I haven't driven the car as of yet but I'm told it runs "like a scalded ape". Idle is erratic but that may be from the crappy ground wires. I'm thinking of replacing the harnesses (both cabin and engine) because it sounds like it's been hacked pretty bad. I'll just post what he said from the other forum:
1) It is NOT a 99 GSR engine. It is a JDM B18C (Japanese GSR motor) but it is OBD1. So at BEST it is a 1995 (the oldest it could be is a 1994), not a 1999. You can identify this due to the OBD1 injectors, but without a doubt the location of the crank fluctuation sensor is not on the crank. The tranny has a U.S. VIN tag, and it FELT like it was a GSR one due to the gearing... but I would want to run the VIN tag on the case to verify that.
2) It is completely missing the A/C lower torque mount. That motor mount is completely gone.
3) The upper tranny mount is missing a stud and it looks like the people that did the swap cross threaded it and just left it off.
4) Cam seal is leaking. (not a big deal)
5) The wiring harness is hacked... BAD! Not just the engine side, but the cabin side. One of the main clips on the passenger shock tower has EVERY wire spliced and butt connected! Obviously the people that did the swap had NO idea how to do it, because there is no need whatsoever to touch that side of the harness. So, it would need a new cabin/engine harness as well as an engine harness to fix it right. This is by far one of the WORST swaps I've ever seen.
6) On the engine harness, there are a couple wires under the distributor that are just cut and hanging. There is also a third wire that is cut, stripped and twisted together... with no insulation at all. Just a bare wire.
7) The tranny ground was not bolted up... it was just hanging there.
8) The engine ground wire is old and loose... probably if you replace this one and hooked up the tranny ground it may run a bit smoother.
9) The alternator belt is worn down in about a 2" spot to just the cloth. It looks to be ready to break. The p/s one is frayed, but not as bad.
10) The radiator hoses are horrible. The car still has the small single core SOHC radiator so the hose sizes are different since it has a DOHC. So the people that did the swap clamped the SOHC hose on the radiator and came off of it about 3", then slipped the DOHC hose over the SOHC hose and clamped that, creating some sort of a make shift reducer. This is on the upper and lower hose.
11) I was told afterwards from a couple sources (not sure if they are reliable) that the car had a blower on it prior to trading it in, but the dealership wouldn't give him any more money, so the owner removed it and then traded it in.
12) The clutch is VERY stiff and engages at the floor rather than at the top. It seemed unnatural and I would guess something is wrong with it. I've had an OS Gieken 2800lbs. clutch in my Type R and I know what a stiff performance clutch feels like, and this is not it.
13) The shifter is VERY sloppy! There is as much side to side play in the shifter when it is in gear as there is when it is in neutral.
14) The car seemed to take a good while to warm up, but this could just be the weather. I would look to see if there is an aftermarket thermostat. (no biggie)
15) The front brakes are warped and squeak pretty bad. They need replaced.
16) The exhaust needs reran. If you look under the car the piping is not tucked up in the tunnel. It would be fine at the 4WD height that it is sitting at now, but if the car was lowered it may pose some issues.
I told the salesman these issues to have them change this ad, but apparently they didn't care to. I dealt with Landon and then told Kelly Wetherell about the year of the motor issue with it being OBD1 instead of OBD2. He said I was talking over his head, but I then explained that if he bought a car thinking it was a 1999 and found out later that it was a 1995 that he may be a bit mad. Obviously this fell on deaf ears. That is why I feel it is my responsibility to let potential buyers know some of the truths that I saw. I specifically told Kelly and Landon that Gary P posted this on CII and that they should let him know that people need to know the truth.
My biggest problem with the car is that if I spotted all of these issues without crawling under the car or pulling the motor for inspection, what other shortcuts did the people that swapped the car take that I cannot see right now?
Brad