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How do you find a good donor?
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Author:  chetcpo [ May 5, 2010, 11:33 am ]
Post subject:  How do you find a good donor?
Craigslist

Ebay

Local newspaper ads and trader bullitens etc.

The for sale forum here and other car forums will sometimes turn up good donors.

Insurance Auctions- https://www.iaai.com/ (I've never tried this so if you do and have luck, post up and tell us about it!)

I think the most important thing to remember is to be patient and persistent. You don't have to take the first thing that comes along, but also be reasonable and expect to make some compromises. Finding that holy grail of a cheap local donor with all of the parts you desire in pristine condition doesn't happen often. :)

Any other suggestions are welcome.
Author:  reddeth [ May 5, 2010, 3:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How do you find a good donor?
Local newspaper classifieds.

Most people don't think to check the newspapers anymore, and you can usually haggle quite a bit with the people that have ads in them.

My only recommendation is that if you're going to buy a full on complete donor car, make sure it's running and driving. It's worth the few extra bucks to know that all the components you're taking out are in good mechanical condition.
Author:  gtivr4 [ May 5, 2010, 4:55 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How do you find a good donor?
Personally I set a price range (I think $250 - $1000) and scoured craigslist until I found a suitable donor. That combined with a good list of donors worked well for me.
Author:  SkinnyG [ May 5, 2010, 7:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How do you find a good donor?
I drove around residential areas until I found a Corolla GT-S with a for sale sign. Took one day.
Author:  Trochu [ December 16, 2010, 7:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How do you find a good donor?
I found mine on Kijiji, they have alot of cheap cars listed.
Author:  Turbodriven36 [ December 16, 2010, 10:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How do you find a good donor?
I just got my feet wet at one of these online car auctions... BE WARY !!!! I won a "wrecked" 2008 SUZUKI GSX1300R for $2350. , before It was over I owe them $3000. !!!!! and get this , I won the auction on Tuesday , and this morning I get a "LATE" fee bill for $50. !! they expect you to pay the next day or you get billed $50. !?!?
So be informed and read the fine print... But it is a good place to get a good deal if you know what you will be paying them in total..
Ron




chetcpo wrote:
Craigslist

Ebay

Local newspaper ads and trader bullitens etc.

The for sale forum here and other car forums will sometimes turn up good donors.

Insurance Auctions- https://www.iaai.com/ (I've never tried this so if you do and have luck, post up and tell us about it!)

I think the most important thing to remember is to be patient and persistent. You don't have to take the first thing that comes along, but also be reasonable and expect to make some compromises. Finding that holy grail of a cheap local donor with all of the parts you desire in pristine condition doesn't happen often. :)

Any other suggestions are welcome.
Author:  krepus [ December 17, 2010, 6:06 am ]
Post subject:  Re: How do you find a good donor?
Definitely keep your eyes open on enthusiasts forums... I may have just scored a free donor... all I have to do is drive to Toledo... he's giving it away free to a forum member before he resorts to having it towed to the scrapyard...
Author:  photoman [ December 17, 2010, 11:30 am ]
Post subject:  Re: How do you find a good donor?
I found a 1990 Miata on Craigslist. He ask 350, we settled on 300. It wasn't running, had been sitting for apretty good while. Actually, I don't even know now whether it will run, but I figured I got a good deal. I'm using the wheels, complete rear sub, engine and trans, plus the ECU and a few other parts. I've already stripped it and got $63 from the crusher and sold a front strut for 30. I still have doors, rear deck lid and some glass, so I think I will actually make money on it and still have the parts on the locost car. Even if I have to buy another engine. You can buy a pretty good JDM engine for 6-8 hundred.
Author:  chetcpo [ December 20, 2010, 11:34 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: How do you find a good donor?
photoman wrote:
I found a 1990 Miata on Craigslist. He ask 350, we settled on 300. It wasn't running, had been sitting for apretty good while. Actually, I don't even know now whether it will run, but I figured I got a good deal. I'm using the wheels, complete rear sub, engine and trans, plus the ECU and a few other parts. I've already stripped it and got $63 from the crusher and sold a front strut for 30. I still have doors, rear deck lid and some glass, so I think I will actually make money on it and still have the parts on the locost car. Even if I have to buy another engine. You can buy a pretty good JDM engine for 6-8 hundred.

I found a strong running high mileage 1.8 liter on ebay for $350. It easily adapted to my 1990 Miata's ecu and what not. Just replaced the injectors and swapped over the 1.8 TB. No need to spend 6-8 hundy on a JDM engine. Those engines are found in everything from Proteges to Kia Sportages if memory serves so they are cheap and plentiful. They have piston oil squirters and such that are usually only utilized in turbo applications so don't fear high miles. Miata engines are rediculously bombproof once you get past the short nosed crank variety which is probably the problem with yours. Have a good close look at where the crank pulley meets the crank. I've seen them with the end of the crankshaft snapped right off, still loosely bolted to the pulley. In 1991.5 they went to a "long nosed crank" which mostly solved this problem. These are the engines you want.
Author:  mattrogers [ December 21, 2010, 2:23 am ]
Post subject:  Re: How do you find a good donor?
I was using Craiglook to scour Miatas for under $2000 all around the country looking for the right one. There were a lot of cheap ones in California that I was three-quarter serious about flying down to drive back up to Portland. One day, out of the blue, I found my crap-bodied, good-engined Miata (with a hardtop!) just an hour away. The best part was he delivered it to my house!

Craiglook is down now, but http://www.allofcraigs.com has taken its place and it's just as convenient. Definitely a good tool to use when trying to find things a little less geographically common than floral pattern sofas or scrap-booking supplies.
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