Need some advice on SR20 240sx

[sr20newb]

Hello all and thank you for reading this...I dont know to much about sr20's ...besides the obvious....and i have currently been looking at buying this 1990 240sx with a sr20 http://www.craigslist.org/eby/car/129844368.html i offered 3400 and he accepted. i know it has a burnt piston ring and sence i dont have the time to replace it, i currently got a quote from a local shop (black sheep performance) of 1,000$ for manual labor including piston ring, water pump and timing belt etc. I'am wondering if you guys would buy this car in this condition and what some of the problems that this engine could have.....

Thank you for your time.

[Big Bronze Rim]

First off, there is no timing belt. Second, if it does in fact have a "burned" ring, the piston is also probably toast(and possibly the cyl wall). It sounds like the shop is only going to attemp a repair of only that one cyl, which will probably get it running but probably isn't the best solution either. I would budget for a full engine refresh if you are already in that far.

[aznpoopy]

i would steer clear of that shit. you don't know what else the owner could possibly be concealing. once you fork over that cash, you can count it as gone. he seems willing to let go of it pretty easily. i would be very suspicious.

[1mns13]

Sounds like the shop is not entirely familiar with the engine, so thier quote is likely to change greatly. Always assume the worst if you can't check over an engine comprehensively.

[downshift_sideways]

well honestly man..i think there is something else behind this...
make sure u know wut ur getting into! sr20's are nice and all but some people misjudge how much time , effot and $ to maintan a healthy engine.

and i also agree, if the piston ring is fried, most likely the piston its self is damaged. and if u fix just that 1 cylinder, the cost is way too much.
heres my advice..look for a runnning 240sx. sr20s are a bit overrated. a ka24de-t has the same potential with a bit less cost...

take ur time, consume your money. think smart.

[sr20newb]

Thank you all very much for the help iam also going to go check it out this sat...i'm hoping that the pistons arnt scored in anyway...and hoping that the cylinder liner did its job....im open to other ideas and suggestions, again thank you to those of you who took time to help me :)

[andrewmp6]

sounds like he just droped in the engine and drove the hell out of it i wouldnt buy it unless you plan on rebuilding the whole engine

[OJmobileII]

i would base this buy on the condition of the car and how complete the swap is. i've heard many horror stories regarding the purchase of an sr20 and it only holding up for a short while due to damage. rebuilding the motor should not cost too much. most of the time people end up rebuilding them after a year or two anyways.

if the car is clean and the swap is complete, i would take it.

[g6civcx]

All I can tell you is do as much homework as you can. Then check out the rest of the car. Scrutinize all the wiring, accessories, suspension, brakes, steering, body, interior, etc. Everything!

If anything looks bad, walk away and buy yourself a nice clean shell and save up for your swap. Do it right the first time. A lot of times people cut corners and that's why most S13s you'll find are pices of junk.

Take it from me. I didn't do my homework, and I bought a lemon. I was lucky that the motor is rock solid, and the frame has no rust. The rest of the car is junk though. So I had to rebuild everything from scratch. If I had started with a clean shell, I would have saved maybe 1/3 of the time/money to fix all the crap he didn't fix or fixed wrong.