Besides the L-81 engine, what is the good and the bad for an '81? Any advise would be appreciated.

Thanks,
John

 

I have an '81 4-speed that, surprisingly, has given me very little problems. I picked it over the '82 because I heard that there were a lot of problems with the first fuel injection engine. The '81 is not a fast car at all as recent posts have alluded to (There is a post about the car's speed that has been up for a while where members completely bash on the cars performance...including me). But, personally, I think it is one of the best looking cars ever built. Also, with all the corvette products and manufacturers out there, it's relatively easy and cheap to get parts and labor.

 

I have a 82. Of course, 80 thru 82 basically look the same. You will not find too many people that don't love their looks. They probably won't ever be worth a mint, but I don't plan on selling it to retire. Larry

 

I bought my '81 in early 1983 and have never had one bit of trouble. Now have 52K miles. The few mods I have done are 140mph speedometer, rear sway bar, hyper-tech chip, and new Goodyear Eagle 1 Nascar tires, and have done $400.00 worth of chrome plating mostly under the hood. The chip made the proformance increasingly noticable. I get alot of compliments and with the 4 speed it is a fun car to drive. Parts are available, some expensive but what is not these days. I use to have a '70 LT1 but unfortunatly I sold it it '79 for 4K more than I paid for it. Corvette's are the only cars I have ever owned that if you keep them for awhile they will be worth more than what you bought it for. Go for it I say.
Bill

 

When looking for a C3 last year, I loved the looks of the 80 - 82, but couldn't stand the leaned-back seating position. The power seat in the 81 & 82 helps quite a bit. I looked for about 5 months, eventually narrowing down to two targets: 4-speed 81s and 82s (auto). When a forum member put his blue 81 automatic with only 28K miles up for sale, I couldn't say no.

 

When I bought my '64 vert the same guy had an '81 for sale but I wasn't interested. The '81 was filthy and would not start after sitting for an estimated 12 years. I ended up buying both cars, $7500 for the '64 and $2500 for the '81.

I've put about $1500 into the '81 so far; carb rebuild, recovered seats, brakes, and some electrical issues.

The cars runs but I haven't resolved all of the vacuum issues yet. Quite frankly, I haven't touched it in two years other than start it up every so often. I'm trying to finish the full restoration of my '64 then start the '81.

'64 and '81 are two of my favorite body styles.

 

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.

 

Well said Paul. A nice synopsis as usual.

Where have you been? haven't seen you post until recently?

Were you ever able to decode the ECM?

Those of us already with 81's are waiting with bated breath!

 

Hi Ca I'm still around, but not much. I've got severe problems with my job/career & life is really hectic as I'm trying to re-train myself to catch up with the modern world (so I've got some chance of competing with university graduates in the job market). As I've got so much work to do in my full time job, spare time has vanished over the last year or so, hence not having any time to look at the contents of the L81 EPROM. Seriously thinking about becoming a painter & decorator for a living - it'd be a lot easier, shorter hours &, going by mates doing it, the pay is MUCH better!
Hope things are good for you (stay away from hardware/software development - one's going to China, the other's going to India ).

 

OK how is this for plus points

 

All I gotta say, is a picture is worth a thousand words!

 

I ws part of the 81 slow poke threads too, But i tell yah, this car is simply beutiful to look at, and what it lacks in HP it more that makes up for in how it looks and how it feels. I may end up getting one when im done with my 68. if you want to make it go fast, welll cash is the great equalizer, and go fast goodies are abundant. My life long friend just sold his 80, and I wish i could have taken it off his hands but not in the cards. I say this this car is a great buy if you are into two things....

1 owning beutiful cars
2. driving beutiful cars





tim

 

3. Being the underdog on the forum

Those pics are definitely plus points

 

hey Dean,

how is it driving on the wrong side of the road on the "right side of the car"

 

Who said it is the wrong side of the road Actually the only difficulty I have is toll booths

 

Looks to me like Dean's driving down the middle of the road Actually, he is on the right side of the road, it's the steering wheel that's on the wrong side

 

 

technically he's on the left side of the road though it may be considered "proper" in some places in the world here's to the commonwealth

 

Thanks for the responses.

Dean your car is beautiful! Great photos.

Irishjoker - I'm down near Annapolis. Where are you? Nice car as well.

 

Good?

Its a great looking, head turning, attention getting,classic Shark.

The paint is much better from the factory than previous years, mainly because of the move from the St.Louis plant to the Bowling Green plant.Including many combinations of two-tone paint schemes.

Bad?
The first Vette to have a computer controlled carb,ignition in all 50 states.A little restrictive to modify you may get a check engine light and fail smog if you try and replace the carb,intake mainifold or ignition.

190HP no other engine option that year.

Not enough 4 Speeds made which makes them very desirabe but kinda rare.