hey everyone, new here. i just bought a 94 civic dx 2dr coupe, 5 speed. it was 600 bucks, because the head gasket is bad, and the coolant and oil has mixed,( i dont know much about auto mechanics, but im smart enough to figure out things that are explained to me) my friend is a mechanic, specializes in honda, and he was with me when i bought it, he said its a steal, that no matter what we end up having to replace on it, that its worth it, because its in great condition, only 120k miles, and it starts up and runs, but we dont wanna drive it too much considering it has a bad head gasket and mixed oil. he is going to start working on it soon for me, sais about 100 bucks he can get a whole gasket kit, and it should be fine then, also the front cv axles are going bad, but he said they arent clicking yet, and the brakes are bad, def gonna need new ones, other than that it shifts smoothly and sounds good, so my question is, if the head gasket is bad, what else is probably going to need to be replaced? and is it more worth just buying a whole new engine to be safe? and how much could i get a nice one for? and feel free to throw in any other comments you might have or tips or anything thanks guys

 

well you might need to get the head resurfaced.

 

and does that cost anything more? how much would you say

 

Congratulations on the nice score. I say at this point, see how little you can spend to make that baby run perfectly. You're mechanic friend should be able to tell you if the motor needs to be replaced or not. Probably not but who knows unless they have checked it out. Either way, you still got a deal!

 

Great score!! While you are in that deep, consider a new water pump, belt tensioner and spring, and crank and cam seals as well as a new timing belt. Pennies invested now will save head aches later. Good luck!

 

The only sure way to know if the engine is OK is to put a new gasket in and try it, which is not a big deal here since you have free labor to do it. Often in a car like this the engine has overheated badly, either before or after the gasket blew, and will need the whole engine replaced.

 

Haha...Josh thought this was so important he posted it three times. Your buddy will know whether resurfacing is required when he checks whether the mating surfaces are level to spec.

 

actually i was just having some internet issues at the time and the forum's supposed to stop you from posting the same thing 3 times but i guess not lol