A good solid car for a first time tuning project

[puntoD]

in a couple of months when i have a bit of cash ( around 1.5-2k) Im gonna buy another car.
My passion with cars has always been with the high revving japs as to the big burley muscle cars, i prefer a pc to a tower, brain over bruan.

So im looking for somthing from the 90's like a cellica or civic. i would like a 2 litre engine, but insurance would be an issue as the quotes are coming in at around 2 k 3rd P f&f.

Im not bothered abotu getting a car thats got #!#!#!#! loads of miles because as i say this is a project. that I want to do myself or as much as i possibly can myself. so im talking engine rebuild, resprays and what not really go to town on it.

So the quiestions are. whats teh smallest engine i can go with, but get some decent performance gains from. and what cars/engines would you reccomend. iv'e seen soem real bargains knocking about.

 

[turbonutter69]

Ek9 Civic 1.6 vtec is what your after buddy. 160 Bhp standard matey.

 

[herb]

Ek9 Civic 1.6 vtec is what your after buddy. 160 Bhp standard matey.

a good choice tn!!! a similar choice the mitsubishi colt 1.6 mivec 170bhp

 

[puntoD]

nice, ive always liked the old civics. what does the ek9 bit mean. iv heard the vtec is a very strong godo engine. what performance gains do you think i can get if i put some decent money into it such as turbo charging., induction exhuast. port polish etc. really want to make this next car somthing special

 

[pgarner]

civic is a good one but getting one with a b series engines are getting rare. plus it could cost more than a 2ltr in insurance wise.

96 civic coupe 1.6 vti is group 15 ( 160 bhp )
96 civic coupe 1.6 = group 10 (115bhp)
Mk 4 astra 2.0 sri = group 11 ( 134 bhp)
Mk4 astra turbo = group 15 (190 bhp )

 

[MasterAuron]

Pmsl, an EK9......take it you've never got an insurance qoute on one then?

They're going to bend him over the desk and then some.

£2k is that your budget? Definately not an Ek9. £6k plus for a decent one. Might as well be a Ferrari 360 it's so out of your reach for the moment.

 

[turbonutter69]

I did do a quote on 1 not so long ago cause I nearly bought 1. It would have been around £400 for me to insure. I only pay £350 for my Cab.

 

[pikey motorsports]

rx-7, 1.3 rotary #!#!#!#!el engine. very easy to tune and you will find one within budget if your happy to do a lot of work as you said you were. not sure bout insurance on one though.....

 

[MasterAuron]

I did do a quote on 1 not so long ago cause I nearly bought 1. It would have been around £400 for me to insure. I only pay £350 for my Cab.

As an 18 year old?

 

[MasterAuron]

rx-7, 1.3 rotary #!#!#!#!el engine. very easy to tune and you will find one within budget if your happy to do a lot of work as you said you were. not sure bout insurance on one though.....

Yes a rotary brilliant! That way you can have fun doing rotary engine rebuilds every ten minutes and learn nothing about normal piston engines. Genius. You might even get insured for under £4k if you're lucky!

Can we get real here please?

 

[puntoD]

Pmsl, an EK9......take it you've never got an insurance qoute on one then?

They're going to bend him over the desk and then some.

£2k is that your budget? Definately not an Ek9. £6k plus for a decent one. Might as well be a Ferrari 360 it's so out of your reach for the moment.

yeah judging from the quotes..il wait for the vti. 2800 3rd f&f .

anyway besides the point i really cant find any vti models, although im not planning on driving the car i get for around year as i will be doing extensive work to it.

what do you think of the 1.6 lsi models are these engines a decent lump for a first time tune. i know it will never ber super fast but i would a liek a 0-60 of 7 seconds at least when im done. possible ?

 

[puntoD]

rx-7, 1.3 rotary #!#!#!#!el engine. very easy to tune and you will find one within budget if your happy to do a lot of work as you said you were. not sure bout insurance on one though.....

i thought thhe rotarys where in the rx8's only. il have a look XD

 

[HDi fun]

The RX-7 is a twin rotor #!#!#!#!el engine. They're not renowned for their reliability - the rotor tips wear agressively, although I suspect that modern oils help this quite a bit.

How about an Audi A3 1.8T? I have no idea what the insurance will be like for a new driver but they're not mossively quick cars. They can feel a lot less than the 150bhp they deliver but that's because the power delivery is so linear across the rev range. The turbo is beautifully integrated such that you're never aware of any lag or thrust, just very smooth and flexible.

If insurance is a problem then consider the 1.9 TDi 110bhp. Insurers are often more forgiving with diesel engines, but they are gradually catching on that they're nowhere near as slow as they once were.

 

[HDi fun]

Appears I've been caught out by the profanity checker!

W@nk£l is the correct name for such engines!

 

[puntoD]

i would consider the audi but im hell bent ona jap. hows this civic seem to you guys, 1.6i SR 5 door in red. m reg 100 k on clock. climate control air con etc. 450!? is teh Sr a vtec engine or not?

 

[prevtec]

Yes a rotary brilliant! That way you can have fun doing rotary engine rebuilds every ten minutes and learn nothing about normal piston engines. Genius. You might even get insured for under £4k if you're lucky!

Can we get real here please?

i was going to say that, insurance companies know damn well what power comes from a measly 1.3 but serious rotary engine

 

[prevtec]

buy an old vti civic 94.95, the wire loom is the same as a b16a dohc vtec, so its just a case of dropping the engine in, now thats a project

civics are the easiest cars to work on, parts are cheap, and they wont break your heart
and plus its an easy enough project, when you get expieriance, then you can try bigger things

 

[puntoD]

buy an old vti civic 94.95, the wire loom is the same as a b16a dohc vtec, so its just a case of dropping the engine in, now thats a project

civics are the easiest cars to work on, parts are cheap, and they wont break your heart
and plus its an easy enough project, when you get expieriance, then you can try bigger things

whey!, thats what i was wanting to hear. as i say the car will be off road for a while to so il be driving my mums astra so if i build up a year no claims it will go down on insurance. im gonan go for a 1.6 sr as the vti are seriously to highly priced on insurance. when i get my hands on one in about months time ( well il have some dolalr then, weatehr theres any for sale ..) il start up an project post and let you see its transformation to hopefully a pretty nippy good looking street car

 

[HDi fun]

Get a V6 Omega 3.2 perhaps. Insurance is competitive as they're not popular. It's a good alternative to a 5 series, Bavarian built and supposedly very very reliable. OK, no-one will notice you but you can drive about in six cylinder smoothness without paying BMW money.

I'm considering one to replace the smashed up 406.

 

[obi_waynne]

What about a mk1 Golf Gti 8 or 16 valve, very easy to work on and lots of fun. due to their age the insurance shouldn't be too bad now especially if it has an alarm/immobiliser on it.

 

[fezzafii]

Your worried about the difference between insurance on a 1.6 and a 2.0, but your going to TURBO the engine? Have you had a modified/custom insurance quote for adding a turbo and other mods as of yet?

Just thinking that if you can't afford the insurance on a bog-standard 2.0, you may struggle on any heavily modified car (unless you don't declare and go TPO so they will never find out, but this is illegal and we cannot condone this behaviour etc etc)

Cheers,
Adam

 

[thexav]

What about a classic Beetle. Drop in a Porsche 2.0 engine and you can have some real fun plus you get them on classic car insurance.

 

[pgarner]

the 1.6i civic is normally a d series engine in the older ones not too great with 110-115bhp. think all the 1.6s were vtec.

to be honest mate keep on the look out for the vtis. if your going to be building up a year NCB 1st theres around 25% off that. (£2100 going by your 2800 quote) also if you in your 1st year get your pass plus done as this can be the same be as good as a years NCB. so you would have a double discount.

Remember that only certain insures give named drivers NCB most still only give the policy holder them.

 

[Irish Vtec]

hi people im new to these forums. if your looking for a civic thats cheap to insure but get good power from, iv got a 1.6 sohc vtec, 1993 hatch wit green cotton induction kit,a power boost valve and vtec controller with the vtec kickin in at just under 5000 revs. also theres drilled and grooved discs with callipers to match and ebc brake pads. teted it on the motorway and it surprises to say the least.lol also got an insurance quote of 1700euro and iv only a provisional licence.

 

[pgarner]

ditch the drilled discs mate. they are much more prone to cracking.

also provisional license holders normally have cheaper insurance due to the fact that they need someone with them