21st Aug 2008, 09:38

I just sold my 92 SLC in July of this year. I was the 4th or 5th owner I believe. The original owner was a woman in Florida, then the car made its way to NJ, and finally NY. The last person to own the car before me (or person before him) truly was clueless to the term "maintenance". Only reason I bought the car from him was that it was ALL intact, no hacked wiring, no missing parts, VERY CLEAN black leather, sunroof worked, and seatbelts worked. The wing and cruise control was not working and I discovered that it was the instrument cluster causing this, not the separate control modules for them. The car had a "leaky" gasket on the passenger side, crappy suspension with worn bushing, faded paint, brakes that could barely slow the car down (with FULL pads!!), and crap tires. Oh…..and don't forget the ever SO popular 2nd gear grind.

Being my second Corrado (first one was a 1990 G60), I knew what I was getting into. Also, I've rebuilt VR6's before, so I know what to expect with that as well. I took the car and drove it for 6 months under the current conditions. I pushed it just hard enough to ensure this was solid enough a car to rebuild. It held up fine, so into the shop it went. Basically everything under the hood was replaced with new or rebuilt. Engine was rebuilt, head was new, new radiator (If some moron mixed coolant, you'll need to do the same. Early OBD1 cars ran the "blue" g11 coolant. Later OBD2 cars use the "pink" g12 coolant; Never mix these or run the green stuff.), coolant bottle, coolant hoses, coil over suspension, strut bearings, tie rods, rotors, brake lines, fuel lines (found a leak on one of the rubber ends that are press-fit into the line which had dried up due to age), new GTI tranny (better gearing ratio for highway cruising), and many many other new parts.

To help with the cooling issue (these cars run hot), I installed a new fan control module, used a new G60 radiator (slightly bigger and more flow), low temp fan switch and low temp thermostat. Temps stay at 190 no matter how hot it gets outside.

I've given you guys the "Cliff Notes" version of my rebuild here. Basically, if you plan to get one of these cars, don't expect them to be daily drivers unless you fix the long list of things I have above. Everything that breaks with these cars causes a chain reaction, so be prepared to spend a lot of cash.

These cars are A LOT of fun and great to drive, but they are also very delicate and not called "the poor man's Porsche" for nothing.

Buy with caution, but be aware of the issues to look out for.

22nd Jan 2009, 15:54

Hey I just bought a 92 Corrado SLC... I noticed lately the fan has been kicking on at pretty low temp, like a quarter way up on the gage; is this a bad thing?... Now when I bought the car, it had no heat... which I had no problem with... thermostat maybe? Any advice, let me know, thanks guy.