What to look for / do when buying a CA18DET front clip. Orlando area, 127k km

[Nowhere]

Ok, I've got my heart set on a CA18det for my project car I am working on (more info on that car later...). I've found a front clip here in south east Orlando Florida. The motor has 127k km or about 78k miles (according to the instrument cluster). The guy has had this clip for about 1 year. I've found lots of informative stuff searching the archives for stuff to do/look for when buying the clips.

I have requested to have a run demonstration before I buy the clip. He says to pre oil the cylinders with atf to ensure the rings are not stuck and to oil the cylinders. I want to change the oil, oil filter, check general condition of sparks, use a borescope to check out the cylinders, maybe remove the valve covers to ensure no rust on cams?, and remove the HOT pipe off the turbo to ensure there's no oil leaking from the turbo. If I can, I'm going to try and look at the lower end through the oil drain port to see what I can see.

I'm going to be able to score this for less than 1500 dollars .

I'm not sure if I would want to invest in bearings, seals, and rings on the engine.

I'm going to bring some 10w30 valvoline standard oil and a nissan filter.

What should I look for? What should I have done that I have not listed?Any sugguestions??

I'm looking to keep this STOCk as I have about 80hp now.

The reasons I'm buying a clip vs a motorset:I need the WHOLE wiring setup as I would like to use the instrument clusterI need a/c hosesI need p/s hosesI need to see the engine RUN before I shell out $,$$$.$$

The rad, intercooler, suspension pieces, interrior parts, and general front clip stuffs are going to be useless though.

NEED INPUT

[float_6969]

A clip is nice for refrence and that sort of thing, but it kinda sucks to have to pull out 2 motors. Before you run it, make sure and drain the oil, fill with new oil, new oil filter, drain the cooling system, and flush it multiple times, pull the vavle covers and check for rust on the cams, pull the plugs and look at their condition, pull the turbo outlet and check for oil, check for shaft play on the turbo. That should cover it. At least that's all I can think of.

[Nowhere]

A clip is nice for refrence and that sort of thing, but it kinda sucks to have to pull out 2 motors. Before you run it, make sure and drain the oil, fill with new oil, new oil filter, drain the cooling system, and flush it multiple times, pull the vavle covers and check for rust on the cams, pull the plugs and look at their condition, pull the turbo outlet and check for oil, check for shaft play on the turbo. That should cover it. At least that's all I can think of.

Is it possible to do a COLD coolant flush??? How would you sugguest to do a coolant flush BEFORE I run the engine??I agree on the valve covers to check for rust.Based on the info that I know, the clip has not been outside under a tarp, it's been inside..

As far as shaft play, IN/OUT is BAD, left/right or side/side is not bad (as long as there's NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sidewall contact)?? Checking for bent/dingged/damaged impeller fins too..I'd be checking for oil on BOTH the compressor and the turbine outlets?? On the turbine, would I be looking for HEAVY soot or liquid/wet oil?

Oooh, apparently this clip is from Japan, how does it have 127k K/M?? I assumed """""JDM"""""" were required to replace/do major stuff at 60k MILES?

Cheers

[Nowhere]

Up

[Veen]

Oooh, apparently this clip is from Japan, how does it have 127k K/M?? I assumed """""JDM"""""" were required to replace/do major stuff at 60k MILES?

Cheers

That's still only about 80,000 miles on the engine. Also, the Japanese aren't required to retire their cars or do anything silly like that at 60,000 miles. It's just that the costs to insure and keep inspecting a car each two years get to be pretty painful when the car gets older and starts failing inspection.

Consider this (all prices roughly converted to USD from Yen): You buy a new car for $10,000. Inspection comes in three years, and then every two years thereafter. So after three years, you have to pay roughly $400 for the inspection, and any weight/displacement taxes that may apply, which can total another $500 or so. It's new, so it passes, but you still had to pay about $900.

Now, it's two more years later, and you have to go through inspection. You've paid the $900, but it turns out that your exhaust isn't up to snuff, due to a small crack having developed in the exhaust manifold. So now you have to pay for the part (we'll call it about $200), and now you have to take the car back AGAIN and pay for the inspection again, another $400. Total cost this inspection, $1,500.

Two more years later. $900, and sure enough, it's spitting fuel out the back. $400 in parts for demon hunting, $250 in labor because you didn't want to deal with this piece of crap again, and another $400 for the second inspection. Cost this inspection: $1,950. Keep in mind this is only the car related stuff, not anything like insurance.

So right now, in seven years, you've paid almost $5,000 in inspections and repairs ALONE. If you're lucky. Sometimes they'll rule a quite minor part that's broken as a "need to fix" part, costing you even more unneccesary money. It's not uncommon for people to actually pay more in inspections by the end of seven or so years than they originally paid for the car itself. Therefore, it becomes a smart decision to sell the car and get a newer one.

So where does this "60,000 mile" rule come from? It comes from an estimate that under normal driving, in seven years, a car will get about 60,000 miles placed on it. I've heard 70 or 80 too, and a "you have to sell your car at seven years" rule, too. None of these are true, it's just that it's generally most common after seven or so years to sell the car off for a new model, and that's why you see a lot of cars with 60,000 on the odometer in the junkyards.

Also keep in mind that there's about 60 or so "required" conditions for your car to pass inspection in Japan. That's almost halved from an original 110 or so before the deregulation in circa 1995. It was much MUCH worse before that, and stupid things like a frayed seatbelt could have your car deemed unsafe.

[Pumaking]

actually the reason u see motors around 40-60k km on it is b/c of the 3year rule, in Japan in order to stimulate the economy the government has placed certain taxes for people who own old and used cars, the reason for the taxes is so that the people purchase new cars to help the economy. The taxes on the used vehicles are quite high that most owners just junk them purchase a new one.

[Veen]

That's what I was saying. At that first 3 year inspection, you have to pay taxes on the car, depending on things like weight and displacement, but even more expensive is that you have to pay for the inspection, and you HAVE to fix whatever they tell you is wrong with it. You then have to repeat that whole thing each two years afterwards.

It's not the taxes that eat you alive, it's the strenuous requirements for your car to pass. Anymore there's about 60 things that they check, in addition to the general wellbeing of the car. If your car fails inspection at either the 3 year mark, or any of the 2 years for the rest of the car's life afterward, you have to pay to get the stuff fixed, and then you have to pay the inspection again. If it still fails, you then have to get more stuff fixed, and pay the inspection AGAIN, for each time that you want to try to get the car legalized.

Think about it this way: How many 3 year old cars do you know that still have perfect brakes, emissions like they were from the factory, all engine components intact and functioning exactly as they should, all safety restraints in perfect condition, all body panels mounted securely and properly, and preferrably free of dents or damage? It's the cost of fixing little stuff like this that matters little-to-not for the roadworthiness of the car that eats you alive.

If it were just taxes, there'd be NO problem with a bi-annual inspection. You can pay about 50,000yen in taxes on average (roughly $500USD, give or take about $12USD depending on exchange rate), but that's really nothing to pay every 2 years. What kills you is paying 80,000 yen for car parts that are still doing fine, but dubbed by the shaken people to be in need of replacement due to some signs of wear and tear, and then 40,000 yen labor to replace it, in addition to the 40,000 yen cost of going through inspection AGAIN. That's about 160,000 yen spent in repairs and costs incurred by the unneccesary repairs alone. Older cars can expect to have to pay even more due to more parts failing as time goes on. A 300,000 yen cost to get the car roadworthy after 10 years or so wouldn't be surprising. In comparison, that makes the 50,000 yen or so taxes downright painless.

The system is set up to be scary to car owners, so that they trade their cars in and get new ones to avoid the inspection system. It does as you said, stimulates the wallets of the car companies and mechanics, but it's due to the repair costs, not due to the taxes. There is no "three," "five," or "seven," year rule, and the cost is due to unneccesary repairs, not taxes, which you still have to pay when you buy the car right off the factory floor.

[Nowhere]

Is 1500 ok for a front clip (PICKED up, no shipping...) with 78k miles?

Anyone want to throw some numbers at me for a bearing and ring freshen up?

Thanks for all the replies!!