'94 Integra GSI

Hello all,
Looking at a first car and I'm quite partial to Integras. Found this one on carsales (http://www.carsales.com.au/all-cars/...d=1264D20A4CE8), looks very nice, though I'd look at changing a few things if I ended up getting it. Few problems, firstly the seller says "the engine has a coolant leak into cylinders due to either head gasket wear or corroded cylinder walls." I'm no expert, but that sounds baad. I'd be looking at getting a new engine in there, which I imagine would be costly. And ideas on a rough figure/suggestions as to what engine to drop in? Also the inner headlights looks different on either side, might mean the car has been in a little bit of a crash...
If anyone also has any general comments on running costs etc. feel free to add them (have been looking through the forum a bit already).
Thanks in advance:)

i dont what you mean about the inner headlight but there is only one inner headlight, the one on the passenger side which is a cold/ram air intake. normally they do 400km a tank and about 50 dollars to fill it all the way up using the expensive type. but tbh my dc4 does 250kms a tank is noisy as fck, and vibrates as like a lil dildo but thats probably because my car hits 2.2krpm on startup and takes pretty much all day for it to idle on 800rpm.

corrosion = rust, im no expert either but its sounds impossible to fix that. before you ask what engine we suggest tell us how much you plan on buying an engine for? keep in mind labour for putting it in is abit aswell.

btw imo the driver dosnt seem to smart, he put a cold/ran air intake but dosnt even lead a pipe to the intake so its pretty much mixing with the warm air inside the engine before it enters the intake. he strips the inside and put a subwoofer in the back, not only does this contractict what he just did but your going to drive a car which is cold and miserable in the mornings and your going to be accompanied by the sounds of petrol swishing in the tank as you drive

I purchased a '93 GSI and loved it, there are plenty of those cars on the market ranging from $3k to $6k depending on condition. Looks relatively tidy but to be honest my motto is "Engine dramas mean find another". If it is just a head gasket then its not hard to replace just need to know what your doing. But its up to You Marcus if you want to take a gamble on it you may get lucky. Your headlight has been removed as Bulbasaur said for a cold air intake. But in saying that my drivers side light clouded over but I'm replacing them with Angel eye lights for about $350 if you want to change it back. If you are talking about the bar lights i got a set of Euro lights from Autobahn for $170. Just if you go look at it make sure you push a little on the bar lights as the mount for them on the inside breaks easily and front bars with resprays are expensive.

I drive my car everyday as a town car and i get about 340km's from a full tank which at the moment costs me about $60 but i run it on BP ultimate, I tend to drive a little heavy footed but when im taking it easy have hit 400km's on a tank. Highway travel i can get about 600km's out of a tank. Make sure you get yourself a decent set of spark plugs and leads i generally get Bosche super 4 plugs which cost about $80 from super cheap and run top gun leads which are about $170 from Repco i think super cheap also can get them for about the same. fuel filter is about $60 and your oil filter about $30, use a decent oil as its better to protect it then skimp a few bucks on cheaper oil. Umm pretty much the only other thing you are going to burn use up is tread and that comes down to tyre size and what quality tyre you want.

I personally don't see a point in buying it if you are going to swap out the motor, if you go the VTIR then its not going to be a big upgrade for the money your dumping into it especially if you pay someone to do the install. If i was going to replace the motor in mine the only thing i would dump in there is the B18c7 motor, but the only ones i have been able to find have ranged for $4.5k all the way up to $6k plus freight plus install costs. Yeah if you get a front cut you get the Type R dif the Type R gearbox and motor but its pricey as mate. This is just my opinion if you buy a GSI for that type of money you are better off turboing it. You are going to get massive power gains and lets be honest GSI turbo's tend to turn heads especially when you put your foot down. Benefit of the B18b2 motor is apparently and this is just what i been told by a mechanic minded friend is that the motor in the GSI is a pretty solid motor to go forced induction. Reliability wise and bang for your buck, I'm yet to find out for myself but its in my future upgrade plans. But im buying another B18b2 motor to work on so i can still drive my car around while working on it. The motor cost me $900 as i got it from a wrecker who's daughter wrote hers off in the rear end.

There are alot of people on this forum that know a hell of a lot more about The Integra's than i do and i can only comment on what i have read, learnt and been told. So please if anyone can see anything not true in what i said feel free to correct it, as I'm only learning myself and would appreciate the tips.

But in the end Marcus its your coin and i wouldn't presume to tell you how to spend it. You are going to have to sit down and work out whats best for you. About the only thing i can say is I purchased my GSI 5 years ago and i love my car, wouldn't trade it for anything in the world. While i have outgrown the power and handling the stock GSI has, I have now made it my project car and it may take me a few years to get it all done to what i want but if done right the little GSI will be a weapon :D

a gsi motor is like 200-400 dollars max. (without gearbox ofcause) if your in sydney pm me and ill lead you to some sources
installation the wrecker can do it for $300, so your looking at $600-700 with a new engine installed

i got my engine for $700 shipped up from melbourne with only 70XXXkms on it.
and my engine does 430kms stopping and starting all the time with a bit of flat footing from time to time.
when i moved from newcastle to the sunshine coast i got 650kms and only used 3/4 of a tank so i could get about 750ish highway kms a tank for only $65 on vpower or any 98 RON fuel.
its not a power machine but its fun with minor engine/exhaust mods and suspension mods.

Fark. I didn't realise it was so cheap to drop a new heart into them.

As for my GSi, it's my only car at the moment, but I will definitely be keeping it when I buy another car. I could see myself buying a cheap S13 as a project, and keeping the GSi as a daily. It's just so good as a daily. Handles well, but the ride is decent. It's not all that quick, but the fuel economy is pretty decent. It looks pretty good, without attracting too much attention. To me, it was a happy medium between a Civic and a Silvia.

I still want an S13, though. Grr.

mine attracts attention, straight pipe with cat and a small arse resinator so very loud and only 10cm to the ground without anyone in it. but yehh the b18b2 engines are cheap because people dont want them.

GSi is a great car IMO. My brother has one and I reckon it's beautiful to drive. B18B is a nice engine too, very underrated and for the price of one pulls quite well.

Hmmm. For the price of buying the car, buying a B18B and having it installed you could probably buy a GSi with a working engine. For the price of buying a VTi-R engine and having it installed you may as well buy a VTi-R that has it's interior intact. And Type R engines w/gearbox are usually around the $5000+ if you want a good one..

I say save the dosh and keep looking, there's always integra's out there to buy. :)

Good luck on the hunt ;)