why not buy him a 2 door honda 5 speed? ...reliable... cheap to fix...
i mena go buy a shell for 500 bucks and then fix it up.. and then drop in like a d16z( is that the vtec d series??? soryr not a honda guy)
shit my buddy jsut picked up a decent shell for 300 bucks and did the exact thing.. cheap..great on gas and easy as hell to fix.