ok i know your all sick of all these "i want an FD what do u think" threads....well im hear to tell you that although this may seem similar its actually quite different.

please hear me out..

ok so lets get through what i do know....i know i want one(and im not going to change my mind), any issues it has i will deal with, im not new to the engine so they dont scare me, i already understand the whole money pit "thing" with these cars, I HAVE already done a crap load of research(although i understand theres no such thing as to much research), hell ive even looked at the cars FSM some.

ok know that thats done with heres the question:

how should i go about gettting one?

what i mean is, heres the options that i see in front of me...(let me know what you would recomend to be the smartest to do overall)

1)buy one for the usuall 10-18k that works for the most part and go from there.
2)one with a dead engine or with one on its way out the door for, lets say between 6-10k, and either rebuild or have it rebuilt.
3)shell/roller
4)auto-manual conversion

I know that as soon as you look at my sig. your going to think, why bother, but i like to plan ahead as much as possible, plus now that i have this new job that number should grow rather quickly.

so please, let me know what you think, what you would do/what you did, how it worked for you, anything will help me decide.

thank you for your time and patience

 

i would say take you time and use local searching like auto trader and craigslist. and use the forums. and look for something you really want, dont settle for less because then you will be kicking your self i say just get one close to you so you can test it and make sure its for you. and oh GOOD LUCK on you search you will find what you want you just have to look.

 

yeah ill agree with rx7rcer because as much as you want one don't get one thats any less then you want it to be because if you happen to get one that doesn't run and you go from there you will be kicking yourself when you cant drive it. i've been slowly doing work to my car and haven't driven it in a long time. this weekend ill be finished so i can start it up again, tune it up, and drive goodluck with the search autotrader.com helped me find my 7

 

If you have the skills, tools, room, and patience, I think the best thing to do would be buy a car that needs a rebuild and do it yourself or pay to have it done. If you can find a good body, then you can find a builder who can build you a solid engine and you then know what you have. Any time you buy a running FD, it is a crap shoot as to what is really there.

I don't have the skills, tools, room, or patience to do it. The next best thing is to do what has been mentioned, take your time and first see what is out there and then start to look for the car you want. Don't jump at the first car that catches your eye, there will be more.

 

To me, so much of your question depends on your personal status. Mainly how much free time you have and how much money you're willing to dish out. Personally if money wasn't an issue (unfortunately with me it always is) I would try to buy an FD as mechanically sound as possible, that’s probably the best and most expensive choice. If you have a lot of time on your hands and your bankroll isn't that large and your absolutely intent on buying an FD then I’d say look into buying a project. But again this path suxs in the sense that your still dishing out allot of money on a car that doesn't run and you may have to wait a while before you can drive.

I haven't done too much research on switching an auto to Manuel but I remember hearing that can be a good way to save money. Not too sure if you sacrifice performance in doing this instead of just buying a manual car from the get go, i wonder if anyone can say something about that. Whatever you choose definitely take your time. Good luck