Hi everyone!

metalmatty

metalmatty

Well I've just got hold of an Almera GTi.. bought it of a good friend of mine for just £300. Came with 11 months MOT and 6 months Tax too!

He knocked the price nice and low because of the bodywork. Structurally the car is sound, but he used to let his Mrs use the car too and well, she put very nasty dents and scratches down nearly every panel :(

The clutch needed replacing too but that's being done this weekend :)

My one and only concern however is the Mileage, its now approaching 165k and before I go spending massive amounts on tuning the car, I need an honest opinion. How long do these engines last if looked after well? Is tuning an engine with this many miles on a good idea?

A company on ebay is selling low mileage engines imported from Japan. You can pick up an SR20 with between 30k and 40k miles for just over £500 including delivery and a 6 month unlimited mileage guarantee! Considering the car was just £300 do you think its worth an engine swap? I mean technically that would mean the car cost £800, which for a GTi with 40k on the clock, is cheap right!?

Anyway thanks for reading!
 
Welcome. Not sure about the engine, the GTI boys will be able to help you out, but I've seen them with 200k plus.
Any pics?
 
metalmatty said:
I mean technically that would mean the car cost £800, which for a GTi with 40k on the clock, is cheap right!?
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If the body is in good nick then yes that's pretty good. You should be able to pick up an SR20 for cheaper if you shop around the scrappys but then you run of the risk of picking up a poorly looked after engine I guess. SR20s are known to run till at least 230k and one guy even had the original clutch still in! Met only so close by our resident nutcase corbs who's girlfriend's car is well into 200k also. I think these are standard though but it shows how solid the lump is!

More info on it's way from the GTi boys no wonder :D
 
edk said:
Met only so close by our resident nutcase corbs who's girlfriend's car is well into 200k also. I think these are standard though but it shows how solid the lump is!
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Yo.

Yeah Tasha's is nearing 205,000 miles, my current SR20 in my GTi (Which was free! - thanks to Scott B) is on over 155,000 miles and doesn't use any oil at all.

Although I have used 4 of them so far.
1 was waterlogged when I got it
1 the big ends went after overheating and oil starvation - my fault
And the last one, the cam sprocket wasn't tightened properly causing it to slip - may be able to save this one.
 
Nope nothing wrong with the engine, not using oil, pull's very nicely, no knocks or bangs.

I think I shall carry on with the tuning in which case. The chassis is in good shape, body work is shabby but I'm really not bothered about that.. used to work for an accident repair centre so a few dents is nothing.

If I can get the car looking tip-top then I may even drop a turbo lump in next year ;)

Thanks for all the help guys
 
have a good look round the sills at the back and inside the boot at the sides behind the carpets, and the rear seat belt mounting points under the seats for rust they are the worst places for it....
 
Welcome mate..
The SR is a solid engine when looked after, like anything.
With a few mods the car will be fast enough I'm sure :)
Joe
 
Thanks guys, will get some pictures up over the next few days. Weather and work hasn't permitted me to get stuck in to anything yet but I've got quite a bit planned for the car :)
 
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