My New Eco-Ride

[War_Wagon]

I love my '90 Civic CX. I am a sucker for any older Honda, and I have a list of ones I need to own that I haven't yet. Like a Honda Beat. Or an S2000. And as much as I love my CX, it is kind of a bucket. Original paint, kinda beat up, big hole where the lower part of the dash/stereo used to be etc. I have kept it around for years, and don't plan to get rid of it. BUT, I do have to cross the border a lot. I guess the car just doesn't go with the way I look. I get searched. A lot, going in either direction. Which isn't a problem as there's nothing to find, but man it takes like an hour to cross rather than 5 minutes.

My buddy in the USA kept telling me "It's your car, I'd search you too in that thing!" I didn't want to believe him. But I picked up an old 4Runner that looked half decent, and voila, haven't had a problem since. So that got me on the hunt for an eco-ride that doesn't look like I just bought it to smuggle stuff across the border, which the CX apparently does! I have always wanted a clean Del Sol, preferably in black. And today....







It's a '97 with 212k KMs, 131k miles, 5 speed. The throw out bearing is really noisy which is probably why the guy traded it in. But that don't scare me ha ha. I need to spend a day or two on the paint, lots of scuffs etc but nothing drastic. Black just takes a lot of time to make nice. I like the factory alloys, but I do have a set of VX rims kicking around, so I am thinking those should probably go on it. And a '97 would be OBD2 wouldn't it? So I could just plug it into a Scangauge? Hopefully the border guards like it as much as I do!

[MetroMPG]

Nice find!

Well, you don't find things so much as feign surprise when they drop in your lap. Eh?

Those are factory wheels? They look almost MR2-ish.

And yes, plug 'n' play OBD-II eco-fun-game-meter. Your mileage will go through the roof (when it's latched in place).

[War_Wagon]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Nice find!

Well, you don't find things so much as feign surprise when they drop in your lap. Eh?

Those are factory wheels? They look almost MR2-ish.

Ouch! Dang man, 15 years plus of 3 auctions a week plus working at the biggest one around here for a decade - trust me it ain't stuff falling into my my lap ha ha. The ironic thing is I drive around a lot out into the sticks looking for the things that pay the bills, but the really cool eco stuff always just ends up at the auctions. I tell people "I will take any 2006 and newer half ton crew cab pickup you have!! And *cough cough any old Hondas*." But they are car dealers/wholesalers, so they only call me on the stuff that's worth something, which would be a truck. The Del Sol came from a dealer that I know, but he didn't call me on it. I had to buy it at the auction and pay fees on it. And so did he for selling it to me. But around here nobody wants that stuff, so if your job is to deal with all the trade ins your dealership gets, you don't waste your time with old Hondas, you just send them to the auction. And then I buy them. And they sit until I find a home for them ha ha

Edit - yep those are factory wheels. Nearly new tires on them too. I don't know how to tell an Si from a base model in Del Sols. It doesn't have an Si decal on the trunk lid, but that doesn't mean anything. It does have a 1.6L in it, so that would make me think it's an Si, but maybe SOD or some other Honda guru can tell me how to know what it is I bought!

[cowmeat]

Want that little tan Honda wagon in the background of pic 1, especially if it's a manual
I used to have that same car until it blew out the head gasket, loved that car!

[Daox]

Congrats on the new non-smuggling ride!

[jedi_sol]

Originally Posted by War_Wagon

Edit - yep those are factory wheels. Nearly new tires on them too. I don't know how to tell an Si from a base model in Del Sols. It doesn't have an Si decal on the trunk lid, but that doesn't mean anything. It does have a 1.6L in it, so that would make me think it's an Si, but maybe SOD or some other Honda guru can tell me how to know what it is I bought!

pop the hood...

1) if valve cover is black - its an si...1.6l single cam vtec

2) if the valve cover is silver - most likely a 1.5l single cam non vtec

3) if all else fails...look at the front of the block, down near the front/bottom ish...you should see a stamp that will say "D16xxxxx" or "D15xxxxxx" or the really rare "B16xxxxxx"

[mcrews]

WElcome!!!!!

Hope you fit in with all the 'smugglers' on th site.......

[War_Wagon]

Originally Posted by cowmeat

Want that little tan Honda wagon in the background of pic 1, especially if it's a manual
I used to have that same car until it blew out the head gasket, loved that car!

Yup the wagon is a stick, but the clutch is out of it. And nobody knows who owns it. It showed up at the front gate of the auction months ago, so they brought it in thinking the dealer selling it would call and say "Ya that's my car". Nobody ever did. That happens a surprising amount. When I worked there we had a year old Altima and a year old Pathfinder that got bought by a dealership and then forgot about, for 2 years. That would have been about $70k worth of vehicles. Pretty sure someone at the dealership got fired over that one ha ha

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

That's still a nice-looking car, even almost 20-year old. Good to see that it was not riced out.

[War_Wagon]

Bah, it's an Si! It should have dawned on me when the factory tach showed such a high redline. I double checked and it is a 1.6L. The trans has to come out to fix the throw out bearing, and a trans swap would be easy at that point to a CX trans etc. But then, it is a non-riced out, un butchered Si, maybe I should just leave it as is and get rid of it, it's probably worth more with the Si gearbox in it. I want something as highway friendly as possible. The search for the ultimate, non-heat score winter beater continues ha ha