3 grand budget, can it be done?

[S2CorollaR]

Rather vague topic I know.

I've been out of the scene for a couple of years. You see I had my license suspended for having a massive ticket accumulation and not paying it.

Now that I'm finally paying my tickets off and getting my license back, you guessed it, I want back in.

The thing is, I'm going to school (Typical I know) and I don't want to spend a lot. I also want it to be legal so JDM is out of the question.

What's the best way to start looking? I know most people suggest B16 swaps and while I do love the sound of dual overhead cam VTEC, it'd be nice to have an all around good car that doesn't get under the radar of law enforcement.

Note: I don't plan on street racing, I just want to have the same umph a Camaro owner has that puts the girl in her seat when he's on a date.

Possible considerations: Hatch with Turbo D-series set up. Built DZ6 set up. Basic B16 swap into a shell from a junk yard. I know most of the forum nazis will shun me down saying I should use the search function, however nothing came up when I searched for "shell" or USDM specific information. The thing is, I want the car to pass smog and at least be eligible for collision insurance. (I know full coverage is impossible with swapped engine and salvage title)

Does anyone have a plethora of information I can use? I'm located in San Diego, CA and I'm looking for the right sites to look for information. I know about jaydm, hmotorsonline and most of the engine swapping sites/price sites, but what I'm looking for, information wise:

Place that sells shells
California or Arizona specific parts sites/car sites
Anyone located in California that might be willing to do the swap for me if I pay them
Information regarding buying a shell and dropping an engine into it

I appreciate the help, and again I tried search, but most of the forum responses I got when I checked threads were, you guessed it, more responses telling people to use search.

[2poor2tune]

hey there, lookin for a parts car basicly and fix it up? what i did was check cars.com for the real low priced hondas and a bunch of crx shells and others came up. try that. and about the motor and car options you gave us. i think you could get the car or the motor setup. i dont know about together maybe if you find a unfinished project that doesent run at the time it is possible. and maybe both in a older civic hatch. the years 92+ get pretty pricey for me anyways. crx fo life

[GScivic7]

$3k will make a pretty quick d-series powered car. You should check out www.turbod16.com, I think that's the right addy I don't remember for sure. You can put together you're own kit with a small T3 turbo for around $2k with quality parts if you shop around. Use the extra $1k for tuning and misc. things that come up. I know for sure that a D16Z6 that is in good condition will handle 200whp reliably for the most part. 250-300whp makes for a fun street car, anything above 300whp is stupid IMO for a daily driver.

[S2CorollaR]

Um, I mean 3 grand budget with the shell/car included

[fiberglasscivic]

You could do it if you looked around A LOT first. You could pick up a decent civic for around 700 and spend the rest on upgrades. It would take a lot of time and a lot of DIY.

[S2CorollaR]

I have until about June 5th to decide.

The most active forums I've seen are Honda-tech.com

I've just been getting frustrated trying to find a decent shell. How can people ask 1200 for a car that doesn't even run? Makes no sense to me. I'm almost angry about the whole Fast and the Furious scene, it basically spiked up all the prices. Back in 2001 it was "unheard of" that a Civic could beat a Corvette. Now thanks to that dumbass movie I have to pay nearly three grand just for an engine!

Sigh...

[93CivicSiD16HB]

Yeah< in about a month or so I might be selling my 93 si, i just redid all the brakes, and it had a new clutch put in in 2002, the only things are the e-brake isnt working at the moment (i'm not driving it right now so I havnt messed with it. and theres rust here and there ontop of it having 260,000 miles on it. It's just such a nice car though with the d16z6, and i've never had a problem of any sort (until the brakes started to get old), yet i wouldnt let it leave for less than $1700.

Prying a good honda at a super low price might take a while, unless you shoot straight for the dx models.

[fiberglasscivic]

I've been looking for a shell for months and I finally found a good deal on a DX coupe. 700 for it and it runs. If you can't find one by june. I'll sell you my shell (LX coupe). If you're interested then pm me or e-mail me and I'll talk to you about it.