My fiancee is going to school to be a mechanic. I will be taking some classes with her at night if possible. I am going to buy a car for us to practice/work on. What would be a good inexpensive car that has some potential in the future? It would have to be something that wouldn't require too much money or work up front, so not too old. In the future I would probably add an sc or turbo, but the car would have to remain smog/street legal, which means greddy turbo no ic / jrsc / or maybe edelbrock turbo w/ ic if carb legal. What would be the best combination of price / potential / reliability? Thanks.

 

I'd reccommend an 88-91 CRX/hatch. Why no intercooler?

 

I'd also consider a 92-95 hatch since you said it shouldn't be too old.

 

Would the hatch with greddy turbo no ic, hatch or crx with jrsc, or 96 ex with edelbrock turbo kit (if gets carb legal status) be better for performance. I might also be able to afford an integra ls. What about that with greddy turbo no ic? No intercooler because it's not legal in CA, and I don't feel like messing with the smog *****.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by govEE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Would the hatch with greddy turbo no ic, hatch or crx with jrsc, or 96 ex with edelbrock turbo kit (if gets carb legal status) be better for performance. I might also be able to afford an integra ls. What about that with greddy turbo no ic? No intercooler because it's not legal in CA, and I don't feel like messing with the smog *****.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I hear edelbrock is bad news....I would go with a homemadeturbo kit so you can "learn" more instead of doing a bolt on..Get the acura ls(better than a d series crx)...You will spend less money going with a home made kit..

 

Props to your fiancee...a future female mechanic!

As for the starter car...any year civic that you can afford would be a great start. Honda motors are fairly easy to toy with. Good luck.

 

a 92-95 Civic Si hatch would be a good platform to learn on. You have a nice little sohc to work with, and a good car to drive with most options