There's a new girl in my life... pics on page 10
 

Within the next couple of months I will be looking for a fun car to beat on during this summer. My budget is $3,000 so my only concerns are that it runs strong.. I'm basically looking for a deal I could get the most bang for my buck.


I'm pretty much open to any year/model/manufacture as long as the car meets the following criteria:

- MUST be rear wheel drive and have a manual transmission
- Preferably light weight unless it has a torquey 8 or 6cylinder
- Reliable

A few car's I have in mind are:
- Toyota AE86 Corolla (83-86)
- Toyota MR2 (91-95)
- Ford Mustang 5.0 (87-93)
- Chevy Camaro (82-92)
- BMW E30/E36 318/325i/s (86-96)



Before I make any purchase I will at test drive some of the car's I am looking at. I will post my reviews and thoughts of the car throughout my searching process.

Suggestions, comments, opinions would be great ;) Keep in mind this car will be a secondary car for fun spirited driving.. No need for any practicality other than reliability. This car should be able to take a nice beating.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1987-...QQcmdZViewItem

Been looking at this 325 near my area in Boston.. could probably get it for under $3,000 but not sure about the condition. I'm going to try and check it out this week.

As Dani said - e30 2,5l with LSD you cant go wrong :twisted:

It all depends on what deals I find.

I should be able to find all of the cars I listed for under $3k, I just have to find the one in the best condition.

I think all would be fun, but honestly I think the most fun would be a Mustang with a beefy 302 under the hood.

Funnest ;)

MR2 would be an awesome track/autocross beast. It is also easy and cheap to maintain and mod.

IDK much about BMW parts and such, but I know that older Porsches are very very expensive to maintain. Even if you can get the car uuber cheap, just remember that it will break down, and will need to be fixed eventually.

well, unless for a straight line.. i wouldn't go for an old American..
I'll join Dani and Arman.. and you can get a 325 for much less then 3K i think.. (and sense its gonna be a beater car, top condition shouldn't be something you will be looking for.. a friend of mine who moved to the US got a e30 325 for $200 :lol: from some chick.. )

Yup, deals all over the place, just gotta find them. I really do not intend on spending $3k, that's just hte absolute maximum for a car in GREAT condition.

MR2's are actually selling for around 5k for a decent one... I've always wanted one..

The Mustang and Camaro obviously wouldnt be as nimble but would suuuuurely bring a big smile to my face as I would power over steer into every corner.

He will have difficulty finding one with a 302 for 3000.

Id suggest a thirdgen fbody, preferably one with the 350. Faster then the 302 in every way, and yet cheaper because demand is less.

The other suggestion might be a miata, if you can go without bhp.

Yeah, I was actually a bit suprised to see some 5.0's selling for over 10k. There is definitely a big demand for them.

Found a couple in my price range but obviously not in the best condition and one with a sketchy seller.

Good to know that the Chevy is a better performer and cheaper.

Miata would be a good buy for sure, but they just don't appeal to me in anyway.

Thanks for the input.

In a few hours I'm going to check out that 325e in that eBay link I posted.. nice and wet out so it should be an interesting test drive.

Looks good, but sounds kinda sketchy with the milage.

325e has 2,7 engine and 120ps but low revs(max 4000rpm or so) so its like a diesel engine you cant revv it but pushes right from the bottom. Its an economic version not for sport driving :wink: but a couple of changes on the engine(head and so) and you can have over 200ps from it but its not what you are looking for.
325 has 170ps, almost perfect 50/50 weight distribution, excellent suspension even by todays standards etc etc you need to have a test drive in it ;) be sure it has LSD thou to have some fun

dont know how it is in us but here spare parts for e30 are for peanuts new or used 8)

Honda CRX ED9.... small light good 1.6lt high reving motor.. stock form you can have so much fun a the track !!!

CRX is front wheel drive, not what I'm looking for. But definitely a scary little car. A friend a mine put a 200hp type-r engine into his gutted CRX... even without vtec turned on it was ridiculous.


The 325e felt like it had nice grunt to it, but Arman you're rigt about the low revs. When I pushed it past 4000RPM I didn't get the expected scream from the engine and the surge of power. Engine was running nicely and the short shifter felt good.
Looked real nice with the breyton kit, but the paint job on the bumpers was pretty crappy. Turns out the previous owner did all of the work on the car including rebuilding the transmission. He wants a little too much what it's worth considering he doesn't know about the true mileage.

Hope to get my hands on a 325i soon so I can feel the difference.

I like the sound of a nice MR2, but as you said, finding one for $3000 could be hard. Any BMW can be quite expensive to maintain, parts and labor are outrageous for them IMO (sorry ZfrkS62 :P). A Mustang 5.0 would be a lot of fun, and it can be fast for cheap as I'm sure you know.

My vote is for an MR2, maybe you can find a high mileage one for a good deal. Keep us updated! :D

You know what. i totally forgot about the mr2 !!! try get the Mk1 and doa v6 conversion.. sounds like a ferrari 355f1

Pok

RWD, Mid Engine, Reliable (if its been taken care of), Head turner, 5 speed manual, light weight, extremely modifyable........
http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/4075/yaytb3.th.jpg http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/6...tggfyt6.th.jpg
Bought that car there for $3,500
There are plenty out there in your price range. MR2 is a nice mid engine alternative but youll probably have to pay more and youll be able to do less with it ;)

http://www.fieropride.com/nefa/

My namesake. . . :)

The Corolla GTS was definitely one of the most fun cars I have owned. I just drove the shit out of it and it was great! 7500rpm redline gives you plenty of revs to play with. Not much power though, but nevertheless the extra shifting is a lot of fun trying to keep it above 6500rpm.

The E30 325i that I used to own was a slush box, so unfortunately that takes a bit away from the "fun" department.

Might I also recommend a Miata? Yes I know it is "gay" but at the same time with some Spec Miata parts on there for cheap, I think that could be a very fun car.

Was wondering if anyone was going to mention the Fiero ;) Hopefully I can find one for sale so I can test it out.

I know they had V6 Fiero's, were there also 4 cylinders?

How are the 2.8 V6 4-speeds?

Well I know some nice European cars but sadly they didn't sell them there..

Fiero sounds like an interesting car.

^ Might be able to find some imports..

Haha, found this searching for Fieros on eBay..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1986L...QQcmdZViewItem

^^ hahaa why not :P :P :mrgreen:

Yeah it actually doesnt look too bad in that photo.. Must look funny in person though cause Fiero's are pretty small cars.

Would be cool indeed!

Thats what I meant! :D

Make sure to get the v6. Some of the earlier 4 cylinder fieros had a habit of spontaneously combusting. That was probably the biggest thing that led to its down fall.

Yes the 84's which only came in a 90hp 4 cyl model had some fire issuse initially. there was a recall and the the problem was fixed for the most part. Mine was an 86GT with a 4spd manual and 2.8ltr V6. No fire problems for V6s of course. The 4spd was an aquired taste, I wouldnt reccomend it.

They canned the 4spd manual that year so late model 86s, 87s, and 88s have the 5spd. You want an 88 because that was the year the car finally got its own fiero suspension, so handles a bit better than the rest.

P.S. They also made T-Tops and sold them in yellow that year ;)

Ahh, good to know it was only the 4 bangers that were catching on fire. I heard that about those cars. V6 it is, but at the moment I can't find any in my area.

There is a possibility I might be taking a look at a 1989 Formula Firebird 305 5-speed with 100k, everything original. Should be able to get it for under $2k. I have a feeling I should jump on this one..

240sx lots of aftermarket parts, cheap to buy cheap to maintain, RWD.

Thought about the 240SX, I would definitely take one with a SR20 turbo swap if I can find a good deal.

http://houston240sx.com/forums/forum...f63c8478e&f=39
not in your area but like i said theres alot of 240s out there especially the older s13 style. i just putmine up for sale yesterday and i already have alot of people interested.heres mine, for only $1,300USD
http://houston240sx.com/forums/showt...c8478e&t=20624


http://houston240sx.com/forums/showt...c8478e&t=19502
im looking at this one but hes asking too much but if he goes down ill seriously consider it.

Which 240sx models come with LSDs stock? An S13 would be sweet.. I'll have to do a search for one and test it out.

i think you can get any model with VLSD i think only the later model ones have an LSD and watch out for HICAS(rear steering) models, theyre rare but its not something you want on a 240.

hell you can get 700whp from the fairy truck motors in the 240's aswell. the KA24 doesn't totally suck they are very strong.

700whp? by turbo charging them and changing internals or just bolting on?

I know they are nice torquey 4 bangers from trucks. I'll have to get a chance to have a go in one soon.

I'm really leaning towards a 3rd generation Camaro or Firebird with a 305 or 350 and 5-speed.

Checking out a 1986 Camaro 5-speed. Not to sure if its the 2.8L V6 or the 5.0L V8, but it has been rebuilt a couple times.

Being sold by a nice sounding lady.. Looking forward to the quick test drive, although it has no plates on it and its on a short private street.

might i suggest a baja bug? i had one in college as a second car and i don't think I've had more fun in a car. :D

That doesn't give any guarentee :wink:

Anyway sounds nice, what version is it?

i thought you are looking for a sort of track car so dont see how camaro qualifys for that, dont get me wrong 3rd gen camaro is my dream car i probably miss red the propose of the car, and ofcourse choose z28 or iroc no 2,8l :wink:

going to be a street car ;) No tracks around me I can go too, plus I wont be able to afford track time + tires and brakes.

Camaro will be great for all of my power over steer needs. The one I'm looking at today is going for a real good price, less half of what I am willing to pay for something in good condition. If it's in overall good condition, even with the V6 I will definitely consider it. I could always put in a LS6 from a Z06 or in a few years a LS7 from the new C6 Z06 and have one bad ass 3rd gen Camaro.

if you hund, you can pick up a used LS6 for 3,000$ or less, but the LS7 is a ripe 14,500$ i believe.

LS6's are that cheap huh? Yeah the LS7 swap would be if I won the lotto or something..

Even an LS2 would be fine with me.. but honestly, I do not want to do any engine swapping anytime soon. Looking to just have some RWD fun this summer. But if I do end up keeping the car, a LSx swap would definitely happen eventually.

3rd gen camaros make perfectly good track cars. Go to the photo gallary for the pictures of the one I use to have, notice Im in front of a 3 series bmw. They make excellent track cars per $, their scca class is very packed and they routinely win the class(like every year). Given some stategic spending you can run with cars like stock c5 z06's. Your not going to keep up with modified ones, but your also only talking a 10k buildup.

I would avoid the v6 though.

Had a short (no license plates) test drive in the Red (with silver stripes) 86 Camaro with a 305 V8 and 5-speed transmission.

Ran great and sounded real nice with its 4 inch straight pipes. :twisted:

Owner bought it from a friend, never had the chance to put it on the road officially but drove it for about 150 miles on dealer plates with no problems.

Suspension took bumps nicely but didn't really get to test out it's handling. On the way back gave it about 3/4th throttle from first to second which easily put a smile on my face.


Engine was rebuilt a couple times, he was unsure of the total mileage but the clock said 71,000 but mentioned it had rolled over once. So it should have 170,000 miles on the chassis. The transmission must have been rebuilt as well cause it felt solid and shifted very well. Mentioned he would get more information from his friend who did the work.

Only real bad is that it need an EGR valve and new valve covers. I should be able do the valve covers my self but not sure about the EGR valve or how much that would cost, considering I don't even know what the fuck EGR stands for.

It's going pretty cheap at $1400 and a couple people are looking at it within the next few days.

EGR valve is the emissions crap. If you live in a state that doesnt test it, just go without. You live in the NE so you may have to find it, probably get it real cheap scrapped from one over on thirdgen.org.

You can do a complete ls1 swap for about 2500.. Theres even a company that sells a almost bolt in kit.
The major benefit to the third gen is every part from a 4th gen is swapable, either directly or with a minor modification. While the 4th gen parts arent the greatest, in a car weighing 200-300 lbs less using the 4th gens lighter engine, etc. makes the lighter car faster.

Let us know what you end up doing.

Complete LS1 swap for 2500? I'm assuming that's with me doing all the work? I'd have to rent all the tools to do it as I am not a mechanic with an available garage. But I will have about a month free to work on it in my parent's driveway. Bolt on engine swap sounds like a very nice idea.


Not to sure if NY State requires the EGR valve for emissions, but I'm assuming they do.

Still trying to decide if I should get a MA license and register it here in Boston or register it in NY like my current car.

The kid selling the hooked up 325e called me up last night asking what I thought about the drive.. told him it was alright but was asking too much.

As of now I am really leaning towards finding a 3rd gen F body in good condition. It's a damn shame so many of them are flashy colors with stripes :lol:

Definitly a do it yourself job. You'd get raped on labor.

Not the difficult if you have the time and someone to help you.

Man that's great.. Now I won't feel bad if I get a junker and beat on it like it owes me money.

I need to start finding a place I can store the extra car. If I register it in Mass I can get residential parking, but I'd have to apply for a MA license as well. It will be easier to register it in NY but I'd have to get the car down there with no plates.

My twin gotta steal on an absolute minter of a car. He bought an '87 325 5-speed for a mere $1900. And, yes, that's a base 325, no e or i suffix. It's still great fun to beat around in. :D

I'd hafta recommend the german brands because they were built right back in the 80s. I'm sure a V8 'stang or camaro would be fun to tool around in, too.