Jeff's new not-so-much-a-beater project, pt. 6

[jeff]

Don't worry Fiesta is still my favorite but I thought I'd share this with my friends here. Today I bought my 'affordable dream car'. Long story short I've been casually hunting for a USDM one of these for years and a few weeks ago I ran into a guy randomly who had one and jokingly asked him if I could buy it, and he told me he actually was moving away and about to put it up for sale, and then I learned it was JDM, and after a few weeks of research, inspection, negotiation, and questioning my life choices, I bought this car today.

It's a 1991 JDM rhd CRX Si with the 130hp DOHC engine. Has 115,001 miles, excellent paint, working A/C, cleaned up well, needs a few things but the motor and tranny are solid. Has a few very tasteful mods as well. I've got some repairs/parts on order, probably am going to change or paint the wheels grey, maybe get an OEM seat, and enjoy it awhile. The CRX is an amazing car. The USDM versions of the Si had 108hp and were quick. This one has 130hp and is quite lovely. What an engine. RHD is an ownership experience I recommend for everyone at some point in their life.

How much do these cost? Let's just say that the profit from beater projects 1-5 was more than enough to pay for this car. So it was....free. Well, the cost was about 200 hours of my labor restoring all my other beater projects in the last couple of years. It was worth it.

Anyhow thought some of you car lovers might celebrate with me. Thanks for reading!

First pic is before...poor thing. The ones that follow are after 5 hours of Jeff labor.

Don't worry Fiesta still gets the garage.

 

[SloSHO]

Totally Jealous

But I would not want a RHD given an option. That's Pretty Sick Though!

 

[M-Sport fan]

There is a crew in ARA events still rallying one of those (NOT a super-rare RHD JDM model, but that gen USDM CRX Si).

 

[Jabbit]

Rear discs and power windows? Don't tell me the A/C actually works... beautiful car, I love it.

 

[The_Ryan]

amazing. you always end up with some pretty sweet cars.

 

[RubenZZZ]

Sweet car! Those Buddy Clubs need to be gold though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[jeff]

Thanks guys. Yeah RHD doubles the value of these cars and I must say it's a pretty amazing experience. Wheels are Advan Racing which after researching I learned are worth $1500 used. I got lucky. Need some wheel locks now. Yeah the car has power windows even auto power down on the driver window. A/C works, it's R12 and not super cool in the 95 degree GA heat but it does work. I rarely use A/C though so that's not something I cared too much about.

Thanks for the kudos guys! It's a neat car for sure.

 

[Old Mike Emerson]

Don't worry Fiesta is still my favorite but I thought I'd share this with my friends here. Today I bought my 'affordable dream car'. Long story short I've been casually hunting for a USDM one of these for years and a few weeks ago I ran into a guy randomly who had one and jokingly asked him if I could buy it, and he told me he actually was moving away and about to put it up for sale, and then I learned it was JDM, and after a few weeks of research, inspection, negotiation, and questioning my life choices, I bought this car today.

It's a 1991 JDM rhd CRX Si with the 130hp DOHC engine. Has 115,001 miles, excellent paint, working A/C, cleaned up well, needs a few things but the motor and tranny are solid. Has a few very tasteful mods as well. I've got some repairs/parts on order, probably am going to change or paint the wheels grey, maybe get an OEM seat, and enjoy it awhile. The CRX is an amazing car. The USDM versions of the Si had 108hp and were quick. This one has 130hp and is quite lovely. What an engine. RHD is an ownership experience I recommend for everyone at some point in their life.

How much do these cost? Let's just say that the profit from beater projects 1-5 was more than enough to pay for this car. So it was....free. Well, the cost was about 200 hours of my labor restoring all my other beater projects in the last couple of years. It was worth it.

Anyhow thought some of you car lovers might celebrate with me. Thanks for reading!

First pic is before...poor thing. The ones that follow are after 5 hours of Jeff labor.

Don't worry Fiesta still gets the garage.

Always thought the CRX was cool.

 

[Jabbit]

Thanks guys. Yeah RHD doubles the value of these cars and I must say it's a pretty amazing experience. Wheels are Advan Racing which after researching I learned are worth $1500 used. I got lucky. Need some wheel locks now. Yeah the car has power windows even auto power down on the driver window. A/C works, it's R12 and not super cool in the 95 degree GA heat but it does work. I rarely use A/C though so that's not something I cared too much about.

Thanks for the kudos guys! It's a neat car for sure.

Neat doesn't begin to describe what you've got there. Can you share how much you paid?

 

[M-Sport fan]

Leave it to jeff to first of all FIND something like this, and then clean it up, and bring it back to showroom (or better) condition once he does.

 

[jeff]

Neat doesn't begin to describe what you've got there. Can you share how much you paid?

Thanks.....a complicated question you ask, one that kept me up at night for 2 weeks while I pondered the sale...

So the guy wanted $7k. I thought "that's insane". Then I started researching and thinking...a US spec Si in decent shape with decent miles is $10k or more. $5k gets you something beat, $7k gets you something nice, $10k or more gets you something really nice. Car prices are going up fast as we know. Then I called two importers and talked about the price of these cars with them, asking them to find me something comparable to what I was looking at locally. Both said it would be around $15k. Then I started pricing them on Hagerty's and CaB and BaT. Same thing, all the numbers lined up.

So I kind of realized I'm getting a car that (after maybe $1k of parts/tires/etc. plus all my 100 hours of free labor) would be worth $12-$15k. The car was a bit neglected (owner was not a car guy) but rode very well and had lots of potential. And it has new paint...it's Maaco paint, but it's really not bad. And good miles, just 115,001. And A/C blows cold. So I got it.

How I got it....the car just happened. I was looking at a house for purchase and the car was in the driveway, I met the owner, jokingly asked if it was for sale, and 3 weeks later I had the car. He never even posted it, and it was local. Things just fell into place for me here. I mean people are paying importers the price of the car plus $3500 to import it. I skipped all that and found one locally. What's the chance? I feel like that chick in Deadpool with the luck superpower.

Beyond that....once I got it home and started cleaning it up I realized it had some very nice mods on it. Japanese stuff, legit stuff. The wheels are on eBay used for $1500. The strut bars and exhaust are top notch JDM stuff. It has adjustable coils front and back. Speaker upgrades, other stuff. I'm pretty sure I could sell the car right now as is for $10k, especially now that it's clean and detailed (see vid below).

So all that's to say I think the $7k price was a really good one. I've already had someone ask me if they could buy it and I've only owned it 2 days! My answer....NO. This car is too cool.

Did a couple videos for my YT channel...here's one I just uploaded, you guys might enjoy.

I appreciate all the good words.

View: https://youtu.be/X7lRtiTCIPA

 

[MagnetiseST]

Oh ho ho ho, I am very jealous. Congrats! What a beauty!

 

[Jabbit]

$7k is amazing. Thanks for the detailed reply, VERY good find. I can smell my childhood thru the pictures.

 

[D_D_973]

What a beauty! A lot of us on here are old Honda guys.

 

[remtodd]

Nice. I'm a fan of Honda cars also. Those wheels look cool.

 

[jeff]

Nice. I'm a fan of Honda cars also. Those wheels look cool.

Thanks. Out of curiosity, do you like the wheels because of

1 style?
2 color?

Reason I ask is I'm painting them grey or bronze/copper this weekend. The white doesn't match and it's a look I'm not a fan of...lots of people love these white colored wheels but it's not my thing.

Opinions welcome.

 

[Brianmc27]

Fuck the fiesta, this thing belongs in the garage!

 

[jeff]

You guys give me your opinions on wheel color...gonna do something soon.

I appreciate the compliments. Car is really great. I took it to the Honda dealer to get alignment after tire install last week, a guy there offered me $15k for it.

 

[Jabbit]

Do gold, bronze, or copper (in that order). Don't do gray/gunmetal as I think that won't look as cool or "period correct" as the other colors.

 

[jeff]

Do gold, bronze, or copper (in that order). Don't do gray/gunmetal as I think that won't look as cool or "period correct" as the other colors.

You have a good point, the cars from the late 80s and early 90s often had gold wheels....but the most "period correct" would be silver which I don't like for this car.