Buying a beater

I love my car, but it’s getting tiring having to drive it all the time. I always have to worry about people putting scratches on it (fairly new paint and I have to park in a parking lot because I live in an apartment), general wear and tear, and the fact that I just have so much money and time invested that I don’t want to keep having to drive it every day. Also, I will possibly be playing in a band pretty soon, and my kick drum doesn’t fit into the car in any way -___-

Basically, I have a buddy who has a 95 or 96 (can’t remember) teg that’s been sitting for about 8 months because he thinks the head gasket blew. He said he was driving the car, he saw the temp spiking, pulled over and stopped and checked the oil and said it was milky along with his coolant level being low. It’s not a great looking car by any means, especially after sitting, but he said it ran and drove fine and he didn’t have major problems with it. My question is what could possibly have happened to that motor if indeed the gasket blew and the oil was left in there? What first comes to mind is the bearings corroding from the coolant. Anything else? Also, he said the car ran, so I figure if I try and crank it up again as long as the oil level is fine it should be ok to run just for a short period of time. He’s asking $450, that’s if all I have to do is replace the head gasket, and $350 if it doesn’t run. Any tips? It needs some basic stuff like axle boots, tie rod boots, etc. But for the most part it looks like it hasn’t fared too bad.

Thanks for any help guys.

definitely sounds like the HG is shot… would be worth the price as long as you do all the repair work. bets way to figure if it is worth it would to be to add cost of parts times the number of estimated hours for the repairs. multiply your time by your hourly rate at work then compare it against the cost of buying a running teg in same year range. I know out here I see 3rd gens going anywhere from 3k-5k

if the car is not running at all tho I’d be suspect of engine damage.

Well it was running before it got towed back home and then sat for 8 months haha. And Yeah I do all my own work. I actually just replaced the head gasket, timing belt, and water pump on my DB1. I’m just wanting to get some feedback on what I could possibly be walking into on this. I’m trying to keep it under $1k honestly haha. The car looks rough anyways so I’m not worried about it being pleasing, it just has to run and drive well haha.

Like any used car ( and I say this from experience) you really don’t know what you are walking into until you get through the door.

so that said what is the price you are willing to pay to walk through that door… I’d guess as long as you keep total cost under 1k and get the car running… you will at the very least get your $$$ back

It basically boils down to the engine. If it is ok (besides the head gasket) then we are good, if not then I’m not going to be able to get another decent B1 for a low price.

IDK about that I see B1 & a1 motors pop up on CL all the time for under 500 bucks… granted you never know what state they are really in

Exactly. And I live in Alabama. Most everyone who drives Hondas around here is a fuck-tard.

FIFY.

:giggle:

That as well. Fortunately I just moved to Auburn last August to go to college here, so for the most part I’m surrounded with intelligent people. You have your sorority girls and frat boy douche bags, as to be expected, but everyone else is pretty non-fuck-tard-like.

worst case scenario is you have to completely replace the motor… jdmtigerjapanese.com sells jdm b20 long block for $395 plus shipping. theyre in canada so shipping would prolly run ya $100-200 so worst case ur looking at $600 shipped. paying 350 for the car if it needs a new motor + the $600 for new motor puts u at $950 for a car that runs like a champ with a quite simple motor swap. in my opinion you cant lose on that deal.

It’s not going to be as easy as just a motor though. Just a few minutes looking at it and I know it needs new axle boots (possibly even new axles), tie rod boots (possibly new tie rod ends), a passenger side view mirror, and a couple more things I know I saw but are escaping me right now. Right now, the chance that I’ll even buy it is up in the air. Plus, it won’t be until this summer when I’m out of school anyways.

When it comes to axles i can help ya out there. If you take the old axles to advance auto parts you can warranty them under the name LMG (lafayette motor group). As for tie rd ends… Dont no if those can be warrantid or if they have been (in LMG) but as long as its just a boot you said urself its a beater, same with the mirror (unless your local laws require side view mirrors). Just my opinion on it tho.

I absolutely refuse to ever use parts store axles again. I’ve gone through too many of them on my DB1 now. Half the time they are unbalanced right out of the box. Only ones I’ll buy now are Raxles. And I live i Alabama, as long as it has a tag, headlights/tails, blinkers, a rear view mirror, and a seat belt it’s street legal haha

car-part.com

/thread.

Well the point of the thread was initially to see what problems the engine or anything else could have from sitting, so posting a link to a car parts website doesn’t answer the question. Thread not over.