Buying a K24 swapped civic!

[BigFudge]

I'm in the process of buying a K24 swapped 1995 Honda Civic. I was just wanting to ask a few noob questions about it. What am I going to need to do differently maintenance wise on this car aside from what I did to my other Civics/Integras? I've owned a few single cam civic's and a GSR Integra. The guy is currently running 5w30 pennzoil full synthetic and I feel sure that's what I will continue to use in it. I really don't know much, if anything about the K series engines that's why I'm here to ask for help before I get myself in too deep. I can snag the car for $7,000. It does not have A/C or power steering. I'm not worried about power steering but I'm pretty bummed about it not having A/C. It won't be a daily driver for me as I do have a car I drive back and forth to work every day so it will be more of a toy/weekend driver for me. Do you guys feel it's worth it? Here is the link to his ad...

FS_FT 1995 super clean eg coupe k24a2 swap ��DD. Fantastic 4 Banger. - Carolina Hondas

Edit: For some reason the pictures in his ad aren't showing up any more but it is a very, very clean car. The interior and exterior are next to immaculate. I will post pictures of it on here later after work so I can get some better opinions of it.

Here are some pictures of it...

 

[CHILD]

You don't do anything differently, it's a car. Regular maintenance is regular maintenance. If the engine is healthy and tuned, that's a good deal imo. a k24a2 needs a lot to be dropped in, so there's quite a bit of work in that setup.

 

[BigFudge]

You don't do anything differently, it's a car. Regular maintenance is regular maintenance. If the engine is healthy and tuned, that's a good deal imo. a k24a2 needs a lot to be dropped in, so there's quite a bit of work in that setup.

Okay I was just checking. He sent me pictures in the process of doing a compression check and it was 190psi across the board. I'd say it's pretty healthy.

 

[lethal6]

I don't care what motor it has in it or how much work it was to put it in, you can't tell me a 5th gen coupe is worth that much. Unless you can sell the motor and trans on its own for $4k, it's at best a $3k car.

You never get back what you have in it, any builder knows that. It's the curse we have to deal with.

That being said, if the motor is worth that much on its own then maybe. There is no bank that will give you that much for a loan on a car that old and worth (in their eyes) around $3k though. Unless you have the cash, then obviously a bank is a moot point.

Personally not worth it to me. Not for that much. Paying $4k over the actual value of a vehicle is insane.

 

[ImportFan1]

You don't do anything differently, it's a car. Regular maintenance is regular maintenance. If the engine is healthy and tuned, that's a good deal imo. a k24a2 needs a lot to be dropped in, so there's quite a bit of work in that setup.

This.

I don't care what motor it has in it or how much work it was to put it in, you can't tell me a 5th gen coupe is worth that much. Unless you can sell the motor and trans on its own for $4k, it's at best a $3k car.

You never get back what you have in it, any builder knows that. It's the curse we have to deal with.

That being said, if the motor is worth that much on its own then maybe. There is no bank that will give you that much for a loan on a car that old and worth (in their eyes) around $3k though. Unless you have the cash, then obviously a bank is a moot point.

Personally not worth it to me. Not for that much. Paying $4k over the actual value of a vehicle is insane.

Car is definitely not worth anything close to what they are asking. Lethal is correct. I wouldn't pay a penny over $3500 for it.

 

[CHILD]

A solid k24a2 engine is easily 1000-1500 or more
Hondata kpro/ktuner/AEM to run it, 750-1300
k20a2 or better transmission 1000-1500
all the random stuff to drop the engine into whatever chassis, easily a grand, seeing as how used mounts are an easy 300 and a decent header is 500 plus second hand.

These are based off of used prices for average parts, assuming the car was built off of nothing but budget parts.

With an old modded civic, I'd never see it as buying a car...more like buying an investment. This car could easily make back what it's being sold for. That's money I could live with spending. If it was a 10k asking price, then no. This car in total is being sold for less than what's in it, so it's not a rip off unless it was broken.

 

[lethal6]

I had over ~$2k in stuff on my civic over what it was worth (suspension, exhaust, wheels, upgraded front and rear seats in leather, etc.) The insurance gave me $0 of that when it was rear ended. They base the value on the car not the mods.

Do it for the love of the hobby, sure but as an investment? Am I missing something? A 5th gen run of the mill coupe an investment? Only thing it has on top of the cookie cutter ones that are a dime a dozen in any major city in the united states is the engine/trans and some minor bits from the install. Only way this would be an investment is if you can get a profit above the $7k by parting it out or flipping it. Is all that stuff in there worth more than $7k? It's more of a gamble buying a second hand build that you ultimately know nothing about outside of some dude's word and a few pics that can hide a lot of just the right angle or lighting is chosen, than a guaranteed investment.

Look how long the dude has been trying to sell it and how much he has come down in price "just to move it". There is something behind that. What is missing that others are seeing unless the value just isn't there.

 

[CHILD]

I would buy it and part it out. Like you said, the only things that aren't cookie cutter are the engine and trans and install parts.....and those are really valuable lol. Even if you had to invest in maintenance to repair some of it, you could sell it for far more than this asking price. Most people don't know enough about the K series stuff to want to spend 7K on a swapped car.

the main reason i could see this one not selling so fast is because it has the 05 tsx transmission which is longer geared. 90% of k swapped people want something quicker. The owner really should just part it out