My son's 1996 Integra sedan has a bad timing belt. I don't know if the valves got bent. The car has 117K miles on it. All the body panels have dings, scratches or creases. It looks ok from 50 or 75 feet away, but up close you can see all the battle scars and old body work that needs to be done over again. I'd say that anyone who was going to fix it up would want to replace the hood and right front fender, and maybe the front bumper cover. It can be driven as is and will pass saftey inspection.

The car has a broken power antenna, and the ABS does not work correctly. It needs a new sensor. That said, the brakes work fine, just no ABS.

I don't know how much it will cost to fix the timing belt problem. It could need valves, which means the head would have to come off. I have no idea what I would have to pay for a valve job if I sent the head to a machine shop. I also don't knwo if i feel like trying to do any of this work myself or with Chris. I think that this is a financial decision that goes something like this: (a) What is the car worth as-is, (b) what is it worth if I get it running, and

 

no $$$ in scrap metal anymore so expect the bone yard to give you $200.00 max

i think you'll have a hard time selling it as a parts car when the engine is trashed and i also thing most who would want it would want a 2 door and then again i think most folks would shy away from a car that's had it's engine rebuilt

 

throw it up on craigslist for 800 bucks and see what bites. you never know

 

Yeah, nothing to lose with Craigs list. Except maby a lot of yahoos coming to my house and seeing what I have in my garage.

 

One thought is to take the time to replace the timing belt, and see if it will start and run. If it doesn't run right, then go the parts-car route.

 

just be sure to have the dog in the garage to she's a love but she looks mean!

 

Yeah, I can tie her up and tell people not to go near her.

 

It's my understanding that the pistons have hit the valves if the engine was running when the belt skipped, or cranked afterwards. Honda/Acura engines are designed without clearance between the valves and pistons if they jump the timing chain.

Can you remove the spark plugs and look through the holes to see if the tops of any of the pistions are hammered up? A borescope would be ideal, but most of us don't have one laying around. Maybe a fiber-optic flashlight wand down in the hole would allow you to see. I know they make these extensions for either the AA or AAA MagLight.

I just hate to see you replace the timing belt only to find a catastrophic failure inside.

 

Bill - I think Stella's wagging tail and happy dog "smile" will give her away. The all over come-pat-me-you-know-you-want-to-wiggle doesn't exactly communicate vicious killer. She's awesome! Give her a cookie for me will ya??!!!??

 

odds are that you have some bent valves. Hondas have zero clearence I have yet to see one that has lost a timing belt that didn't bend em and you do not always see marks on the pistons when this happens, I lost one once when I also lost the crank pulley (long story) at a good rate of speed and it never marked any of the pistons but it bent 6 valves in the procces. If the valves hit hard enough to damage the piston and pieces of the piston made it to the cylinder wall well enough said. it has to be worth something good doner for a rear disc swap on a civic. good luck