2020 was a pretty eventful year - and I’d saved up enough for a car. My original budget was around $20,000. For this I could have purchased any of the cars I’d ideally wanted of the below.

  • Honda Integra DC2 Type R
  • Nissan Silvia S15 Spec R (AUDM)
  • Honda S2000 AP1
  • Mazda MX-5
  • Subaru WRX GC8

When I started the search a couple months ago - I wanted a car that I could daily, but also use as an excuse to tinker and gain mechanical aptitude. I really wanted a Silvia since I was young (I’d occasionally see a really nice one around Liverpool Public in Pewter Grey) but they were shooting up in price, and like the S2000, I’d be scared of it being stolen if I parked it overnight outside at Ingleburn station. The MX-5 truly did handle like it was on rails but good examples were hard to come by. I was really leaning towards the GC8 as they were cheap as chips and Danny owned a WRX, so I knew I was in good hands if I ever needed expertise but I REALLY wanted an NA engine and loved all the noises the EK made at 8,000 RPM.

Since I wanted to gain technical knowledge - I though something that I could engine swap would be good and given the economic state, my plans of buying a house, I wanted to opt for something cheaper. Then I thought - since I owned an EK with an ITR motor, it would be cool to own a DC2 with a K-swap. It was a well documented swap, and I was comfortable doing all the labour myself (barring engine work). I did the math and knew I could do the swap for under $10,000 as well.

Note to readers from the future: The budget was increased to $12,000 because I opted a “do it once, do it right” mindset and did a mild build with a K20 oil pump for a higher redline, and got new chains, guides and a timing chain tensioner. Plus the car was increasing in price so I knew I’d even out if I ever wanted to sell the car or part it out. Parts were also increasing in cost, I originally budgeted $1900 for the Y2M3 gearbox - these now go for $3000

I spent the next couple of weeks looking at Integra shells. It was a couple months since COVID and shells that previously cost a couple hundred now fetch $1000-2000 dollars. A clapped complete car without registration was generally going for $2500 (with terrible paintwork and questionable interiors).

I found a Silver Facelift Integra for $4500 on Gumtree. It was at the dealership next to Liverpool SuperCheap Autos. I’d walked past it multiple times and always wondered who purchased cars from there. Henry notified me that the car was discounted online to $4000, so I went to the dealership with Danny and haggled the final price down to $3500. For that price, I had a car with the following features;

  • Facelift Integra (same steering rack as the ITR, larger sway bars, updated fascia and the 1 inch brake booster) - all things I’d have need to upgrade on a pre-facelift model
  • 15 inch VTIR blades - these generally go for about $400 for a tidy set as well
  • Overall okay paint - large scratch on the passenger side, dents on the hood and some scratches at the bottom of the passenger side door
  • B18B - 325,000 original kilometres
  • ABS - this was a big thing I wanted, for the street
  • 3 months registration
  • Warped rotors on the front

car at home

Near a mate's place

The car had a high mileage and was overpriced for sure (by about $600 I’d wager), but since it was the middle of COVID, it was a fully driving car, and I needed a daily - I was happy to pay the agreed upon price. Since my goal was to K-swap it, eventually I can sell some of the bits for extra dosh. The driveline can be sold for $500-$700 (pending a compression test) and the wheels can be sold $400 (I’d need some thick Enkeis eventually) so the car was pretty worth the price - I’d say. Or at least I’ll keep telling myself that.