My first import I just bought on monday a 1990 nissan stanza
 

Ok so I was looking on autotrader and came across this car it's a 1990 nissan stanza. I bought it for $200 and it has a new radiator, but it leaks coolant into the oil, the previous owner already tried to replace the headgasket, but I i'm going to tear the head off and get it pressure checked and also take a look at the timing cover, cause that might be cracked or have a hole worn through it. at the most for a head and all the parts it will cost me $900 to fix, it gets about 31mpg on the highway and is 138 hp. So its damn near double the mileage of my cadillac and only 2 less hp. If I drive it for a month it will pay itself off...here are the pics, what do you guys think? Also parts are dirt cheap for it and it should be way more reliable and easier to work on.
As per request, pics I took today of the car It is a texas car, and doesn't have a bit of rust on it either :)

http://www.oldweakandpathetic.com/me...za/stanza1.JPG
http://www.oldweakandpathetic.com/me...za/stanza2.JPG
http://www.oldweakandpathetic.com/me...za/stanza3.JPG
http://www.oldweakandpathetic.com/me...za/stanza4.JPG
http://www.oldweakandpathetic.com/me...za/stanza5.JPG
http://www.oldweakandpathetic.com/me...za/stanza6.JPG
http://www.oldweakandpathetic.com/me...za/stanza7.JPG
http://www.oldweakandpathetic.com/me...za/stanza8.JPG
http://www.oldweakandpathetic.com/me...za/stanza9.JPG
http://www.oldweakandpathetic.com/me...a/stanza10.JPG

With some work, that car can be looking pretty spiffy. However, in my experience, Nissans are incredibly difficult to work with. Their engine design isn't exactly the best, but if you've got the time and the patience, I'd say you got a pretty great deal.

if it cleans up well and runs right then it'll be a good deal.

good luck!

p.s. i don't wanna see any fat wings or V-tech stickers on it when it's done, k? ;)

Is that gonna be like your winter beater until you get the mustang project done, or did you just buy it cuz it was $200? Oh yea, why would he have a v-tech sticker on his car? Unless he really likes the phones.

ka24de engine... the truck engine of nissan lol. You'll feel low end grunt but the top end is okay. It does have smooth acceleration and I never heard of a ka engine dying. Good pick.

I really wish I had your understanding of cars/mechanics...

It must be a blast doing what you do :D

To all you wondering if it will be riced out no no no and no :) It will be bone stock besides a K&N air filter and a cd player and new speakers. This is going to be my new daily driver. Good gas mileage and something reliable is what i'm going for. And I know for a fact once I get my mustang running I could never afford to drive that everyday.

Better rims and wheels and toss the mud flaps and the extorior would look good. If that was my car I would toss on a small body kit, 17 inch rims, tinited windows and a killer sound system...but thats me;)

Well hopefully i'll get it towed today, The at the bare mininum I want to get the head off to inspect the head itself and get it prepped so I can send it to a machine shop to get leak tested. Maybe if i'm lucky i'll get the timing chain cover off, then I should easily be able to find out the problem with it. I called the machine shop that did all of my mustang machining and they priced out some options for me, it's about $30 to have it leak tested, and another $50 to shave the head.

I like your car economics theories. Those are supposed to be tough little cars, so once you get it fixed up it should give you some good service. keep us posted.

Oh I thought that was your house it was parked at...that person has a lot of cars.

80 bucks isn't bad at all :thumbsup:

Good luck man. You probably already know, Nissan engines are a B I T C H to work on. I had a 1988 Sentra and when the head gasket went, you have to literally tear the entire motor apart to replace the gasket. A whole day's work for a 5 second fix. What a pain in the ass.

I'll never buy another Nissan again. Just to many bad memories and experiences with that first car.