Going to look at one tomorrow…besides the typical jap car quarter panel rust and a few other things that you look for on any vehicle is there anything i should especially be on the look out for with one of these cars?
same things you would look for in a civic… except for notorious water leaks into the trunk… Typically easy fixes if you know what to do. Take the spare out and look for water damage and wetness. stick your hands under the side panels in the trunk and feel for wetness on the “floor” that is hidden behind the carpet.
Expect the door panel material to have lifted on the armrests. this happens to 98% of del sol’s and there’s nothing you can do. New doors from honda are going to be around 350 a piece…
350 a pop…ouch, i’ll be going to look at this del sol at 12 to see what she looks like…i may have a new daily driver soon
yeah, that’s why most people just deal with it…
mine never lifted much… it didn’t pick up the crease, but it was starting. due to the multiple curve to the door, no upholstery shop wants to touch em. I found one guy who was willing to redo them, but it would have seams (stiches) in a number of places… and would have cost as much to buy new ones…
i saw it and the interior was damn clean, that lifted problem was kinda ugly but it didn’t crack just had 3 humps or so, checked where the spare tire is…the kid had a rag in there that was still wet so i knew it leaked…didn’t smell of mildew though. a little rust but for 140k it’s expected, wasn’t as bad as my nissan though. Motor seemed to be fine…car seems to need a new temp sensor unit…let it run for a while and nothing sounded wrong, does burn oil though, smelled a little coolant but couldn’t find any spillage or signs of him having cleaned up anything that did spill, kid wants 800 for it, think i should bite?
What year? which model, s, si (I’m guessing not VTEC or you would have already bought it) the leak issues in the trunk are easy fixes, if you get it I can see if I still have the DIY’s save on my computer… but if the body is decent, 800 sounds good to me even as a shell (depending on the rust)
If it has the typical honda wheel well (qtr panel) rust, look to see if it still has the trim around the edge (like a rubber door seal looking thing) and check to see if it’s going on inside the wheel well…
first year model and it’s an s, i did a little research on it before i went to go look at it and yes if it was the vtec i would have nabbed it same day most likely. All the seals on the car seem fine…no leaks around any of the windows. Most of the rust was going on outside of the wheel well…i looked and felt around on the inside and found nothing, looks like a little sheet metal and grinding down to the good metal would fix it easily, i’m waiting for the kid to call me back but i have an odd feeling he fell through on it, also how easy is it to find a motor for this car? i’m a bit weary on how much oil is burning and the fact that i smelt what seemed to be fresh coolant
Well,The first yeat (93 in teh usa) there was the s and si… the si is often mistaken for vtec because it has a vtec motor, but the actual vtec model started in 94 with a b16a3 the one you are looking at has a d16z6 single cam vtec engine. As for the leaks around the windows won’t happen until it rains, you get out of the car, water drips on to the seal then it keeps comin in. as for the engine i have one sitting in my garage that eill drop rite in it used to be in my 93 si… its in great running shape, or you can fairly easily swap a b16 or b18 into it. Also drive it if you can and check to see if ip grinds into or pops out of third gear, this is very common.
other than that good luck.
If it’s an s model it should be the 1.5 non-vtec found in most dx civics… the Z6 was found in the si models. (like disco sol just said) The Del Sol follows most swap rules for 92-00 civics and likewise 94+ integras… and motors are plentiful and can found all over the place…
thanks for all the info guys, i’ll be waiting for this kid to return my call…if he doesn’t by monday i’m going to say he knew something else was wrong with it that he didn’t mention and couldn’t man up, otherwise i’ll be in contact with you disco sol to get a hold of that motor pretty soon. thanks again