA donor car? I have always thought it best to buy a car vs. build. But I feel that I can do enough of the work myself to build the car reasonably and I have a lot more time than money. Ideas from guys that have built a car?

Chris

 

I can't speak to the Integra specific part but I would think a complete donor car that is not really whacked, twisted or very rusty at an asking price of $650 would be pretty darned viable is the car was all there (engine, brakes, suspension even if is was all stock). If that was a CRX at that price, I'd give it a pretty hard look. If I didn't already have another CRX and 80% of the parts to build one for ITA, I think I'd have to look really hard at the Integra for ITA.

The water pump comment would raise an eyebrow as i have rarely seen that failure alone on a Honda family car so I'd wonder what else was bad and be ready for a full engine build.

 

I think that it's false economy to start with a shell that needs bodywork so I'd pay extra - and did - for a starter car that was in better-than-average shape.

It was also nice to not have to start a build with a new engine project. If you've budgeted for it, that's great but any engine that doesn't run might literally be worth nothing.

Does it have a sunroof? If so, add $500(?) to the deal to fix that somewhere down the road.

When RJ was selling his, I thought it was a very fair deal - it was the right model, ran great, had some provenance, and the body was in super shape. He'll correct me if I'm wrong but I seem to remember he wanted less than $2500 for it...? And that was a year ago now.

K

 

I sold the car without the suspension or extra wheels or tires, only the extra parts I accumulated and the service manual for $2250.

I will probably repeat that fiasco in the next year or two, except with more money, patience, time and better direction.

 

You're going to build the motor and tranny anyway, so unless they're total junk don't worry about it. Look for a straight body with no rust, thats the key.

The key here is that you might be tricking yourself by thinking that a 2nd gen Integra is significantly cheaper to run than your 3rd gen GSR. It's a little lighter, with less power, but not HUGELY so. Also, from what I've seen Acura parts still haven't managed to get as cheap as Civic and CRX parts.
So it'll likely be cheaper, just don't expect that amount to be very big.

Scott, who thinks that everyone who is dying to race but is financially challenged should drop the ego in the trash and get an ITC car.

 

Or look at an ITA Neon. By the time you've built one, it'll be next year, and it will be in ITA. You don't get cheaper parts A N Y W H E R E than from the mopar catalog. Excellent factory parts support.

Having said that, I would sit out a year to save up the money to buy a built car rather than go through building one again. And the reason I'm driving a Civic is because of exactly what you are going through Chris.

 

Chris B, I don't think there is a difference in cost building an ITA Civic/CRX vs. an ITC variant of the same. You may save a few bucks here and there but I don't think the costs "to build" are very different. Costs to run however may be slighted in the lower power car's favor but I think that's mostly in the tires you choose to run and how much racing you intend to do through the year (a 3 or 4 sprint race season, I doubt there's a cost difference). However, an ITA Integra IMO is a bit more costly to build - just a guess, I have never built one. Just seems that the parts are not "as" available as they would be for the older Civic/CRX. Having said that, the problem w/ the Civic/CRX is that it may be cheaper to buy some of the body parts, they might not always be easy to find (bumpers for instance are not too easy to come by).

I'd think it through and ask yourself if you want the teggy cause of how you saw it driven (a very valid point) or because its a similar car to yours as far as length, weight, size, just a less expensive class of car to compete in. If the former, the CRX is potentially a less expensive cost and offers near the same performance. I think if the cars were switched, your sentance would read the same, just substitute ITA Integra w/ ITA CRX. JMO of-course.

To Chris T's comment about the Neon or any newly classed/reclassed car. Although it may be one hella cheap car to source parts for, I would fear sourcing a lot of the wrong parts initially to make it go fast. Let someone else do that stuff (like others have done on the Hondas and the Teggies) and borrow the formula when they are done. Seems far less expensive that way IMO.

I do think that if the motor is usable, that's all you need. I think it makes the most sense no matter how good someone says it is, I'd have someone go through it completely (unless you know from hands on this has been done). Any motor can be made worthless very quickly.

Just opinions, all of which may be wrong.

 

I think I have already been dissuaded from building a car. Yet again, buying seems to be the smarter option. I have already seen one good ITA Integra for sale. But selling my car may be difficult given that Alex has not sold his either. My rationale for going to an ITA Integra are:
- Similiar length, width and handling characteristics as my GSR. CRXs seem to spin very willingly and I am not a great driver.
- Actually having people in class to race with be it ITA or HC. I think this is key to improving as a driver. Nothing against HC but it seems that the fastest guys in HC are the SCCA ITA guys that run with us. Walt, Marhefka, Evans etc. This is the main reason I want to change cars.
- Vastly cheaper engines and trannies. I really can't afford to have a spare engine or tranny for a GSR. $600 is cheap for a GSR tranny and I have been trying to buy a head with valvetrain for $350 to no avail for months now. Ridiculous. You could have an LS long block for that price.

Chris

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by chrisb &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have already seen one good ITA Integra for sale.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Where? Just curious, not buying anything.

 

Is the GSR for sale?

n/m just saw the for sale ad.


Modified by Willard at 7:55 PM 7/13/2004

 

Regardless of whether you buy one built or not, a parts(donor) car is always good to have if you have the space to keep it. I got my parts car for $500, in a deal with my primary car, which was $2000 and it had only 99k on it no rust. You never know when u may need stupid stuff a day before you leave for a race weekend when parts stores are closed. I looked for a while to try and find a 90-93 ITA Teg that was already built, but couldnt find one so I decided to build one. Good Luck!


-Mark