Any decent ITR DC2 buyers guides?

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As per title really, can anyone point me in the right direction please? I know about the arches but what else??

Cheers

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Thanks for the responses. It's a strange one, look for a buyers guide on virtually any other car and you can find them online/in mags etc, but I can't find one on DC2's, hoping that's a good sign!

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Thanks for the replies fellas, and the kind offer of assisting with a purchase in the North, appreciated.

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Probably a stupid question, but how can you test if the diff is working? Other than driving it and feeling it that is? I assume given its age (both number of years and age of its design) that it should be quite noticeable? I've only driven a front wheel drive with an e-diff (for want of a better expression) & though you can feel it you have to be pressing on quite hard, not sure I'd want to do that on a test drive.

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dannyDC2 said:

When I thought I'd broke my LSD I tested it by leaving 11s up my street. Neighbours weren't happy, wouldn't recommend.

You should be able to feel it exiting tight turns, full throttle.

You would have to drive quite aggressively.

Honestly though, the best thing would be to just look on the gearbox as LSD boxes have LSD engraved on them.

I'll add though, that in 4 years of being involved with these cars, I've never heard of anyone buying one without an LSD.

Thanks Danny. I'm assuming it's a bit more aggressive than the E-diff I have on my daily, which was quite odd the first time it seemingly pushed me round the bend!!

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One other question re arches, I seem to remember seeing a post a few years back where somebody compared pics of arches on the outside and what they looked like from the inside, peering down into them, it wasn't pretty! How easy is it to remove the interior plastics so you can shove a torch down there? I suspect a seller would be concerned, but having looked at a lot of ads over the years with arch pics it's clear a LOT of them suffer from this...

Cheers

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Thanks for the diff replies, appreciated.

Am I right in thinking even a small sign of rust on the outside of an arch is an indication of serious problems inside?

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Thanks for the replies fellas. I suspected as much, a potential candidate appeared but has rust appearing on the outside!

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Gompo said:

It's worth noting that some cars are more effected on one arch than the other. My old one had rust coming through on the nearside sill, but the offside was just about perfect. However, I expect rust there in the long term is inevitable. If everything else checked out right, the rust wouldn't put me off, I'd just send it off to TGM and get it sorted.

TGM??

The car in question had the implication it was just the one. If it wasn't so far is be tempted to go & look. Whatever one I want to remove the interior plastics to peer into the inner arch, but I'm not sure how easy it is to do on an inspection.

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Gompo said:

http://www.tgmsport.co.uk/

They did and I suspect do still have a very good reputation for performance Hondas. They're well versed in replacing the sill/arch area on DC2s, and I've read not too expensive. I've never been there myself and I am sure other bodyshops could do just as good a job, but given TGM were a decent price and know the cars inside out, that's where I'd go - and was considering going while I still had mine.

Thanks for this, I had a long chat with them yesterday, they tended to agree that the likelihood of finding one without rusty arches was very low.

Apparently putting your hand along the arch protector and pushing/pinching will help reveal how weak they've become, though inevitably accessing the inner arch is the ideal, though not five minutes work to do.

Depends upon condition but £400-£500 per side is about right.