advice about buying a turbo hatch

[mixtape86]

Hey guys, I currently drive a '94 Civic LX and it's been really great. Gets me from A to B while sipping fuel. However, I was thinking about moving up to something faster.

I know a guy selling a '92 Civic VX with some mods. The car isn't much to look at (plus he's selling it with steelies) and a different color hatch, but he says it's fast. He says he'll give me a break on the price since I know him, but I honestly never owned a turbo car before so I'm not sure if this is a good buy. Below is what he lists:

"kyb fully adjustable suspension, traction bars, poly urethane bushings. the motor is a jdm ls with about 35,000 miles on it with a NEW 6 puck act clutch and 9lb fidanza flywheel. the transmission is a 99 jdm b16 last week dave and i replaced the syncros in it and welded the diff. the turbo kit is a garrett 60 trim with a xs blow off valve and huge front mount. it also has dsm 450cc injectors and a chipped computer. it now has a side exit exhaust.car is on 14lbs of boost and does high 11's. the car had a dent in the back of it wen i bought it and they tried to fix it with bondo"

Here are some pics:

So what would be a fair price for the car?

 

[K20_EM1]

id say the car is worth maybe in the 3500 range.

It really depends what kind of condition everything is in. Its hard to tell what a car is worth by pictures alone.

Was the guy really hard on the car or did he drive it decent? also find out why he wants to sell it, thats always my first question for a seller, you can usually feel them out if there would be something wrong with it

 

[mixtape86]

id say the car is worth maybe in the 3500 range.

It really depends what kind of condition everything is in. Its hard to tell what a car is worth by pictures alone.

Was the guy really hard on the car or did he drive it decent? also find out why he wants to sell it, thats always my first question for a seller, you can usually feel them out if there would be something wrong with it

Yea, I know what you mean. Pics can be deceiving sometimes. I've actually never seen him drive the car to tell you the truth. I know that he did all the work himself (minus the tune and trans). I also know that he took it to the track so it's been pushed at least a few times. Runs in the 11's he says. I'll check it out over the weekend before giving him an answer. Anything in specific I should check/look for?

 

[K20_EM1]

Yea, I know what you mean. Pics can be deceiving sometimes. I've actually never seen him drive the car to tell you the truth. I know that he did all the work himself (minus the tune and trans). I also know that he took it to the track so it's been pushed at least a few times. Runs in the 11's he says. I'll check it out over the weekend before giving him an answer. Anything in specific I should check/look for?

check for shaft play in the turbo. Also check to see if the turbo smokes. Make sure the oil feed and return lines are good. Find out where it was tuned and such. See if the car smokes under load, most turbo cars smoke a little, but too much smoke is excessive blow by from worn piston rings. make sure the engin e isnt making any mysterious knocking or pinging sounds. even very faint ones. rod knock starts off ever so faint, and before you know it, there is a hole in the block.

Just make sure everything on the car is in running condition, and that all the parts are functioning and installed correctly. It wouldnt be a bad idea to see if he would let you do a compression test to gauge the health of the motor. and ask for things like electrical problems. And then you will be able to do the standard walk around for rust, bubbling aint, any imperfections etc etc. also ask to drive the car, or at least let him take you for a ride in it.

 

[civhatch92]

I always find it sketchy buying something that someone else built... when it comes down to it.. you can never be too sure how well it was taken care of.. But if it all checks out well then it could be worth it.. as stated above, check over a few important things. Take it for a drive and see if it feels right. Even if something breaks, you seem to be getting a decent deal.

 

[mixtape86]

Good news and bad news.

Good-> Looks like I can get the car for an even $2000. Told him that a welded diff makes for a difficult daily driver and chatting with him for about an hour helped him to be more willing to work with the price lol. Looks like he's moving into RWD which is why he's letting the Civic go.

Bad -> Cvcrcr99 (a member on another forum) said that this probably isn't a good build. I believe he said, "He slapped a cheap motor and turbo on it and put an ECU on it." He also says that "XSpower is a cheap 'eBay' brand." I'd hate to invest in a poor quality build. I'll admit that I don't know much about turbo setups so I'm not sure if Cvcrcr99 is right.

So the cons are that it will probably need to be reverted back to open diff or lsd. How hard will it be to change back? Can I just swap in a stock diff or an aftermarket brand? Or did welding it make things more difficult?

 

[2slo4u]

What is done to the motor because I doubt it hits high 11's.

 

[got traction]

What is done to the motor because I doubt it hits high 11's.

x2

 

[2NRSTV]

Good news and bad news.

Good-> Looks like I can get the car for an even $2000. Told him that a welded diff makes for a difficult daily driver and chatting with him for about an hour helped him to be more willing to work with the price lol. Looks like he's moving into RWD which is why he's letting the Civic go.

Bad -> Cvcrcr99 (a member on another forum) said that this probably isn't a good build. I believe he said, "He slapped a cheap motor and turbo on it and put an ECU on it." He also says that "XSpower is a cheap 'eBay' brand." I'd hate to invest in a poor quality build. I'll admit that I don't know much about turbo setups so I'm not sure if Cvcrcr99 is right.

So the cons are that it will probably need to be reverted back to open diff or lsd. How hard will it be to change back? Can I just swap in a stock diff or an aftermarket brand? Or did welding it make things more difficult?

Don't listen to Cvcrcr99, doesn't sound like he knows his head from his ass.
XS Power is a cheap ass brand, but the problem is they don't make blow off valves. XS Power specializes in Automotive Batteries and Battery Accessories (they also are primarily a domestic auto company). XS Engineering on the other hand is a very good company. Here's their Site.

With that being said, I would buy the car. But I would also redo everything myself including the swap and the turbo install. The problem with buying a car so heavily modified is that you don't know exactly how each piece of the puzzle was put together. So you don't know if all bolts and nuts are to spec or how the wiring was done. So tearing it down, inspecting, and rebuilding would be the only sure way for you to know everything is done right.

 

[Kensai]

Don't buy it

 

[got traction]

Don't listen to Cvcrcr99, doesn't sound like he knows his head from his ass.
XS Power is a cheap ass brand, but the problem is they don't make blow off valves. XS Power specializes in Automotive Batteries and Battery Accessories (they also are primarily a domestic auto company). XS Engineering on the other hand is a very good company. Here's their Site.

XS power does make wastegates and other turbo parts...and they do suck ass.

Dont buy the car, it looks janky, and you dont have any good info on it.

 

[2NRSTV]

Lol. s**t, my bad. I forget there is XS Power and XS Power Inc.
Couldn't decipher my head from my ass for a second.