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I can't imagine brucepick without a trusty Volvo! Going with a Civic is a good move though...
I had a '97 and a '99 Civic (the latter of which is tied for first in the "best cars I've owned" category).
Follow jdubs' advice -- lots of the good ones have been bought, leaving the "leftovers". Regarding the timing belt, I'm not sure if this an "inspectable" item -- others can probably help more with that -- but for cars with interference engines, I've replaced the belt immediately when buying used. There has to be solid evidence otherwise.
The biggest thing to look for is evidence of power "tuner" mods. Many of these cars had the living daylights run out of them. Otherwise, surface rust from salt is all I've heard of.
The HX may be extremely difficult to find. In this generation of Civics, the CX, DX, and LX have the 106 hp 1.6L. (The EX had the more powerful engine, with the Si at 160 hp) Mine was the DX Coupe and later the Si. With the 5-speed, the DX had plenty of power and was easy to get ~30 MPG with my lead foot at the time. Are you looking at hatch, coupe, sedan, or any?
IMO, working on these cars is much less complicated than other models. The engine bay has plenty of room to work. More simplicity in other areas. Not sure about the Del Sol -- again, probably hard to find with the engine you want.
Have fun looking! Let us know what you find...
RH77
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“If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called research” ― Albert Einstein
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