Keep It or Leave It : The Thought Of Change

[PearlGT]

Well recently i checked out a thread of praise for our cars and i must say i agree, i feel our cars have to be some of the nicest looking cars on the road to date HOWEVER

mine was bought old and isn't getting any younger, my original intent was to start off with a base and keep it for a year or so and eventually graduate to vr-4 status but seeing as i was having trouble finding a low priced vr-4 with lower miles (yah i must be dreaming) i've stumbled off to other cars.

As of now i have several bookmarked cars on autotrader.com which would include
-3 eclipse gsx's
-6 eclipse gst's
-5 nissan 300zxtt's
and a sr20det 365 hp nissan 240sx
All within my price range ($5,000-$12,000)
All of these cars have miles in the 40,000 to 70,000 range which, considering i have 130,000 on mine, is low to me.

For a while i was collecting parts for a tt conversion and currently have a pair of 9b's and the rest of the major parts involved to do the swap but i can't help being concerned of the mileage and sometimes conclude that i should sell4$4,000 to $5,000, sell the parts for a twin turbo conversion for about $700 and add up my cash for a new (used) car when the sales are completed.... while other times i tell myself i should keep going for the tt conversion and try to upgrade the car as much as possible but i've come to a crossroads with this.

I'm searching mainly for opinions on the situation, what you think i should do, or what i shouldn't.

Also are there any other cars that i may have left out in the same class as the cars i listed above that i looked up on autotrader? I would hate to rule anything out (besides old 5.0 mustangs, they are quick but not my style). As you can tell, im mainly looking for a car with a turbo or twin turbo set up.

[GritMaster]

Well if you do sell your 3k I would recomend the 300zxTT It's probbly not the quickest, but it's a very nicely styled car I think the Silvia is probbly quicker though.

Have you considered an engine overhaul/rebuild? Or are you worried about more than just the engine.

[PearlGT]

well for me to be completely satisfied with the car i would have to have the engine rebuilt, interior redone meaning all of it, exterior redone with new paint, air conditioning fixed (this was quoted at $1,200 to fix), valve seals repaired (it smokes like a bitch) and transmission fixed up (I'm an atx but i've been getting a lot of hard shifts and sometimes i have trouble trying to get it past 2nd gear when its in D it acts like its in 2 so i put it to neutral and back to D and it seems to fix the problem but not permanently). With that said, the car runs strong engine-wise and has a very nice sound system but its those very very minor things that add up to one rather large annoyance such as driving around throughout my whole florida summer without a/c or covering the car behind me in a cloud of smoke from my exhaust.

[Musashi3000GT]

well the fact that you are already considering getting rid of the car suggests you dont want it anymore. I would never think of selling my baby! the day the thought even crosses my mind is the day I no longer love her! you deffenetly need alot of work done on the car. why not get another 3000GT? I know you want a VR-4 but c'mon! here in FL, thats gonna be tough to find for your budget. and if you think your 3000GT is giving you crap and is high maintenance then go ahead, buy a DSM, I've owned 3 and I can tell ya: be prepared to work on it every single weekend! they are mad fast but spend 6 out of 12 months in a shop, either that or all 3 of mine where lemons!

[sLADe781]

I'd never sell Boo. She's the first car I paid for on my own and one of the best looking babies out there. Everyone who sees me next to her are always like "nice car."

[Igovert500]

Pearl, that sounds like a tough decision, and I dread the day my baby causes me that much worry. You know everyone here loves their cars and wouldn't advise you to sell yours...but it does sound like a tough decision. I can relate, as my last car died 3 months after I dropped a grand in mods and another grand in repairs into it. It sucks to know that you threw good money after bad. So I can understand how conflicting this decision is.

In all honesty, I would suggest patience...I'm sure a vr4 will pop up on autotrader...many of us had to wait to get our cars, and it was all the more sweeter when we finally did find one. That being said, if a vr4 isn't an option, I think something faster than the base is a good idea. Test drive every turbo car you can find, until you find something that really suits you and you know you want it. Don't make any rash decisions...and don't settle for less than you want. That's about all the advice I can give. Good luck

[PearlGT]

i knew you guys would be a big help, thanks a lot.
I'm well aware that there are problems with dsm's, but i've taken a liking to their speed (especially the gsx's speed). I also included a few nissans in my list because as far as i'm concerned, the 300zx and the 3000gt are more or less rivals.

I am still undecided at this point, maybe i will wait for a nice vr-4 to pop up near me, that would be a dream come true indeed.

[10sec-Hopeful]

If I was in your shoes I would go with a 240SX Silvia S-14 conversion. I wouldn't go with the SR20DET Redtop because that provides more torque than horsepower. It is a drifting engine. I would go with the KA24DET and do a turbo swap on there.

Besides that, I feel you could go with a a 93' Accord EX. Throw in an H22, a catback exhaust, ceramic coated headers, aem cold air intake, and you are at a healthy 235-240 HP range, on a very light car. Eventually swap a turbo on there, (with other parts of course) and put out around 280-300, and you will be back to the former VR-4 state...just a bit lighter. G/L with whatever.

Otherwise, you could look for something like I found :

A 1993 Turbo Supra for $10,500 which I'm going to take out a loan for. Hah. (110,000 miles...but its a newer gen, looks friggen sick, pushes out 455 at the wheels....) bye bye Integra GSR I had for 2 weeks haha. (I LOVE AUTOTRADER!!!)

[Migra]

http://www.carsearch.com/773019.htm

'92 vr4 for sale in Florida, pretty close on the price range as well. Mileage isn't bad either

[PearlGT]

i e-mailed that guy migra, we'll see how it turns out.

I found a cheap vr-4 in my area ($8,000) but with 160,000 miles. I've thought about buying a really used vr-4 and putting a newer engine in it but who knows how smart that is given there would be other components other than just engine that would require replacing eventually.

I've decided to hault my search for other cars and concentrate on vr4's because when alls said and done, they are still the nicest fastest looking cars that maintain more reliability than a dsm out there. They are faster than a 300zxtt stock and more reliable than an eclipse gsx for the most part.
I pray for a vr4

[Migra]

I hope this one works out for you, it's what I would buy if I was in Florida (
I just went to google and said Mitsubishi 3000gt vr4 florida
lol and it came up with that. If that one doesn't work out, just start hitting up google. I've found other cars in my area that weren't on autotrader, and were also cheaper than autotrader. www.autobytel.com is the one that found the car I'm looking at right now. I also like the setup of www.cars.com and www.carsearch.com because you can sort the finds by name, price, mileage, distance from you, etc