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Need advice on a potential buy

talon

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 3, 2009
Messages
172
Location
Denham Springs, La
I went today and looked at a 91 Galant VR4.

Specs on the car: (what the owner gave me)
JDM engine with about 42k
JDM ECU
JDM Suspension
JDM Gauge Cluster
Owner says car has 76k on it...but the JDM speedo says 76k
HKS Timing Gears
HKS T-Belt
B16g
2g Short Route FMIC (held on with zip ties /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif)
Yellow Top Injectors
255 Wally
Short Shifter
Rebuilt Tranny with EVO 3 1st & 2nd with double syncros (shifts like butter /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif)
He says its got either 3:73 or 4:10 gears
ACT 2900
Light Flywheel (weight unknown)
JDM front bumper (not installed cuz FMIC is jacked up)
JDM fog lights (not installed)
Interior in pretty good shape
All windows work (including sunroof)

BAD:
Says he used JDM wiring harness. Cut & twisted wires everywhere
solenoid's hooked up all wrong
Core support beat up to try and make 2g FMIC work
No power brakes (brake booster hooked up /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif)
No power steering (seen rear power steering lines cut)
Car will not boost at all, when it starts to boost it cuts out completely
missing rear spoiler
hood rusted completely threw (owner has another hood)
NO COOLING FAN (says it broke a few weeks ago. Hasnt ran the car long enough to get hot)
Needs passanger fender
Missing passanger rear dog leg
Missing windshield whipers
Winshield cracked
Missing 1 stock rim
**EDIT: No exhaust**

All this for $1800.00, needless to say he started at 3k, but is desprate to get rid of it.


I have a friend that is willing to sell me a 90 Tsi that needs rings for about 900. I'm not sure which to get? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

I've attached the pics I have....





 
Last edited:

cheekychimp

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 19, 2004
Messages
7,333
Location
East Sussex, U.K.
What's your budget? How capable are you working on the car(s) yourself ... and how much do you trust your friend?

I'd be inclined to get the Tsi, fix the rings, clean it up and sell it on to make some cash.

As for the Galant. Depending on condition that JDM bumper and those JDM fogs could be sold for anything from $500-$800 making your VR4 essentially a $1000-$1200 car. If you want to keep the JDM bumper (I would) just ditch the entire core support and mount the IC properly.

Most of the bad stuff on there looks pretty easy and cheap to sort out. Most people delete the 4WS at some stage, so just change over to a FWD power steering rack and reservoir or one off a GGSX and delete everything else. The boost issue might be serious but given your description of the IC setup I imagine it has horrific boost leaks somewhere.

I'd look carefully at the brakes issue. Safety equipment is critical but the other stuff, fenders, hood, wipers, doglegs, rims you can find for pretty cheap, a new windshield shouldn't cost too much and some people remove the spoiler intentionally. I have a spoiler you can have for shipping costs only if you want but I expect you could find one really cheap over there.

Like I said, your budget is critical in this issue as are your overall plans. If you intend to do a complete overhaul you are probably better buying something cheap. If you want a stock daily driver with minimum work involved, I'd be careful on this one. It sounds as though it could have plenty of hidden issues although you might find a new harness and some work on the IC and piping might make a world of difference.

Paul.

Edit: I'd also ask more about those "rear gears". You can't just swap a bigger ring and pinion in at the back on an AWD car. If you do that transmission won't shift like butter for very long. Standard ratios are 3.909, 3.545 and some guys have done a 3.307 I believe. If he is talking about other ratios I'd be very very sceptical and I would want to know what he has done with the transmission; i.e. if his secondary and transfer case now matches his rear diff.
 
Last edited:

talon

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 3, 2009
Messages
172
Location
Denham Springs, La
I'm very capable of working on the car myself. I'm looking to get something to play with, not a Daily.

I'm just trying to weigh my options here, and get an outside prospective.

Do you think its worth $1800??
 

cheekychimp

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 19, 2004
Messages
7,333
Location
East Sussex, U.K.
Yeah given the fairly clean interior and the fact that it essentially does run, I'd say it is a fair price. You will still have to track down the boost issue, sort those brakes out and do a check on that transmission/diff.

Most rolling shells are going for between $1200-$1500 without engine, transmission, ECU etc. Given that you have $600 at least in a JDM bumper and fogs included you are getting a fully equipped car for the lower end of that and if you are capable of doing the work yourself, it shouldn't cost too much to sort things out.

Take a look through the for sale ads and compare prices for rolling chassis cars with no engine and transmission etc!
 
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AnotherNewb

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 25, 2010
Messages
1,472
Location
Orlando, FL
3.73-4.10 gears sends red flags up for me. Those are truck/muscle car gears. At this point I would begin to doubt everything he says.
 

talon

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 3, 2009
Messages
172
Location
Denham Springs, La
I'm asking about the gears as we speak.

The core support isn't something that can be ditched...it holds the front of the car together. You can also call it a radiator support. I know it can be changed....but it isn't that easy.

Like I said I'm trying to get an outside prospective.
 

how the hell does it have 4.10 gears? im interested in his answer when you ask about the gears

That makes the least amount of sense ever?
 

alansupra94

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 3, 2010
Messages
1,909
Location
Wayne,NJ
This is what you are going to look like taking on that project.

tumblr_l44dswc1G81qbaecr.jpg
 

chrisfullwood

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 28, 2006
Messages
256
Location
bartlesville, ok
I would avoid it, unless you can get him to drop the price, but even then i would avoid it. I brought my car for 200 dollars, but I brought it from a window licking idiot, much like the guy in the advertisement seems, i don't know about you guys but I don't have objectors in my car. If your selling a car, you should at least be able to spell check.

I would seriously walk away from it, There are so many red flags, and there are many other better deals. Unless you are a glutton for punishment and really want to drive yourself nuts.
 

there are so many other good vr4s out ther that arnt a basket case for just a lil more money. 4.10 gears? i think hes pulling your leg and probably lying about the evo gearset in the car too unless it was built. thats not exactly just a simple drop in thing. and be carefull.. its got a greedy timing belt.

he put objectors twice. and a jdm front CAP lol
 
Last edited by a moderator:

donkeylips

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 18, 2009
Messages
552
Location
Rochester, NY
It sucks when hackers have their way with perfectly good cars. What is that thing in primer too? $1800 would be ok if the body was in great condition but if the hood has already rusted out...

IDK, if it shifts well and the engine has good compression it could be worth fixing. Why did he use all of those JDM parts?
The previous owner of my first car ever told me plenty of stories about what he had done to it. When I gained knowledge I quickly learned that he hadn't done anything besides paint a few things and put red wire loom around everything.
 

chrisfullwood

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 28, 2006
Messages
256
Location
bartlesville, ok
i agree donkey :p Mine was hacked by what appeared to be a thousand tiny midget Hackers.... they tore all kinds of stupidness into the car. I'm still dealing with the issues. I only just took my motor out a month ago freshen things up, and now new levels of retardation have shown themselves up.

Don't buy hacked stuff especially if you think for 1 minute, you might somehow relying on it to get you from A to B without squirting oil all over C on the way.
 

talon

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 3, 2009
Messages
172
Location
Denham Springs, La
This is the text messages to him about the 410 gears:

Me:
Can you shed some light on the 4:10 gears. Did you have the tranny's secondary and t-case built to match the 4:10's?

Him:
The tranny is fine with 4:10 gears, that’s how they ran it in Japan except I have evo 3 gears with double syncros

Me:
I really doubt it. I've never seen anything about having to swap in a JDM rear end because of the different gear ratio.
I'm going to do some research.

Him:
No response!!

I've decided to walk away from this car.
 

chrisfullwood

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 28, 2006
Messages
256
Location
bartlesville, ok
you've certainly made the wise choice! might be worth making sure everyone knows to keep an eye out for that car, just in case someone else gets it.
 
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