So I ended up buying it after all. It is in great shape, no rust to be found, just a little scuff here and there. Everything seems OEM original except for aftermarket radio and a set of basic tein coilovers. The engine revs up smoothly with no ticking or knocking, the transmission shifts without grinding, but it feels a little notchy, doesn't feel as perfectly smooth as other transmissions I've tried (what do you recommend I use to flush it with, or should I just change the fluid, if so, what fluid would you guys recommend?. I did blow a heater core hose driving it on the highway yesterday, (looks like a slow oil leak from rear cam seal? has been dripping on the hose and softened it till it blew) lucky for me I was heading over to a gearhead friend of mine and we ended up finding a new hose and did a full coolant system flush, which looked as if it has never been done before, the coolant was brown. We also found some other things that needed atention, like the plugs looked like OEM originals, they were so worn but with no warning signs. And a collection of black oil in the rear spark plug hole that we had to blow out and clean out just so we wouldn't hydrolock the engine after replacing the plugs. It could definitely use a new top end seal kit, which is on the list for this winter, which we will do when replacing the cam belt, which I'm assuming hasent been done considering all these other neglected services. Even with all the attention that it needs, the thing drives smooth with no hesitation, I'm very impressed with this lil machine. It's been alot of fun driving it and working on it so far. Now I understand the cult following this car has. Very excited to bring out to the next autox event. Hope to see you all soon, cheers!
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