Opinion on '91 NSX JH4NA115XMT002196

[bjay007]

Need advice, I looked at a 1991 Blk/blk 5spd with approx 88,XXXmiles. Here is the list of mods:

Marga Hills front bumper
Cantrell Studios Wide Body fenders
Marga Hills Side Skirts
Wings West Rear Spats
Tein RA Coilovers
SOS Steering Rack
Volk GT-7 18/19
Tarox BBK w/SS Braided lines 13" crossdrilled F/R rotors w/ Front 6 piston caliper
Dual Blitz Nur Spec exhaust

The list goes on, but that's the major components. There are a lot of interior mods that are typical to updating the interior (SOS shiftknob, upgraded HiFonics 5 1/4 separates, Nav pod, hooked up to aftermarket stereo and PS2, etc..)

Car used to have BBSC and NOS wet kit, but those parts are since sold.

The asking price is $26k

The owner is straight up honest about the cons with the vehicle:
Passenger wide body fender, small crack
A/C control unit needs to be repaired/replaced
Needs new speedometer sensor
Check engine light comes on, due to speedometer not working
Horn is diabled becaus of SOS steering rack??

Additional item that I noticed or would repair
It has those indiglo lights on the dash (definitely replace, not my style)
Cruise control is INOP

Lastly, he informed me that a new engine was dropped in Jan 2010 (not to sure why or the extent)

My question is, with all the repairs that need to be done and/or upgrades included with the car, is it worth it to get? and if so, what about the price? The items that need/should be repaired, are they common things to get parts for and swap/replace?
What other things should I look at or inspect, for a NSX like this?

Again, car is highly modified and there are a few things I would do to get it back to normal operations (mainly the dash/steering wheel controls).

Appreciate the input and advice

 

[FelonyRuckus]

wow! that sounds like a ton of mods. Remember you still want to keep about $5000 on top of your buying price to take care of any maintenance and other issues. 13" discs front and back...not usually a good combo...

definitely get a PPI...

spend a little to get it checked out so you don't lose a ton in the long run!

 

[shawn110975]

BUT....... when someone opens up the Cluster they have that urge to unplug the Miles. so your 88K miles could be 250K miles on the car since they put the Indiglo gauges in ya know. I am not saying this is the case but, you never know.

now the engine light comes on ( he says cuz the speed sensor is bad )
I am pretty sure that its not connected to the Cars brain. so there could be more to it that that.

get a PPI from an Acura Dealership. or call them and TALK with an NSX mechanic and ask about the speed sensor. I am pretty sure its not connected to the brain.

when you look at these cars and half the shit doesnt work its leads you to believe corners were cut doing these upgrades.to save money.
but those upgrades are great to look at.

and the indiglo gauges tells you this car was probably (BEAT to HELL)

be careful and make the right choice

and if there is little to no records, like TB/WP then RUN from this sale.

my .02 cents

also check this link out, its the NSX Buyers Guide

http://www.hondatuningmagazine.com/includes/htup_0810_acura_nsx_buyers_guide/index.html

and as for the NOS Wet kit, RUN RUN RUN. I would never buy a car that I KNEW had these kinds of mods. probably why the engine was dropped and replaced gaskets, piston rings etc. the list goes on and on. I say run. you can find a better one

 

[tbromley]

Shawns post brings out some good points. I'd pay attention to that - especially the speedometer thing. Who knows.

My personal opinion based on the known issues the car has and the mods and the fact it has had a new engine (perhaps because the old one was blown up when the SC was on it - good possibility) and it has issues that can cause you major heart ache and wallet ache -like the AC which is a big ticket issue on its own. Unless you are a glutten for punishment on the surface of things I would RUN FOREST RUN! This car to me sounds like a "beater" and one that has been really trounced upon and not taken care of - buy some hot dog drivers that care more about looks than what really matters in these cars - PROPER MAINTENANCE - not to mention the price! I don't think the price is that good either.

You didn't even mention anything about the usual suspected maintenance items like the timing belt and water pump. I am not a big fan of super modded cars personally and this one just doesn't "smell" right to me. You will get a lot of other posts on this so be prepared to get different perspectives.

You haven't told us anything about what your looking for - what your budget is - what you expect from your NSX purchase - whether this is your first one or not - etc. Answers to these questions will tell me whether I should be more emphatic about some of the issues that are most likely lurking here with this one.

Is this a Prime members car? If it is then check some of his posts about his own experiences. If you are seriously considering this car you better do some MAJOR league homework dude cause this one smells like TROUBLE!

I could be wrong - but I doubt it.

Good luck,

 

[docjohn]

having a replacement engine is not necasarily a bad thing if done right and with a good replacement motor.It is not a cheap endeavor iether.I'm on my third engine but mine was a complete documented long block from a fellow primer and installed by a dealer with all of thier resources...that said you should have no cels and with this cars history ascribing the cel to just the speedo is quite troubling.To do a complete engine swap is at least an 8-12 k job after all is said and done depending on many variables,so it just dose'nt make much sense to me that this could have been done right since obviously his budget for fixing it up for resale leaves out so many other things by your description.....a good no cell high milage 91 car would be in the 22-25k range,so this car might be doable at say 18k:wink:

 

[shawn110975]

Doc is right. but still leaves the Speedo not working. and the fact that this car has Indiglo Gauges that scares me off because how long has it not worked? 2-3 years of Hard driving could rack up 100K in miles alone.

so you 88K miles on the cluster could be 250K miles in reality

but Doc's 18K is a great price.

as TB/WP valve adjustment is 2500 alone. that gives you an idea right there.

 

[CL65 Captain]

13" discs front and back...not usually a good combo...

WTF are you talking about? Stoptech, Brembo and RB all use 13" rotors F/R.

 

[EAC]

having a replacement engine is not necasarily a bad thing if done right and with a good replacement motor.It is not a cheap endeavor iether.I'm on my third engine but mine was a complete documented long block from a fellow primer and installed by a dealer with all of thier resources...that said you should have no cels and with this cars history ascribing the cel to just the speedo is quite troubling.To do a complete engine swap is at least an 8-12 k job after all is said and done depending on many variables,so it just dose'nt make much sense to me that this could have been done right since obviously his budget for fixing it up for resale leaves out so many other things by your description.....a good no cell high milage 91 car would be in the 22-25k range,so this car might be doable at say 18k:wink:

Just curious, why are you on your 3rd engine?

 

[docjohn]

Just curious, why are you on your 3rd engine?

1st engine spun bearing #2 at pocono,second engine was a brand new short block with my original heads sent to comptech for thier iem package.this engine was nice till the valve springs decided to crack and float some valves,which happened at WG.lol so we pulled off the spark to #5 and I ran home on 5 cylinders..it is after all just an air pump.....engine #3 is a complete 00 long block from a guy who wrinkled the body on his 00 but did'nt need the engine. you asked....

 

[tbromley]

1st engine spun bearing #2 at pocono,second engine was a brand new short block with my original heads sent to comptech for thier iem package.this engine was nice till the valve springs decided to crack and float some valves,which happened at WG.lol so we pulled off the spark to #5 and I ran home on 5 cylinders..it is after all just an air pump.....engine #3 is a complete 00 long block from a guy who wrinkled the body on his 00 but did'nt need the engine. you asked....

So Doc, you have an early coupe with a 3.2 engine - how's that feel - is it a lot faster than the 3.0? Just curious as I've always wondered about that.

 

[ChopsJazz]

Are you looking for a driver or a project? If you intend to sink a bunch of money into turning the car into a special project then maybe this is the shell that you have been looking for. If, however, you are in search of a good, clean, strong running, well maintained NSX, then maybe you should just keep looking.

My .02

 

[RYU]

Going back on on topic...

The red flag here is the high level of mods/customization. I'm not saying it wasn't done right but doing that much to a car requires a lot of tearing open/cutting/fixing/fitting/unbolting etc... get the idea? Typically you get what you pay for when labor is concerned.

Personally, I don't buy such highly modified cars unless I know the owner. It also sounds like the level of mods done to this car aren't your typical bolt ons either (i.e. easy to remove and put back to stock) so that's what concerns me.

G'luck! Hope it works out for you regardless of what car you buy.

EDIT: Let me also say that I do like some of the list of mods this person has done. You never know.. might be a good deal too. You just need to dig deeper into the car.

 

[docjohn]

So Doc, you have an early coupe with a 3.2 engine - how's that feel - is it a lot faster than the 3.0? Just curious as I've always wondered about that.

not too much difference remember my last engine was making more top end hp than a stock 3.2:smile:

 

[NetViper]

not too much difference remember my last engine was making more top end hp than a stock 3.2:smile:

Doc, it is a shame to go through 3 engines and never have any boost on them.. Maybe its time? :biggrin:

 

[docjohn]

Doc, it is a shame to go through 3 engines and never have any boost on them.. Maybe its time? :biggrin:

Lol I'm still not convinced that I would have the reliability I need at my level of trackage......don't laugh....sorry op but I hope you got the jist about the car you asked about:redface:

 

[bjay007]

Thanks all for the comments and critiques. It's always good to hear other perspectives that I may have not examined. I was wrapped around the fact it had all sorts of goodies and for the most part the car still drives well.

My impression was the car wasn't upheld as a rare exotic (probably because the owner has another exotic toy to play with). But it left me the image that this particular NSX was regarded as just another Honda/Acura.

Of course that was just my initial look at the car, now I have more indepth questions I can ask based on everyone's feedback. Please keep them coming and I'll update everyone with the outcome.

 

[Honcho]

Brian-

While the list of mods might be tempting, there is a lot going on with this car that gives me pause. Like RYU said, any time I see a heavily modded NSX with non functional major items like a speedo, I believe the car likely has been abused. Undoing the extensive mods is going to cost you a lot of $ (think thousands), though you may be able to recoup some of it by selling your parts here on Prime. Plus, it's very likely you'll need to do some regular maintenance that has probably been skipped. The speedo and cruise likely is the transmission speed sensor. I know because mine failed this summer during the NSXCA River Run. Though, mine did not throw a CEL. With that in mind, I would not pay more than $20k for this car.

Some things you should ask:

- Was the BBSC and NOS used on the new 2010 engine? If so, how many miles and I would have Acura do a compression test on the engine during an inspection.
- Is the "new" engine brand new from Honda or is it a used part from an old NSX?
- What happened to the old engine?

Personally, I would pass on this NSX and look for a cleaner one. It is a buyer's market right now and you'll be able to find many clean NA1 cars from $20k-$25k.