mfinanthony

Hi,

I'm looking at a 1991 car and when I checked the tag on the door jam, it showed a 7/90 date on it which I'm believing is the build date. I'm a little unclear on the threads that cover "which year to buy" and changes along the way.

What special characteristics does this one have? Would it be gasketless from the factory? Does it have the early style rear suspension mounts? Any other things that I might need to look at?

I'm not so much concerned about these features, but I want to know what I'll be getting into.

Thanks!!

Laker

IIRC, That build date would be without factory head gaskets, have early rear suspension mounts and aluminum intakes. December 1990 build dates onwards would be more desirable if this bothers you.

mfinanthony

Thanks Laker! How much less of a suspension selection would this car have? I imagine that the major manufacturers have coilovers for it correct? How do the aluminum intakes compare to the plastic intakes? Are these a bolt on replacement if the plastic intakes make a significant difference?

Makmov

My car is a 7 Nov 1990 w/ late suspension, plastic intake w/o factory head gaskets.

The factory felt that the aluminum intake was a big heat sink so they switch to plastic, which help cooling and it ran better.

If it is an early suspension car which I think switched 1 nov 1991 it is more difficult to find parts for. At one time people were making adapters for the rear mount to us late style shocks for it but they have mostly dried up. So the early suspension selections is virtually none.

The headgaskets are a non-issue.

Most updates were introduced along the way so you do have to look at the dates and the car to know what you are getting.

Laker

same here, dated 30-Nov-1990, it missed the head gasket cut-over by ~ 50 engine numbers - (no leaks, by the way)

Makmov

Yeah I missed by a 168 or somethign like that but it has been done since. No leaks either.

A good many of the non-gasketed cars have been updated.

mfinanthony

Thanks Makmov and Laker for the responses! I'm less concerned about the gasketless configuration as you and other threads have stated it's a non issue. Most have been either resolved or not severely leaking.

When choosing suspension, if I was looking for a KW/Bilstein/HR coilover solution, does it make it that much harder to locate stock? "Virtually none", concerns me a bit...

Cosmos99

Don't be worried about the suspension. I just installed KW's over the weekend and mine is the early style set up. They have plenty of them.

swesna

my car was built the day before yours.

FeralComprehension

About the only suspension option you can't get for the early cars is Koni Yellow, and the adapters are still being made; I think Gamroth has them.

Cosmos99

KW is the best solution for the early cars. They have Variant 1, 3 and clubsports for the early cars and they come with rear mounts.