OK, I need group therapy on this one.

Just found a white 91 vert, 5 speed, 56K original miles, near-mint condition (nice top and leather especially). The owner ran it out of oil (how the...?). Anyway, it's a $1200 car sitting as is.

Since it ran out of oil, the engine is truly done for, I'd guess. So, what do I do with this thing? Let's be reasonable, now, I want to keep total expense UNDER $4K, $3K if possible!! I would consider a little more if a turbo swap was possible (JSPEC), but I don't know where I'd get the ECU, etc. Emissions testing will be required here in the Chicago area!

Thanks!

 

Sell it to me!!!

 

you can do a turbo swap, that would cost a little more you can get the ecu and wireing harnesses pretty cheap on the parts trader or in the for sale section here or on ebay. the motor you can find used or from another car that is not running prefferably you want to keep the cost down and a used jspec is not that expencive tops 1500 if you do the install your self you can cut a lot of the cost out. is this a project? i'm thinking it is if you already know your going to need a rebuild. if the turbo conv. doesn't seem cost effective you can g supercharger route or just a street port or bigger port. a street port with super charge from a 91 don't know if it's still for sale but saw one for 3k on the parts trader . com if you want to take a look. that would cost you about 4.5-5k total depending on if you put it in your self. any way just some options

james

 

You will need to find out why it ran dry. Did the guy not check oil ever? If not he probably never changed it either. Did the OMP go bad? If so, then your new motor will go south also unless you fix it or run premix. Is there any indication that the tranny is bad? Do the wipers work properaly (good for negotiations)? Does the top work? A rebuild is gonna cost ya about 2 grand. So running you pay 3,200. The turbo swap will add about another grand. This is if you know how to swing a wrench around, and have a few connections (here). If you don't need to buy it today; I'd suggest looking at some other cars and maybe testing some junk yards for wrecked turbo 2s that you could use for parts. Do you live near any rotary shops? A vert with only 50k on it could be a nice ride to start a project with. I say talk him down to an even grand and buy.

 

Its a great price for the car either way.

You could get a rebuilt 13B in there for under $3k (maybe under $2k if you did the work yourself on the install).

My Jspec T2 13BT conversion has run me around $4k so far, but I still need to do the rear end and the exhaust (yep I am still running the stock vert cat-back exhaust). My costs include a Jspec, and a rebuild kit on it (almost $2000 just between the two), but I have done most of the work myself. I have also bought a lot of new parts (like clutch slave, flywheel, clutch, etc) that I could have found in a junk yard, but didn't trust.

And my costs are slightly offset on my 88 as I could use the ECU, AFM and a few other things that normally you would have to replace. I don't think you can do that with the 91.

 

Buy it. Fix it. Drive it. One of the best convertibles ever made, whether you turbo it or not. Handles like a small car, accelerates like a big car. Smiles all the time. Check to make sure the headrest speakers are working.

 

I just saw a flatbed truck go down the road outside my office. It had maybe 12 crushed cars on it and one on top looked like a 2nd gen RX. Bad news for someone, good news for us, as our cars get rare & more valuable. Haggle down another $100 (so you feel better) $ drop in a fresh or used s5 short block.

 

Dare I say! You could put in a SMC and make more power than the stock turbo swap, for about the same costs (if you're doing the work). Alot of people don't like this, (including myself) but reality has its place.

 

I have a 91 convertible with 64K miles. She is so incredibly fun to drive, and she is completely stock. I love her to death and highly encourage you to buy the car. Even if you just put a 13B in her, you could then sell it for around $9000.

I say definately buy it.

Kris

 

LOVE my 1991 vert

 

Joel-

Here's what I would do with it:

http://www.v8rx7.com

Triple the torque, double the horsepower, and go with a T-56 6speed. LT1 engine from a '93-97 Camaro with T-56 6speed can be bought for around $3K. 5.0 EFI Stang/T-5 speed can be purchased for under $1500.

Dare to be different.

GNX7

 

I can honestly say that it would make me mess my pants to hear the rumble of a V-8 coming out of my car, but I don't have the heart to do it or even recommend it.

Anyway, what I would do, is find a Jap-spec turbo engine (~$1000), and drop that bad-boy in. It would be wise to find a turbo drivetrain from the tranny back to go with it, but that's not necessary unless you want to go crazy with the power.

I'm actually considering this for my convertible, as I really can't get myself to sell it. If I had the $$$ to do it right away I'd sell you the n/a engine in my car for cheap, it's a Mazda remanued with ~43k on it, runs very strong.