A View From The Top-ohc1.3(2001)

[smith]

HI,
i sold my esteem last dec.after keeping it for 9 long years & 80k+kms on the odo -was planning to buy two vehicles ,a small car for city use & an suv (was waiting for the new scorpio 2.2) -meanwhile a friend who has a mahindra dealership recomended the diesel logan -kept the logan 1.5 dls for a week but returned it back- no slur on the car,the logan is a neat car,just did not fit into my scheme of things.bought an alto lxi-exactly what i needed for the ever deteriorating traffic scenario of patna.meanwhile the new scorpio was launched but i was disappointed with the specs which has been nicely summed up in the tbhp scorpio thread.one evening i was standing in the balcony of my apartment (4thfloor)& saw a heather mist ohc parked right below.then i realized that it had been lying there(outside the supermarket located in the ground floor of the apartment)for the past 6 months or maybe more-the tbhp vtec mania started taking effect-immediately sent the apt. caretaker to inquire about it.got the info. that it belonged to the supermkt. owner who was known to me & he was willing to sell it off-since the owner was not present that day ,the price & the model could not be ascertained. As it was dark in the parking lot where the vehicle was parked ,decided to take a look the next morning & speak to the guy.must admit felt very confused that night -firstly i did not really need it, secondly patna has no honda dealership so maintenance & spares would be a major problem & if at all i went for it ,the suv would certainly have to be shelved for the time being ,but the adrenalin rush had begun .went early morning to take alook ,was slightly dissapointed that it was 1.3 exi & not the vtec that i had been dreaming of. apart from some minor scratches & a dent on the skirt of front left door the city looked in good condition -peeped through the front window the odo was showing 32k+.not bad,if i could get it for a decent price.got the owners tel no from the supermkt & spoke to him ,he said he would be coming after 3.30-finally met him late
in the evening-had a chat with him-he was selling it as he wanted to upgrade to a civic -actually the car belonged to his bro-in law who was based in delhi(IT guy)& had gone abroad a year back leaving the vehicle wiyh mr. yashvardhan the supermkt owner although it was still in the original owners name -the price tag 2.5L-he said he would get the car cleaned up next morning & i could take it out for Td with his driver-so i had one more day to decide about it - moreover we had planned a vacation covering the new years eve to khajuraho & panna national park (650 kms from patna),a friends familyfrom delhi was to join us in khajuraho on 29th-was in a fix whether to drive down in alto(woukd be uncomfortable for the long journey)or to take a train to satna (wifey not comfortable with the idea) -now a new alternative was visible ,the ohc. reasons & logic be damned , the suv can wait -tbhp ohc threads had spoilt me beyond redemption -hence decided to go for it provided the td came up to my expectation-meanwhile made some calls to people who knew yashvardhan,the owner-managed to get across to a close relative of his in delhi who knew me well & he promised to bring the price lower-actually patna has very few honda cars & due to lack of any service support the resale value of any honda here was bound to be considerably lower(in all there are 30-35 hondas only including all models & versions).shall post the details of the t.d.& the final outcome along with the photographs later as this post is getting too lengthy & its already past 12 night-my son who is an avid lurker on tbhp is still awake as he knows that i am posting on ohc of which he has become a big fan-(remembers all the specs by heart )-thanks for bearing with me but had to tell the story ,afterall what is a ohc without a story(wish i could write VTEC)

[zenx]

Welcome to the fold.
Don't be dissapointed abt the 1.3 and not getting the VTEC - this one handles beautifully too (good rubber needed) and shifting down (more than in the 1.5s and VTECs, i'd guess) and shooting to 7k is part of the fun
2.5 is a very good price, too!

[toiingg]

yeah, go for it.
as for Patna not having a Honda dealership, take it to Alankar Motors (i think its on Boring Road), they do a good job in servicing cars. There should be no issues.

[smith]

Thanks Sameer & Sarvagya,happy for the encouraging words of two OHC owners.
Sarvagya, i am pleasantly surprised about your knowledge of Patna(any relatives or friends here).about Alankar , the guy who runs it is called Pompi.He is the one who maintained my esteem all these years & as far as my experience of service centres & car maintenance is concerned,he is at par with the best in the country .He is a qualified automobile engineer & an avid car lover(petrol head)& also an expert on car air cons.At times i have seen subros people taking his help on technical matters .so apart from help & support from tbhp he was an imp. factor in my picking up the ohc. The only problem is that previously Alankar was an independent workshop servicing petrol cars of all makes but now it is a maruti ***(LOL)but he can still help me out independently.In fact i finalised the vehicle only after he took a td on it & let me add that he is a big Honda fan-i plan to bring him to tbhp fold .He will certainly be an asset .

[toiingg]

Yes, Pompi it is(he probably will remember me as Colonel Raghu's son).
My parents are posted in Patna. (Danapur Cantt to be precise)
Pompi maintains my mom's zen and dad's esteem as well.
Also, my dad made me speak to him before i bought my OHC. That was before i came across TBHP.
Close your eyes and go for it, you won't regret it buddy.


PS : It's a small world after all.

[smith]

now to complete the story

went for the td next morning. the car had been cleaned up & was looking much better . i took the wheels & asked the driver to sit behind. the moment i plonked the ignition another dissapointment- the exhaust was already sounding like ffe , leaking or rotten perhaps. anyway took it to pompi at boring road & from there he took the seat. after the short td came to the following observation:

1. The car having done only 32k was mechanically in very good shape-
excellent engine in mint condition.
2. the exhaust was rusted & needed to be replaced .
3. steering ball joint needed replacement(steering was making khat-khat sound on undulated surfaces.)
4.the left headlamp had moisture inside - perhaps needed replacement.
5.minor dent on left front door skirt & scratches on both front & rear door
6.the tyres still had some life left but would be better to replace & upsize along with rims preferably alloys
7.every thing else including interiors were in impeccable condition

The overall impression was of a car which had been lying in a neglected state but had thankfully not been abused ( after getting it from delhi the supermkt. owner had hardly done 3-4k on this car.) everything except the tail end of the exhaust was OE.

after consultation with pompi of alankar motors decided to finalise the purchase. went back to the supermkt with my cheque book & in barely 10mins of sitting the deal was finalised for 2.2L

The ohc had anew home now barely 10mts away from the place where it had remained lying neglected for the oast 9-10months(our appt. parking is just adjoining the supermkt. Maybe i could have brought the price down by another 10k but our new year journey was to begin just 2days (bought the car on 27TH dec & had to leve for Panna & Khajuraho on 29th) had just two days to prepare my new ride for the journey - shall submit the TD of the 1500km trip later

attaching a photograph of the ohc 1.3 (taken at khajuraho )
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[shuvc]

My, this is turning into a nice adventure. Waiting for your next post.

[smith]

sorry it seems made some mistake in uploading the image - here it is
http://

[speed_devil]

try this buddy how-post-photographs-team-bhp

[smith]

Originally Posted by speed_devil

try this buddy how-post-photographs-team-bhp

went to image shack through that link only - skipped some instruction it seems - tried editing it-almost felt like the idiot you have talked about in ur signature finally managed to get it right -hope it is worthwhile

[ashish22]

welcome to the OHC club smith
for performance make sure you keep her above 4K rpm
you can also consider performance air filter, FFE, throttle body cleaning, fuel injectors cleaning etc. for a satisfying and smoother drive.

[iraghava]

Congratulations S&W fan! I don't know why but seeing the car & the number it suddenly seems a very familiar car to me! Let me rack my brains & see if I can come up with where I have spotted this car in Delhi earlier!

Best of luck with the new beauty!

P.S. Was this car mainly in the NFC/GK area in Delhi??

[hellspawn]

hey congratulations...and the car seems to be in a good condition..
enjoy the ride...and dont worry the 1.3ohc was no slouch either.

[toiingg]

Rusted Exhaust > all the more reason for you to get a FFE.
Moisture in headlamps> Don't bother.

Enjoy the beast.

[Technocrat]

Congrats Smith. an OHC 1.3 has always been one of my favorite cars as it shares the chasis\body with the bigger siblings. Also from what I have heard it gives a good FE in the range of 13-15 along with decent performance.

Btw is it a Type 1 or Type 2 ? (unable to view pics form office)