Long story short, my wife's cousin had an LX hatch passed to her when her dad died. She got onto me to see how much she could sell it for. I had a look and gave her an offer, and picked it up the next day.. it was sitting in between 2 containers for about 8 years. So it's not the best, certainly not the worst either! Rear hatch was screwed. And passenger door is pretty bad... only bit of rust on the body that's bad is where the rear hatch joins onto the roof. Apart from that it's alright. There's a ding in the rear quarter, however there was a brand new rear quarter panel in the car.. same as a new front bar, and front left panel.. all new. When I cleaned it out, the original Hatch Hutch was in the boot, in great condition.
As soon as I got it home, it was fully stripped within 7 days.. and at the moment it is getting sand blasted. Don't worry, only the engine bay and interior, and strong sections are getting done. Then a little rust repairs will get done this week. Then off to fit that new rear quarter hopefully in the next couple of weeks.
It had the red 202 engine in it. After originally wanting to put an LS in it, I have opted to a 308 or 355, to keep it somewhat traditional. I have a mate with a new 355 stroker, who's getting back to me soon on a price..
I will be painting it the original green it was, and the a9x bodykit, flares etc. I'll post some pics now.. There's a long way to go, but I'm excited to see where this will go! And the wife loves it as it's still in the family, so she's all for it.. which is the first hurdle!