Decent junker suggestions

[Shrubberer]

Hey all,

I'm looking for suggestions on a cheap beater that's easy to work on. I'm trying to learn more about working on cars but I can't risk FiST.

I'm looking at some sort of manual transmission compact car or small pick up from the mid-late 80's through the late 90's.

I know a Civic hatch is a common suggestion, but it's hard to find any that haven't been modded to hell and back.

Cheers, all.

 

[theblue]

BMW E30 or E36!! but I'm a little biased owning both.

 

[jeff]

Civic man....they're indestructible, cheap to mod, cheap to fix, easy to mod, easy to fix....find a 6th gen for under $2000, you won't likely find a hatch or coupe but there are sedans everywhere and they're not bad.

[video=youtube;IxR0IG-2TRM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxR0IG-2TRM&t=124s[/video]

[video=youtube;SlxnP22ubAk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlxnP22ubAk[/video]

 

[Ford ST]

The Nissan Altima with the 2.4 is a great car. Ford ranger, Mazda pickup all good.

Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

 

[RubenZZZ]

Civic sedan or del sol

Mazda mx6 coupe

Mazda protege

Mustang 5.0 (fox)

Sent from my LGLS992 using Tapatalk

 

[alexrex20]

98-02 Corolla. easy to work on. dirt cheap, dead reliable. parts are dirt cheap and readily available, and plenty of donor cars at the pick-a-part.

 

[green_henry]

I had a '90 Nissan Maxima 5-speed for a few years. Loved it; total sleeper.

 

[Dpro]

240sx if you can find one awesome RWD fun .

 

[TyphoonFiST]

I will have to say A Yugo....Why you may ask? Because no one cares about them and everyone is still amazed when they see one driving around like a god dam Unicorn!

 

[Quickone]

BMW, no, parts are way too expensive. Older Nissan Maxima, no, try to access the rear bank of cylinders for spark plug change in the transverse mounted V6.

Honda Civic, Accord or Del Sol yes, first choice. Also Nissan Sentra early to mid 2000's- very easy to work on and last forever. Not sure if it's too small but Mazda Miata- loyal following, most are well taken care of, they last forever, fun to drive and super easy to work on. I know on these cars as I have owned and worked on them. I would also suggest Toyota- Corolla or Yaris.

 

[averyislost]

Civics are always great suggestions, but also look out for old Honda Preludes! My 1992 Prelude was the first car I really learned to turn a wrench on. Parts are cheap, plus if you get one with the H22 then you've got THE engine that people swap into their Civics. My old Prelude was an SI with the H23 engine. That sucker had 212k miles on it when I sold it, and it still drove beautifully.

Either that, or if you want to go the 'truck' route then an old Jeep Cherokee is another great choice. Their prices are somewhat all over the board but they're incredibly easy to turn a wrench on and you have a plethora of aftermarket companies still making parts for them so if you get caught by the mod bug you have plenty of options.

 

[zanethan]

Learned to wrench on a 93 Geo Storm. It’s the little remembered “sport” car from the Geo lineup. Had 150k on the clock when I bought it for $300 and it was totaled at 286k 10 years later. Still ran beautifully and had the stock clutch. It was also pretty peppy for what it was and decently fun to drive. There is an Isuzu counterpart known as the Impulse that is the same car. That one had a bonafide high HP turbo charged engine but I doubt that’s the route you want to go. If you can find a Storm/Impulse that’s my vote but I’m biased haha. Parts were pretty easy to find as well as it’s the same chassis and power train as the much more remembered Tracker/Jimmy.

Otherwise the civic or prelude would be my vote.

Behold the beauty!

Edit: If you do decide to look into SUVs first gen Xterra are pretty cheap right now and come in a manual pretty readily. (Manual Cherokees are nearly impossible to find). For less than $5k your get a bonafide 4x4 that’s off-road capable out of the box. Just make sure you get the timing belt replaced if it’s got over 100k on the clock.

 

[CB022481]

I second the first get xterra. can be used as a camper/traveler. mid to late 90s legacy or impreza also....

 

[Scrambles]

I really like early (Pre '08) naturally-aspirated Subarus. Particularity GC and GD Imprezas. Head gaskets on the '02+ 2.5s will need to replaced, but other than that they are neigh indestructible and almost every part is interchangeable between different models. They make great dailies and backroad or rallycross beaters.

You're in Texas so you might not need AWD, but you should be able to find less rusty example than are available in the Midwest. I recommend a STI take-off rear sway bar, really helps these car rotate. Good luck.

 

[RubenZZZ]

Nissan pathfinders and mistubishi monteros are cheap and relatively easyto work on.



Sent from my LGLS992 using Tapatalk

 

[Shrubberer]

Thanks for the recommendations, all. Right now I'm leaning towards the Civic, just because they're so reliable and there's so many of them out there, but I'm also not in a hurry, so keep the suggestions coming. I'm trying to keep it under $2500 so that if I really screw something up I won't feel too bad (I'm not so rich that $2500 is nothing, but it's a lot less than my FiST and cheaper to insure).

Edited to add:
Zanethan reminded me that Geo was a thing once. Does anyone have experience with the Geo Metro and the Geo Prizm, especially with regards to reliability and parts availability? I know the Prizm is basically a Sprinter which is basically a Corolla, but for the Metro I don't think Suzuki ever sold the Swift in NA until after Geo was defunct.

 

[Intuit]

Many of the vehicles from that era had early generation bi-metal engines which were prone to scrubbing head gaskets.

You're outside the rust belt in a place that sees year 'round decent weather. If you don't care about having to work on stuff, as long as you can get decent parts, it's pretty much anything. Time however is valuable. Having to re-repair the same flawed stuff two and three times will quickly get old. Personally I'd choose something more on the reliable side.

Only thing that made forced me out of my nearly 330k '94 Escort is rust. Minus that, I'd trust that thing on a coast-to-coast trip. Road salt is definitely a double-edged sword. *Quality* replacement parts were also increasingly scarce since CarQuest was bought out and dissolved.

 

[Ford ST]

Geo prizm is a Toyota Corolla hard to fine. RockAuto will be your friend for parts. Please don't get a Ford escort. Mine destroyed 2 timing belts, one clutch, and exploded the transmission on the interstate, I think the car was cursed. Honda civics are definitely great.

Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

 

[Intuit]

Geo prizm is a Toyota Corolla hard to fine. RockAuto will be your friend for parts. Please don't get a Ford escort. Mine destroyed 2 timing belts, one clutch, and exploded the transmission on the interstate, I think the car was cursed. Honda civics are definitely great.

Sent from my LG-LS997 using Tapatalk

Before purchasing any vehicle, peruse the forums... as I did with the FiST. It'll give you a good idea on what to expect... http://www.feoa.net/

Automatic sh*t transmissions in general are a horrible idea on any old vehicle.

T-Belts I'd wager are the number one reason I'd see them on the side of the highway. Never had an issue with any timing belts, but I replaced them on or before severe duty maintenance schedule as I was a lead foot with the torque... and the t-belt is really easy to do on that vehicle. It's a non-interference engine so timing belt slips don't detonate the engine. Just slap another on and go. The t-belt cover can be removed/reinserted without decoupling the engine mount so it's maybe 45 minute job for a shade-tree taking his/er time. When I sold it, the subsequent owner ignored everything I told'em via typed list and guess what... was soon on the side of the highway with a broken t-belt.

Properly driven the manual transmissions are bullet proof. Posts about the man trans on FEOA forums were relatively seldom and nearly always clutch hydraulics, pedal adjustment, shifter bushings or routine and severe abuse. Mine OEM clutch disc was a Daiken six-spring. Only thing I ever had to maintain on my transmission were the hydraulics; only replacing the slow-failing clutch master cylinder (also easy) at well over 200k. I also replaced the shifter bushings which are basically tiny washers.
Because the hydraulics slow-fail however, folks continue to drive them, grinding and forcing gears... and doing that on any transmission will eventually kill it.

 

[RubenZZZ]

Also look into Acura Integras. Basically an aero luxo-Civic that can be found cheap and in auto/manual and coupe/sedan combos.

Sent from my LGLS992 using Tapatalk