In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :
I'm sure an eg33/ez30/36 would liven it up a bit. If you buy one please start a build thread :D
Ls400 seems like a cool first car. Not my taste in weight but the 1uz is a really really cool engine. I absolutely have autox/track day aspirations. That's the main thing I want to do with this car is learn to drive fast and learn to wrench. Not really in it too much for the transport because I have public transport here, but I probably will want it as a daily when I get to college. I do have the time, less so the money and ability to work on it. But I can learn fast and I'm working on ways of making money. And I do have back up transport. Manual del sols are impossible to find near me in that price, but there are a few crx's. Civics are very numerous but finding a clean unmolested one is literally like a second job. However they are, I think, a good option for me
In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :
Yeah everything here that's cheap has rust. Everything. I'm thinking of maybe going to Cali/the southwest to find a good example once I decide on a car. Neons are hard to find in manual near me but I did find one or two that seem pretty nice. I've always loved the first gen neon coupe but they are so hard to find. Im liking your mentality of buying and trying tons of stuff and selling when I get bored. Most of these are already at the bottom of their depreciation so I won't lose much.
Not a huge mazda6 fan but I love the 3 and the 2
Also, question for everyone, how much rust is too much rust. Most every cheap car in my area will have it but when I do a ppi what should I look for from a rust standpoint
Since you asked about rust...
An example: I went to remove the plastic under tray on my wife's 2010 Mazda 5 so I could change the trans fluid. It's possible the plastic had never been removed since you can access the engine oil drain and filter with the plastic in place. Anyway, almost every one of those 10mm screws holding the undertray on were rusted frozen and snapped when I tried to undo them.
That's business as usual when you're working on anything older that's spent a lot of its life on salty winter roads.
And the body on her 5 is still in pretty good shape, just some small (for now) rust spots on the rockers and rear fenders.
Evanuel9 said:
...how much rust is too much rust.
Well before your time, there was a TV show called Kung Fu. You might know Kung Fu Panda cartoon movie. The premice of the show was The Wise Master taught wisdoms to The Young Grasshopper.
"...how much rust is too much rust" Is just like one of these ancient wisdoms. Where you ask the question will get you different answers. Certainly, any rust is not good but where it goes from not good to totally bad requires a lifetime to answer.
Yes, rust = bad. Maybe you and a family member could do a fly and drive adventure? Lots of good rust free stuff down here in the south. If you're really interested in learning autox/HPDE then there are lots of choices. You DON'T want a fully...or even close...prepped car to start. You're better off with stock. Having sticky tires, etc...will let you get away with bad habits that will come back to bite you as you get faster and faster. I started autox in a bone stock AW11 MR2. Crappy ass tires and all.
Evanuel9 said:
Also, question for everyone, how much rust is too much rust. Most every cheap car in my area will have it but when I do a ppi what should I look for from a rust standpoint
trust me, coming from a middle aged dude that's had rust belt cars his entire life: Any rust is too much. Seriously it friggin SUCKS.
Grew up and live in Chicago NW suburbs. I've been fortunate and had a handful of my many cars actually be pretty clean. I've also had multiple cars with rust in inconvenient places.
Do what you can to get something from outside the rust belt.
In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :
I see, that sounds like an absolute pain. As much as I love Chicago I expect I'll come to hate living in the rust belt as my automative escapades escalate
In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :
100% leaning towards fly and drive (or even drive and drive). I've found so many cars in so much better shape from down south and west.
I definitely don't want a prepped car. Not just because of the driving skills but also because I want to do the mods myself lol.
I am so jealous of you starting out with an aw-11. I'd kill for one crappy tires or not
In reply to clutchsmoke :
Will do!
In reply to bobzilla :
yeah sounds awful. I'm going to do my best to get something from the south
Evanuel9 said:
In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :
100% leaning towards fly and drive (or even drive and drive). I've found so many cars in so much better shape from down south and west.
I definitely don't want a prepped car. Not just because of the driving skills but also because I want to do the mods myself lol.
I am so jealous of you starting out with an aw-11. I'd kill for one crappy tires or not
Yes, that was in the days when the AW11 was nothing but a "used car" and people weren't asking stupid money for them. I owned 3 AW11s and one SW20, no joke...I got my first AW11 for free.
If you find anything in Atlanta, let me know and I'll do what I can to help.
You also don't need to go as far as Cali or southwest to get a rust free car. Kentucky and Tennessee is not too far. You're much more likely to find a 90s time capsule in California though.
In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :
Now I'm even more jealous!
And will do, thank you. I've been looking for cars in the south to avoid the rust.
In reply to engiekev :
Well good to know, I'll start look in Ky/Tn. Dumb question but what's the point of getting a rust free car if I'm going to drive it up here and it will get rust.
In reply to Evanuel9 :
You get a year or two of not crying while you work on it. Do all your mods quick.
Evanuel9 said:
In reply to engiekev :
Well good to know, I'll start look in Ky/Tn. Dumb question but what's the point of getting a rust free car if I'm going to drive it up here and it will get rust.
You cant afford (or don't want) a new car but it would be nice to reap the benefits of that new, rust free body. I'm in Ohio (shores of Lake Erie) so generally same climate as your shores of Lake Michigan. Here, new cars look good for about 7-8 years. Buy a 2003 year car from down south and it will arrive her looking good and still look good for another 7 years or 2029.
In reply to Stampie :
:D fair enough. Terrible idea but oh so tempting. Maybe when I'm a bit older, a bit more experienced, and a bit wealthier
Hitting the underside of the car with some Fluid Film (or paying for Krown treatment) before the salt hits the road each year will also slow the rust down.
I've narrowed my list down a bit removing cars that I don't like, or can't find in manual for decent price and decent condition. The list is now:
Focus SVT
Hyundai Accent
GC8 Impreza
Dodge Neon
EP3 Civic Si
The 90s hondas (civic, prelude, crx, integra, del sol )
Mk4 Gti
Maza3 and Mazda2
Sentra Se-r, I love the b13 but they are impossible to find, and the next gen is also pretty cool
Yaris
'yota matrix xrs
A friend of mine also said to take a look at the Nissan nx, he says it's a superb chassis and I think they're kinda cool, and another friend said to look at the mazda mx-3, which has a cool engine. Thoughts on these?
Next steps, I think, are test drives, picking a few that I like, and then finding rust free examples to go look at and maybe buy.
I'm going to take a look at a GC8 coupe tomorrow, it's rusty and has issues so I'm probably not going to buy it but I will test drive it. I asked a friend to test drive his focus so I should be able to set that up soon, and another friends outback. I've found a few examples of the rest on marketplace so we will see how that goes. I'm excited and will keep the forum updated though I'm sure it's probably pretty boring compared to some of the epic stuff on here!
Picked up a Mazda3 for my son a couple months ago for his first car. Replaced the suspension on it when I got it and the motor mount just yesterday. Nice little car and easy to wrench on so far.
