LOL... Thats a good one..........

 

Agreed - the 4-speed sucks the torque that is always been a strong part of the KA's reputation.

Everything you said is easily fixable - just locate some used lenses on the forums and you're set. As for the hood, as long as there's no rust then it's liveable until you either a) repaint, or b) get a CF hood.

5-Speed swaps will run about $300-500 for everything you need, including an OEM clutch kit.

You know, driving it at low speeds, I couldn't tell that it was an FR. It was definitely waaay more responsive than my car, but I didn't feel like I was being "pushed' instead of "pulled". I'm not sure if this is because of my lack of skill, or because it was just too slow to matter. But one thing is for sure, I think I will be able to get as close to one of these cars as I am with my current car. In my Camry, even though it is a Camry, it's gotten to the point where I can pretty much feel what the car is doing in my seat and in the steering wheel. Not too long ago I noticed that I can use the accelerator to control understeer in turns, making it a lot easier to corner. Well, both of these things might be explained by the tires, which are quite old and one of them is warped as well.

The owner of that car is really cool though, I could see him coming off of that price because of the damage, and the high mileage for a '98. He also owns a very nice silver AE86 which they told me was their drift car. I botched and asked whose Supra it was. LOL...I was telling him how I didn't like to buy from used car dealers, but that I wouldn't mind buying from them because they were mechanics...and he was like, "mechanics, us? nah...just gotta keep up with stuff", when a) they own a parts shop and b) he was reassembling a strut tower right in front of my eyes! I'm pretty sure he was trying to hide the fact that a lot of illegal street racing goes on in that town, and he probably participated.

Ah well, I'll get my car ready to sell and see how this pans out. I still can't decide whether to go old or new, though. Buying an old car would be cheaper and leave room for potential You really won't tell the FF / RR differences unless you're at a good speed and you TURN. That's where you'll feel the way an FR will go into the turn quicker and will come out with less understeer... the car will feel more balanced. And in an FF you don't control understeer with the gas pedal per se - you have to let off the gas on an FF to get more steering, which means you're slowing down. On an FR, you give it more gas to power through the turns.

If the frame is straight and the interior is top notch, it sounds like a good car if the price is right. Personally I did the same thing - I found a car with a reliably running engine, straight frame, and a clean interior. After all, that's where I'll spend all my time - on the inside. The body on my car need some work (nothing major) but to me that's better - having a reliable car that runs good and is comfortable inside... bodywork can be taken care of later, but at least I can use the car daily.

 

Yes, I know. It pains me to think that I'll never learn as much as I want to. Even learning to drive a stick is gonna be hard for me...because few people I know have a stickshift car that would let me drive it. I'm a good driver, but again, it comes down to the whole "let someone else drive your car and potentially break it" thing.

Ya know, here's what I am considering doing. I'll sell my car, so I can have the cash on hand. Then drive up to where that black Kouki is with my buddy and buy it. Since it's an auto, I can drive it back myself. And he already has most of the parts for the swap: "I have the manual upper driveshaft, flywheel, clutch kit, and manual flywheel bolts". What else is needed? Even so, it's a lot cheaper than that red one, (I could probably ask for $6500, maybe $6800 with parts) with a LOT less mileage.

Edit: Actually, no it wouldn't be cheaper. The red car's price has been lowered to $6800...which means they want me to buy it, because I told them that ideally I'd get $6500 for my car. Even so, there is that huge mileage gap: there's a 36k difference. AND the red one is a year newer. But, I've already decided against it, given the fact that I could find a lot better deal.

 

get a friend that knows how to drive 5-spd, take him with you to check out a car. If you like it, let him drive it and see how it drives, if its good buy it, have him drive it back, and once its in your possession just get in and try. I taught myself in a day or two...

 

Yeah, but as I've said before, I wouldn't want to buy a car without driving it. Then again, I know that I liked driving the auto, so I'd imagine that I'd like driving a 5-spd even more. But no friend that I know drives a stick...I just moved here and I don't know too many people. I'd have to get a family member to do it, and they all work. Oh well, that definitely could be done.

 

dude, take the initiative~ sell your car, buy the 5 speed and get 'er done!!!

 

Yeah, I will. One more thing I wanted to ask about though. When the guy started that red car I drove, it sounded pretty sluggish. I made a comment about it and he said that's just how they sound. Is that true?

 

gonna have to elaborate a bit more than that... what do you mean by "sounded pretty sluggish"?

 

I'm not really sure how to explain it. It wasn't like it didn't want to start...it just sounded really unusual...I didn't hear it well, but in retrospect I guess I just wasn't used to how the starter sounds on these cars. I guess it'd be good if someone could take a sound clip of their starter, so I could compare it. On second thought, since I'm not buying that red car anyways, it doesn't really matter.

 

Yeah, my starter also sounds kinda slow like that. Doesn't start up nearly as fast as my honda did, I suppose it's just a different starter. I will have to compare mine to my brother's starter as he also has a s14.

 

I swapped starters 2 weeks ago and the new one sounded sluggish.

6 days later it went 86 on me, and I was stuck at Chevron waiting for someone to help push start my car. Turns out the starter I got was crap, so I had to get another one.

The new one sounded strong and started the engine quick. Thank God for lifetime warrantees =P

 

Wow. I didn't really want a zenki, but this might be too clean to pass up:

http://photobucket.com/albums/b196/dillonp87/240sx/

He's only asking $5000 for it. It's a '96, and it has 92k miles. I emailed the owner, and he says it's a one owner car. What's more, it has new calipers and rotors, "fairly new" tires (around 6 mos.), new speakers, and the belts and hoses are also "fairly new". As you can see from the pic the trunk has had dynamat installed, and he said the doors have as well. One thing I didn't notice about these cars until now is how far away the gas and brake pedals are from eachother...might have to fix that. The tail lights from the Kouki bolt/glue right in don't they? I've never been a big fan of the zenki tails.

Edit: It's come to my attention that none of those pics worked, so I hosted them.

 

yes, now

 

$325-350ish for Kouki tails... are they that important? Your $.

Brake and gas aren't far, you have small feet

 

Yes. The zenki tails are too feminine looking for my taste. Along with the hood and headlights...but oh well. Although, the tinted red tails on your car are quite nice.
I wear size 13 shoes. When I drove that red kouki, it wasn't that bad. But I was referring to this pic that I posted earlier...I don't remember them being that far away from each other.

Edit: Had to fix the link to the picture.