newcomer seeking buy advice

[fess13]

Hello all, name's fess, and I've been reading these forums for a few months now (first time poster).

I'm 19 years old and just moved to Oahu, HI and got rid of my '95 s14 (stock except for coilovers) in the process of moving.

I am looking to buy a 91-93 s13 hatch because I can't stand the way coupe tail lights look =/

Anyways, looking for some help on not getting swindled when I pick up a 240 off craigslist.

I know I need to look for rust spots under the doors & wheel wells, but not sure where else. Obviously if I'm going to drop 3-4,000 on the car it has to be in good running condition, but what other things should I be on the lookout for?

Over the last few years, I've noticed that 240s are the only cars that really make me turn my head and I'm really interested in learning as much technical information about them that I can. I'm a noobie when it comes to working under the hood so do you have any suggestions for threads I can look up to help me learn more about working on a KA? I'm much more interested in tuning a KA and throwing a turbo on there as opposed to the plug&play SRs. I feel like I would learn a lot more that way too.

Thank you for any advice!-fess

-edit- I've been reading almost every single Build thread I come across in hopes I'll learn something useful, and I'm thinking maybe I should read up on the "simple questions go here" sticky but the +100 pages seems daunting.

[240sxJoe91]

One thing everyone will say is use the "Search" button its your best friend...But Look over the whole car for rust, check under the spare tire..strut towers everywhere... Good luck finding a 240

[OutToWinPAHC]

zerothread/183490

Read that, then when looking at the car make sure to check for rust.

[fess13]

Thanks, both questions already answered so i guess i'll delete that post.

[S13_love]

Welcome to Nico!

If you're interested in working on a ka and turboing it, etc. You might wanna check out ka-t.org or even the ka-t section here as well. Lots of useful info, and keep an eye out for any build threads too.

It kinda seems like you have a good idea what to look for when trying to pick up a new car. The only other thing that I can think of at the moment is that it probably wouldn't hurt to try to find out the history of the car (whether it was properly maintained, accidents, etc.).

[fess13]

I find the build threads to be really interesting (as well as VERY very inspirational, like Teddy's and many others) but I have to really 'strain' and pay close attention to try and pick up on just exactly what people are talking about, or I google certain things that I'm still unsure of. I've been trying to do as much research about the Chuki's as possible because I would really love to build one up.

The only downside I see of buying one in Hawaii is that there hasn't been a race track here since last year, and it closed due to lack of business. The entire drifting & racing scene is underground, which is dangerous and disconcerting. I've gotten into a few accidents drifting my s14 after I welded the diff and wouldn't want to have a repeat of that after I get settled in a beautiful chuki hatch.

So i suppose my build will be based off looks & speed (even though the highest speed limit here is like 55) as opposed to tuning the car for drifting. At least until we get a track here, or until I save up enough money to move to cali >;-]

also death to ricers!