Well it isn't a museum piece....I'm not sure where to start.
I had the car looked at by a couple of mechanics. The good news was they felt the car was mechanically sound. There was a bit of luck in that the previous owner misdiagnosed the ball joint issue - there were no problems with the ball joints apparently, but it did need an alignment. The O2 sensor is bad and I haven't gotten that replaced yet. The previous owner put a new clutch, new tires and new brakes on the car which helped keep the post purchase expenses down.
It was confirmed that the engine was from a manual car - as I know that was a question that was asked. It appears that they installed the engine correctly. The throttle is rather touchy or jerky though at low speed. The idle is a touch rough, and I was going to try to clean the throttle body to see if that helps.
The interior was pretty nasty. I spent countless hours cleaning. Nothing major, it just needed some good old fashion elbow grease. Once that was done, I saw some minor things that I would like to fix/replace - coin tray, centre console is scratched, radio buttons are worn etc. The seats have a little bit of wear, but no rips or cracks. However, they are black on a tan interior. Oddly enough, one mechanic said that they checked with Acura and that was how the car was shipped, but I couldn't verify that. I kind of like it, but it isn't for everybody I guess.
As for the exterior, just keep in mind I got the car to drive it, not store it. It has been repainted, not a great job, but it looks ok. Looks like the bumpers and maybe a bit of a panel were painted. The rest of the car looks original. I worked on the swirls and scratches but I have to find some R-77 touch-up to fix some of the chips. I found a guy pretty much down the street from me and bought a brand new front lip from him (mine was missing). I replaced a bunch of broken clips and things that were bothering me. I have to find some of the little rubber stopper bits (one for the hood and one for the trunk).
Performance wise, the car is amazing. It is surprisingly easy to drive. The car lets me know when I have done something stupid without killing me.
I am focusing my efforts and remaining budget on fixing some things. Window fixes have been ordered. Climate control looks like it will have to be sent out to BrianK (works sometimes, other times not so much). Looks like the CCU mode select motor or rather the gearing isn't working (motor moves, but the door doesn't). New antenna ordered (oem doesn't work). Tail light gaskets need to be replaced. Need to replace the floor mats. I did buy some shocks and springs from another Primer, but there have been some issues. See this
thread if you are interested. I would love to get some wheels, but they will have to wait a bit.
Sorry, the post is a bit longer than I intended. Thanks for the interest and invite. Oh, forgot to add get membership to the list.
-e
The worst part of owning this car is I don't have the vocabulary to describe what its like owning this car.
