10k car ideas

Alright guys, I need some ideas...

I have about 10k to work with

Fwd rwd doesnt really matter at this price

I dont want high miles unless its something i would be swapping out anyway

Would like something moddable, able to hit 13's at least.

Live in USA, weather isnt a concern, nor is space. Handling doesnt have to be F1 caliber, but I would like it to go where I point it. I won't be tracking the car or anything, mostly straight line stuff.

So far my ideas include

3kgt- At this price most probably an SL, however if anyone has experience converting it to the TT let me know.

foxbody- cheap, but i'm not all that much in love with the look of the car. For 10k minus the price of car and some suspension bits to make it actually handle what kind of power could be expected?

240sx- ka-t or sr20

eclipse gst or gsx- I am concerned with the reliability on this one, how much truth is in all the stories about crankwalk, etc

So again, if anyone has other ideas or further information on those I listed, I know i only touched on some stuff, theres alot more out there, please let me know.

Thanks

For that price you can buy an emaculate Turbo Dodge and have more than enough money left to reliably push the car into the 11s.

I'd stay away from the 3000GT.

Consider a MR2 Turbo also.

word, mr2 turbo is a def possiblity,

poly, do u have any good sites about turbo dodges, i dont really know much about em

if you can get past the looks, what about an srt-4? i've seen some with low miles selling for like $7k-9k,, plus they have the potential to run 13's bone stock. if you pick up one and drop $1-2k worth of mods into it you might even be able to hit 12's. besides the styling they're a damn good bang-for-your-buck.

After further thinking, the 3000gt idea is out. When I started brainstorming I forgot about the fact that they are going to be pretty expensive to fix.

if you can get past the looks, what about an srt-4? i've seen some with low miles selling for like $7k-9k,, plus they have the potential to run 13's bone stock. if you pick up one and drop $1-2k worth of mods into it you might even be able to hit 12's. besides the styling they're a damn good bang-for-your-buck.

Yeah I thought of an srt-4, like you said the looks aren't exactly the best but it does have good bang for the buck. I haven't been able to find any for my price yet, and if I did, I would be worried that it was some highschooler who trashed the crap out of it. Where did you see some with low miles?

Wow I thought those cars with low miles would sell for at least 13k considering they're not made anymore.

I second an MR2.

I'd stay away from the 3000GT.

Consider a MR2 Turbo also.

I guess it would depend on what you're doing. The 3S isn't as unreliable or hard to work as most people say. Mine hasn't given me any problems that weren't the fault of the previous owner. Also, it isn't hard to work on, just time consuming.

However, there are better cars out there. You can find a nice 1st gen Stealth for about $7 - $8 and it doesn't take much to be in the 12s.

word, mr2 turbo is a def possiblity,

poly, do u have any good sites about turbo dodges, i dont really know much about em

Yeah, I've got a few:

http://www.thedodgegarage.com/index.html
http://www.xmission.com/~dempsey/
(http://www.xmission.com/%7Edempsey/)http://minimopar.knizefamily.net/index.html

The Dodge Garage is the best TD resource. I also have a couple of forums that I post in:

http://www.turbododge.com/forums/
http://www.turbo-mopar.com/forums/cmps_index.php?

The reason I say to get a Turbo Mopar is the fact that you can find one for dirt cheap, like around $2k. That is unless you want some of the more rare cars like the Iroc Daytona R/T, Phantom R/T, Spirit R/T, and the Shelby CSX. Those are slightly more, if you can find them.

They are cake to work on and parts are abundant and inexpensive. You can reliably get one into the 12s for a few thousand. Eleven wouldn't be much more, and still daily drivable. You'd have money left over. Plus you'd have a sleeper depending on what car you pick. Plus, all the parts are interchangeable.

Have you considered the Mark III Supra? The 7M-GTE puts out 232HP and 254TQ. 1/4 mile is mid to high 14s stock. 13s should be easily attainable. They are a bit heavy tho. And the styling is hit or miss. To be honest, i like these better than the mark IV Supra.

i don't see why you would stay away from a 3000Gt if you want a car that can run 13s because they run 13s stock. well if a 3000gt is to expensive for you then look at the stealth same car but usllay cheaper i found this
http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/car/446051709.html
in craigslist there was alot more but they sold already.

i have seen lots of 3KGTs for under 10 grand in good condtion and low miles you just have to look from time to time.
but anyways you should also look in to some last gen Fbodies or the LT1 Fbodies.

is 10k all you want to spend on the car or is that including the car and mods?

Yeah, my Stealth only cost me $6,400 and $900 to ship it from Michigan. It has been a great car and only had 86,000 miles on it when I bought it. Here is a picture of it, except it had the stock wheels when I bought it. I think there are better options, but I think it is the best car you listed. I still think that a TD is a great idea.

http://www.synapsepc.com/Hosting/Images/Stealth/Calendar/Side%202.jpg

i don't see why you would stay away from a 3000Gt if you want a car that can run 13s because they run 13s stock. well if a 3000gt is to expensive for you then look at the stealth same car but usllay cheaper i found this
http://inlandempire.craigslist.org/car/446051709.html
in craigslist there was alot more but they sold already.

i have seen lots of 3KGTs for under 10 grand in good condtion and low miles you just have to look from time to time.
but anyways you should also look in to some last gen Fbodies or the LT1 Fbodies.

is 10k all you want to spend on the car or is that including the car and mods?

Around here I haven't seen a vr4 for 10k without it having a ton of miles on it unfortunately. Same with an ls1. Since 10k is for right now going to be for the car and mods, I want something that i can get for relatively low miles and good moddability, which limits me considerably.

Lt1 is a definite consideration, specifically the firebird since that particular fbod has always been my favorite. I looked over the turbo dodges and minus the stealth, I was liking the daytona alot. Couldn't find one around here yet tho.

My focus recently has been a 240sx. I can get one for about 2-3k max, and its rwd with tons of options. I was thinking about an sr20 swap, if anyone has pros/cons/info about the car or engine it would def be appreciated. Is it better to stick the KA or try out an RB or I've even heard people putting in ls1's... What I'm aiming for now would be a max of 350whp. Installation isn't a problem since my friend is pretty knowledgeable and we would be doing it ourselves.

Thanks for all the help

Around here I haven't seen a vr4 for 10k without it having a ton of miles on it unfortunately. Same with an ls1. Since 10k is for right now going to be for the car and mods, I want something that i can get for relatively low miles and good moddability, which limits me considerably.

I looked over the turbo dodges and minus the stealth, I was liking the daytona alot. Couldn't find one around here yet tho.
Your only limiting factor on the 3S is the fact that you might not be able to find one close by. I couldn't and I looked for months. I live in Utah and ended up shipping mine from Michigan.

As for the TD, you might not be able to find one close by but maybe I can source one for you. Once again, I had to go out of state for mine. Ohio to be exact. I took me over a year to find it but I got lucky and bought it for $600. It drove all the way home and I could DD it if I wanted to. Then again they only made 1,033 of mine.

Where are you located? Also, is the Daytona the only TD you want? I can show you some more TDs I also might be able to find you a 3S.

Around here I haven't seen a vr4 for 10k without it having a ton of miles on it unfortunately. Same with an ls1. Since 10k is for right now going to be for the car and mods, I want something that i can get for relatively low miles and good moddability, which limits me considerably.
yeah the stealth i posted up is in texas:banghead: or i would have bought. but yeah i think i'm going to have to do what polly did. well me and my friends have been wanting to go on a road trip ahah:grinno::grinno:.

Lt1 is a definite consideration, specifically the firebird since that particular fbod has always been my favorite. I looked over the turbo dodges and minus the stealth, I was liking the daytona alot. Couldn't find one around here yet tho. hell yeah firebirds all the way!!!!:grinyes::grinyes:

My focus recently has been a 240sx. I can get one for about 2-3k max, and its rwd with tons of options. I was thinking about an sr20 swap, if anyone has pros/cons/info about the car or engine it would def be appreciated. Is it better to stick the KA or try out an RB or I've even heard people putting in ls1's... What I'm aiming for now would be a max of 350whp. Installation isn't a problem since my friend is pretty knowledgeable and we would be doing it ourselves.

Thanks for all the help
your talking about the sr20det or is it sr20dett don't know to much about engine names let alone a certain make. but anyways is it the S15 engine because i heard if you get a front clip of an S15 you can just take the engine and parts from that and it will just drop right in. and you can give the 240 the s15 front end which looks badass. and about the RB i read that it takes alot of work to get it in. like some guy wrote an artical about his swap process and basicly put every detail in the artical ( it was long as hell), but anyways it ended up being that he need parts from a 300ZX since he didn't have a skyline to part out and he used parts from a G35 and 350z. in the artical he made it sound hard but i'm sure there are easier ways.

your talking about the sr20det or is it sr20dett don't know to much about engine names let alone a certain make. but anyways is it the S15 engine because i heard if you get a front clip of an S15 you can just take the engine and parts from that and it will just drop right in. and you can give the 240 the s15 front end which looks badass. and about the RB i read that it takes alot of work to get it in. like some guy wrote an artical about his swap process and basicly put every detail in the artical ( it was long as hell), but anyways it ended up being that he need parts from a 300ZX since he didn't have a skyline to part out and he used parts from a G35 and 350z. in the artical he made it sound hard but i'm sure there are easier ways.

You'd be talking about the SR20DET, it only has one turbo. Two T's would suggest it has two like the RB26DETT. That is your best option with a 240 since the truck motor that comes in the American version doesn't take nearly as well to mods. Also, there are a ton of kits to DIY or there are comapnies that will swap it for you.

My focus recently has been a 240sx. I can get one for about 2-3k max, and its rwd with tons of options. I was thinking about an sr20 swap, if anyone has pros/cons/info about the car or engine it would def be appreciated. Is it better to stick the KA or try out an RB or I've even heard people putting in ls1's... What I'm aiming for now would be a max of 350whp. Installation isn't a problem since my friend is pretty knowledgeable and we would be doing it ourselves.

you thought about a TT 300zx? seems to fit in your price range from what I found on autotrader, plus the styling is much better than the 240's (imho). granted the base cost is probably gonna be more expensive and therefore less $$ for mods,, but you'll have a high 13/low 14 second car to work with as opposed to one that runs solid 16's. i guess it all depends on what exactly you wanna do.

Your only limiting factor on the 3S is the fact that you might not be able to find one close by. I couldn't and I looked for months. I live in Utah and ended up shipping mine from Michigan.

As for the TD, you might not be able to find one close by but maybe I can source one for you. Once again, I had to go out of state for mine. Ohio to be exact. I took me over a year to find it but I got lucky and bought it for $600. It drove all the way home and I could DD it if I wanted to. Then again they only made 1,033 of mine.

Where are you located? Also, is the Daytona the only TD you want? I can show you some more TDs I also might be able to find you a 3S.


Yeah, I havent seen anything around these parts for that cheap ever with a 3s. Never seen a TD either. The Daytona isn't the only one I would be interested in, I just liked that styling the best.

your talking about the sr20det or is it sr20dett don't know to much about engine names let alone a certain make. but anyways is it the S15 engine because i heard if you get a front clip of an S15 you can just take the engine and parts from that and it will just drop right in. and you can give the 240 the s15 front end which looks badass. and about the RB i read that it takes alot of work to get it in. like some guy wrote an artical about his swap process and basicly put every detail in the artical ( it was long as hell), but anyways it ended up being that he need parts from a 300ZX since he didn't have a skyline to part out and he used parts from a G35 and 350z. in the artical he made it sound hard but i'm sure there are easier ways.

I believe you can get the clip from a skyline as well and swap it in, however I'm sure thats more money and more work...

You'd be talking about the SR20DET, it only has one turbo. Two T's would suggest it has two like the RB26DETT. That is your best option with a 240 since the truck motor that comes in the American version doesn't take nearly as well to mods. Also, there are a ton of kits to DIY or there are comapnies that will swap it for you.

Yeah, my friend says not to stick with the KA, but then I see someone like nissanfanatic who has about 500whp with it so I'm not really sure why not stick with that motor. Is it more labor intensive or more cost to turbo that motor and get power of out it? I wouldn't get a company to swap anything, me and some friends would do it. Def saves on money :)

you thought about a TT 300zx? seems to fit in your price range from what I found on autotrader, plus the styling is much better than the 240's (imho). granted the base cost is probably gonna be more expensive and therefore less $$ for mods,, but you'll have a high 13/low 14 second car to work with as opposed to one that runs solid 16's. i guess it all depends on what exactly you wanna do.

I am a fan of the 300zx's for sure, havent looked at the prices recently but I remember last i checked the only ones i could find with good mileage at this price were the NA models. I agree that the styling is better. If I could find one around here TT for a good price and mileage it would probably be my first or second choice.

Im still holding out for a low mileage trans am ls1 (preferably ws.6) :p. I've wanted that as a car ever since I had a permit

Yeah, I havent seen anything around these parts for that cheap ever with a 3s. Never seen a TD either. The Daytona isn't the only one I would be interested in, I just liked that styling the best.

Well, let me know which ones you'd be interested and where you are and I can try to find you some cars.

Yeah, my friend says not to stick with the KA, but then I see someone like nissanfanatic who has about 500whp with it so I'm not really sure why not stick with that motor. Is it more labor intensive or more cost to turbo that motor and get power of out it? I wouldn't get a company to swap anything, me and some friends would do it. Def saves on money :)

Well, it just isn't easy, or inexpensive, to get that much power out of the KA reliably. It is easier and cheaper to use the SR20. Plus, they have kits that are cake to put in.

I am a fan of the 300zx's for sure, havent looked at the prices recently but I remember last i checked the only ones i could find with good mileage at this price were the NA models. I agree that the styling is better. If I could find one around here TT for a good price and mileage it would probably be my first or second choice.

I can guarantee a Fairlady will cost you more than a 3S. I know, I looked at buying both when I got my Stealth. The Fairlady was always more.

Also, if you want cheap power, the C4 Vette isn't a bad way to go. I've seen them over here for under $10k. Then again, a lot of people don't like the C4, but I do, more than the C5 and C6.