Looking at an '81
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 8,295
Likes: 30
From: one night in Bangkok you are never lonely
Originally Posted by lebvette
Dean, what color red is that. It looks great! Larry
Race Director
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 13,138
Likes: 0
From: Inside the woods living my passion
St. Jude Donor '07-'08
Originally Posted by UKPaul
The '81 gets a bad press on the forum, even from people like me 
I've had mine 5 years this Friday & the only time it's let me down is when the starter motor got fried by the Headers I'd just put on it ie. pick a good un-Bubba'd one & it's great for reliability.
Minus points:
The lack of power in the engine. BUT, look at earlier C3's. All those who slam the L81 for it's measly 195hp who own L48 C3's from about '76 ('75?) on would do well to check the stock power of theirs! In the late 70's the power started climbing (slowly, very slowly) as the years rolled past, meaning that the L81 has more power than a lot of earlier L48's.
Another minus point (esp on this forum) is the fact that there's a computer controlling the spark advance & carb primaries. If the system is working well it can be your friend by pointing out errors due to faults that you could easily miss (vac leaks, etc). Also, when your fuel taxes get up to the levels we get ripped with, fuel economy will become important (unless you're awash with cash).
Very few options for the rear ratio.
People keep stopping you to talk about it!
Plus points:
It's beautiful
GM put the C3 on a diet after the '79 model tipped the scales at some extreme weight for a sports car. The '80 lost some weight, but they really went to town on the '81 & dropped a fair amount, while still keeping all the bells & whistles that the buying public were demanding (electric this that & the other, aircon....). This means that it's a lot easier to reduce overall weight by dumping things like the aircon system. The rear end was lightened a lot with the use of lots of alloy, but the diff is apparently weaker than previous ones.
The auto with stock suspension was fitted with a composite rear spring (& associated shoks) which made a massive improvement to the ride quality. It also dropped a fair amount of weight by using it (including unsprung weight) as it weighs 8lb compared to 44lb for the steel spring.
Locking torque converter for fuel economy (& reduction of trans heat).
Nice paintwork (from the BG factory), not that it means much after 25 years!
Tubular stainless exhaust manifolds (is that a plus point?).
Electrically adjustable drivers seat (which adds a bit to the overall weight!).
(Also applies to 80 & 82), the re-designed front end improves both downforce at speed (I've cruised at 130mph (in a foreign country) & it felt very stable with no scary "features") & cooling. I've read that there's 50% more air passing through the rad with the front end on them.
They're fairly cheap, meaning that you can get a lot of car for your money (or have some money left to tackle the 195hp).
Dep hates them
There's probably bags more good & bad points, but these are all I can think of at the moment.
I've had mine 5 years this Friday & the only time it's let me down is when the starter motor got fried by the Headers I'd just put on it ie. pick a good un-Bubba'd one & it's great for reliability.Minus points:
The lack of power in the engine. BUT, look at earlier C3's. All those who slam the L81 for it's measly 195hp who own L48 C3's from about '76 ('75?) on would do well to check the stock power of theirs! In the late 70's the power started climbing (slowly, very slowly) as the years rolled past, meaning that the L81 has more power than a lot of earlier L48's.
Another minus point (esp on this forum) is the fact that there's a computer controlling the spark advance & carb primaries. If the system is working well it can be your friend by pointing out errors due to faults that you could easily miss (vac leaks, etc). Also, when your fuel taxes get up to the levels we get ripped with, fuel economy will become important (unless you're awash with cash).
Very few options for the rear ratio.
People keep stopping you to talk about it!
Plus points:
It's beautiful
GM put the C3 on a diet after the '79 model tipped the scales at some extreme weight for a sports car. The '80 lost some weight, but they really went to town on the '81 & dropped a fair amount, while still keeping all the bells & whistles that the buying public were demanding (electric this that & the other, aircon....). This means that it's a lot easier to reduce overall weight by dumping things like the aircon system. The rear end was lightened a lot with the use of lots of alloy, but the diff is apparently weaker than previous ones.
The auto with stock suspension was fitted with a composite rear spring (& associated shoks) which made a massive improvement to the ride quality. It also dropped a fair amount of weight by using it (including unsprung weight) as it weighs 8lb compared to 44lb for the steel spring.
Locking torque converter for fuel economy (& reduction of trans heat).
Nice paintwork (from the BG factory), not that it means much after 25 years!
Tubular stainless exhaust manifolds (is that a plus point?).
Electrically adjustable drivers seat (which adds a bit to the overall weight!).
(Also applies to 80 & 82), the re-designed front end improves both downforce at speed (I've cruised at 130mph (in a foreign country) & it felt very stable with no scary "features") & cooling. I've read that there's 50% more air passing through the rad with the front end on them.
They're fairly cheap, meaning that you can get a lot of car for your money (or have some money left to tackle the 195hp).
Dep hates them
There's probably bags more good & bad points, but these are all I can think of at the moment.
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 4,071
Likes: 0
From: San Diego CA
If you don't have to smog it, you can easily turn it in to a force to be reckoned with. If you do... it's still one of the prettiest Corvettes EVER made. Of the 40,000 made, only about 5,000 had a 4 speed, so they're TOUGH to find.
