New ITR owner, excited and frustrated.

[PatmanM3nITR]

Hello everyone,

I recently picked up an ITR from a friend I knew for years and I am excited to get to know the car. Anyhow it's a 2000 PY ITR #0035. My friend was the first owner, never stolen, never in any accidents. About 6 months ago, he was driving and the car bogged, he pulled over, turned the car off and the tried starting again, this time it would crank but would not start. So after that he left the car just sitting on his driveway.

Not to bring up anything personal about his life, but the car was being seized by the bank. So I find out a few days ago that it was at the impound lot in Fullerton, CA and was going to be sold at a public auction in a few days. He told me, pay off the loan he pulled out and the car is mine. So i agreed, we came up with a contract, notarized it, and now i'm the owner of his car. Only had to pay $5000 to pay off.

Here's a brief history on the car. He bought it, did all kinds of stuff to it, was well taken cared of until he got an S2000. From there the ITR became neglected, he sold off alot of the Spoon parts and stuff and began to daily drive it.

Here's my frustration. When I took the car to my mechanic to determine why it wouldn't start we found that there was 5+ inches stripped off the timing belt, there are bent valves, 2 chipped pistons, leaks galore, and alot of "incomplete mods."

As much as he is my good friend, I just wanted to slap him upside the head and ask him what he was thinking hahaha.

Anyways, enough of the talking, here are some front view pictures of the car next to my other baby

The car has these mods which I will be removing and redoing some of them especially motor work:

-Metal japanese front end
-cracked beyond repair authentic spoon lip
-HIDs
-CTR wheels
-VIS CF hood with pins (i'm looking for metal oem hood)
-TEIN RE coilovers (all shocks are blown. Going to get a new set of suspension. Also looking for OEM suspension)

-JDM valve cover
-B&M Fuel rail (no injectors which rendered this mod useless)
-AEM pulley
-Aftermarket cam gears (No camshafts which also made these useless)
-Ferrea Valves
-Ferrea valve springs
-Ferrea retainers
-Full ported and polished head
-Fuel pressure regulator (I found this mod pointless)

There are more mods, but they will be taken off soon.

I know the road is a long one for me to restore this beauty. Wish me luck

[wego5]

Sounds like you got a good deal for $5k, even with the motor problems. Have it rebuilt and you got a clean title beauty with a brand new motor, and it will probably still be worth more than you put into it.

[Doespike]

Welcome to ITRCA

Yeah, for $5k you're doing just fine. I'd just have the motor rebuilt to as close to OEM as possible for reliability and enjoy heR. Glad nothing happened while she was in impound

[Dave_B]

I'm with these guys, at 5K you still got a great deal. Sell off some parts to make funds for the motor and be happy with an awesome car.

[beastnatch]

Wow, 5k sounds like a steal!

[CivicBeater]

WTF. 4 replies and no one mentions that beautiful looking BMW?! I know this is ITR land but come on, that thing looks like it's got some stank on it!

In regards to your purchase, what a deal! Shoot, clean title R shells go for more than that. You got a hell of a deal!

[itrsteez]

WTF. 4 replies and no one mentions that beautiful looking BMW?! I know this is ITR land but come on, that thing looks like it's got some stank on it!

In regards to your purchase, what a deal! Shoot, clean title R shells go for more than that. You got a hell of a deal!

believe it or not but I'm just as much a purist with M3's as ITR's, comments were withheld.

[get RIGHT]

WTF. 4 replies and no one mentions that beautiful looking BMW?

I didn't even notice.

Looks like you got a great buy at that price.

[coolhandluke]

Several of us here have recently gone through what you are experiencing. I'm winced when I read you had timing belt teeth missing. When you dive into the motor let us know. I know I and others will offer whatever help we can to assist you. I'm hoping your head and shortblock are in decent condition. If you are lucky you will only need to get the head checked, new valves, and new pistons, and all the little parts in between.

[PatmanM3nITR]

Thank you everyone for the comments, I just recently got the car running again........

Mechanic found 10 bent valves, head gasket was cracked, exhaust manifold gasket was cracked, severe oil leak, electrical system was pretty much a mess after the previous owner took out the ground system he had and left it as it was.......

I think I mentioned that the car had some mods to begin with......So my mechanic was able to replace the 10 bent Ferrea valves for new Ferrea valves and valve springs, new head and exhaust manifold gasket, all seals, flushed all my fluids, and re-timed the motor. Luckily the pistons were ok. All the motor needs now is a re-tune. As she stands, the motor has a ported and polished head (so my friend claims), Ferrea Valves, valve springs, and retainers, STR cam gears, AEM pulleys, B&M fuel rail, fuel pressure regulator, JDM intake box, and some other random stuff......I wished that some of the mods done were removed, but she's a work in progress..

BTW, i can't stand the CF hood haha, trying to source an oem metal hood, if I can't find one, i'm going to paint over the hood that's on the car and get some aerocatch hood locks for a more flushed appearance.

Next up in the list is new suspension and a brake job (all shocks from the coilovers are blown, brake rotors are pitted)

Here are some pics, with a bonus pic of my other car








Here's a pic of the M3, had a massive methanol leak from the meth pump, got it fixed and snapped a random shot LOL

[coolhandluke]

I highly recommended taking the pictures down that have your license plate and house number in them. Thieves troll these forums.