Im interested in buying a used 1993 honda civic si, has the basic bolt ons, cold air, headers, even has a set of eibach coilovers. However when test driving it ( i test drove it 3 times to be as sure *** possible ), i noticed a high pitch winding noise in 1st gear, I popped the engine and manually revved it from the throttle body and there was no noise, it only occurs at low speeds in 1st gear. I ran the vin numbers through an agency and they told me that it may have been written off before, how would i go about checking if the frame is bent? I kept the wheel as firm as possible when testing it and i didnt notice any drifting from side to side. Are their any visible indications? Or anything else i should consider trying when driving to be sure that it isnt bent? Also, it felt like there was no power steering on my first test, but i let the owner know and he told me that the fluids in the power steering were jsust low and filled them back up, it got better after that but it was still a little hard to turn the wheel around some corners. What could be wrong with the power steering? I plan on bringinig it in to a mechanic before i give the go ahead to registering and safety but i was jsut wonering if anyone has shared the same experience(s) with their civics and what the problem(s) turned out to be. The only reason why im seriosuly considering this buy is because he's selling it for $1200 canadian, and i wouldnt mind investing the money to get it up to standards again. Thanks in advance. I apreciate any input.

 

well if you go with a good mech he'll be able to tell you if its a good buy or not. and as far as the power steering maybe it was just that the fluids were low. ive heard that from a few friends of mine , it should be fine once refilled. just check for leaks and all that stuff

 

****! For that price, it shouldnt matter whats wrong with it. Where I'm from, I could buy a totalled off Civic Si for that price. lol, and even if the frame is bent, who cares. You could transplant the engine into another Civic. Thats just my opinion. How many kms are on it and how are the tires? If you play it right, you could part out the car and make a profit.

 

Well the front tires are pretty bald, theres about 295,000km on the body but the owner told me that he swapped out the engine a few years ago, it doesnt look like anything special though, its sohc and v-tec, if it isnt a d16z6 then its most likely some other d family engine. I definatly wouldn't buy a frame for $1200 dollars though unless it was mint. The stock si motors (d16z6 i think) aren't worth that much...could probly do a swap for a a lot cheaper than $1200. But i dont plan on buyign this car to part it out anyways, i like the car..a lot..i was just looking to see if anyone might have any input that might be useful, i see a lot of potential in it. But anyways, im goign to bring it to a family friend and have him check it out. Thanks anyways