Thinking about buying a de-reg S13 - any tips

[Brawler]

Ok so basically I am considering buying a 1990 S13, It has been deregistered and is basically factory with a ca18det

Being completely factory When I go to re register it is there anything I would need to know, I want to put it back on the road as a factory car

[Dell'Orto]

If its been previously crashed and repaired, walk away. It will require a repair cert which can get very spendy

[Leon]

Budget for a headgasket!

[rollaholic]

wont fail revin on a BHG

its always a slightly risky process. unless the car was well looked afer, and then lapsed for some reason chances are its going to need repairs of some sort.

as dellorto said, any accident damage they find will require large expenditure.

that being said, they do seem to go for silly money. so if its cheap enough, no doubt you could sell it on as a track car or something without taking too much of a hit.

[Brawler]

Only damage Is that the front wheel fell off and $&#$% a few things, one of the sills is bottomed out, but you can hardly tell, also a cracked window, but theres like only one ding on the whole body.

Are ca18dets quite notorious for BHGs? I dont want a 7mgte

[Zestripper]

I've had an S13 with a turbo CA for about 10 years, use it for track days so it gets driven hard when it actually gets used (not often to be fair) Only problems with mine have been an intake gasket going brittle and blowing out and the coil packs failing. Although I have replaced the head gasket it wasn't the cause of the problem that I thought it was at the time. I think most people run into problems with the little coolant hoses under the intake manifold perishing and leaking coolant which leads to overheating. Mines making 213kw now and still stock internally, surviving ok so far. Seems to be the usual story that if you look after it it should be fine.

[rollaholic]

alot of it will depend on the guy doing the inspection too. vtnz has been hit with a few bad calls over the years, which cost them truckloads (i once saw a WRX made from three different cars that had been passed by one of their inspectors)

in my experience, if they find damage, even minor stuff, they will ping the hell out of it.

[andyztouring]

Damage to sills sometimes will require a certified repair,they can get very picky checking over for damage and or repairs.

[touge_ae101]

yup damage to sills is very expensive to repair and almost all of them have it at some stage. also rust along bottom/top of rear windscreen which is also a bitch to repair. also imagine this meaning it is next to impossible to get them back on the road and through the inspection process.

my flatmate has had two of them so far and both he got were in 'good condition' yet still had identical problems. currently his car has been off the road for a year getting rust repaired. (although he is a bit of a useless c**t at getting stuff done )

CA's are pretty good motors and will put out a healthy 200kw atw but don't go asking miracles from it. SR or RB powered is the way to go if you want reliable power + good aftermarket support.

[Anth_555]

the biggest thing you need to find out, has the car been dereged due to accident. if it has its not worth the hassel.
fix anything thats worng with it before you take it to vtnz

[rollaholic]

^ dont do that. if you repair sills or something and spray new underseal around, the inspector is going to say to himself 'this has been recently repaired, RED ALERT, accident damage!' and write you up for a repair cert faster than you can say boo. then you'll have to get someone to unrepair it, and re-repair it.

[headshotnz]

And make sure it can acctually be re-vinned.. might be a late import etc.

[rollaholic]

if its been registered here before, it can be re-complied

[RunningRich]

Factor in a new set of brake pads at the minimum too. Brand new aftermarket pads with minimal marked = rejected.