Hey everyone. New member here. Wondering if someone could tell me the differences between an '81 and '82 'vette...such as body, frame, interior, engine, tranny, and anything else. Thanx. Darryl.

 

i believe the 82 to be the only c3 that came with crossfire fuel injection and possibly a 4 speed automatic.

 

Engine - 82 has EFI crossfire injection, 81 has a computer controlled carb. More hp/ greater lower end torque, increased responsiveness than 81. No mechanical fuel pump for 82, an electrical unit moved to inside the tank.
Driveline - 82 has the 700R4 tranny w/overdrive transmission. No 4spd avail. in 82. Rear axle u-joints were covered by a small shield not installed on other C3's. 82 used a new computer system that updated itself 80x per second, the 81 CCC I believe was 10x/sec.
Body - Collector Edition Cars have a lift rear glass (hatchback), Non CE 82's did not have the lift hatch. CE has 36 fin wheels like the 67's (not the same, but similar looking). Both late 81's and 82's could be had with 2-tone, but other C3's not. "Crossfire Injection" badge on side of fenders for 82 only,
Interior - CE's had more plush cut-pile carpeting than was available on any other corvette. CE's have leather trimmed door panels that weren't available on any other C3. All 82's were made in Bowling Green, only some 81's were made there. Speedometer gauge printed in 5 mph increments for 82.

Probably more, but these are the first that come to mind.

 

....thanx for the info....are the instrument clusters and the frame the same? Any differences on the body?

 

Most of the weight savings occured started in the late 70's and into the 80's. The idea, of course, wasn't to make the 'shovel-nose' sharks weaker, but to make it better. By removing weight, you can go faster with less HP. In fact, you gain more by removing weight than by hadding HP. They raised the HP a touch and were able to allow it to move around more spritely than 81's. You also get better fuel economy in 82's. There was also another driving force: Back in the day the CAFE rules were enacted to increase fuel economy among all of the manufacturers' cars (averaged) in response to the fuel supply shortages of 1973. Consider how these CAFE rules increased and how weight savings tracked per year: (These are CAFE mileage requirements per wikipedia)
1978 - 18mpg
1979 - 19mpg
1980 - 20mpg
1981 - 22mpg
1982 - 24mpg

These rules pushed GM, Ford and others to do whatever they could to eek as much fuel savings out of these cars as possible. So, lightening up the cars was a way to increase profits, get better fuel economy (to not be penalized) and at the same time it drove better fuel delivery too. 82's get the best gas mileage.

The aluminum rear end was new for 1980. It's adequate for the engines at the time, but not as strong for high HP mock-ups. Fiberglass spring new for 81 that was a lot lighter than previous metal springs, plus lasted virtually forever. I read some exerpt by Dave McClellen that they never were able to tell when the fiberglass spring would fail because after several years and many millions of 'flexes', and rebuilding the testing machines 3x, they finally discontinued the test proceedure.

Correct me if I'm wrong guys, but didn't the new fiberglass spring require double-acting shocks because the fiberglass spring doesn't have internal resistance like there are 'between' the leaves of a metal spring pack?

Frame was lightened in 1980 too. What isn't noted in any literature that I've ever read is wheather the frame steel material remained the same or were they using a stronger, metal? New truck frames, for example are much more ridgid than in the past but they are using a high carbon steel to keep the weight down, not mild rolled steel. So, nobody ever talks about weather the frame material changed when they reference a lighter frame. I don't know one way or the other.

I don't know of any body changes between 81's and 82's other than the 'crossfire' badges on the fenders, and AFAIK, the gauges were the same fundamentally. Also, no optional engines for 1982 for the first time. 81 there were a couple engines offered.

 

Mark G. Seems to have covered it all. I have an 82 and a 70. The one thing I found out after I bought the 82 was that because of the dual TBI it can be a pain to work on OBD 1 which a lot of mech can not deal with. There was a cross fire forum but I believe they closed down.

 

GDE:
You should consider this manual:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/GM-Computer-...item43ad22a229. There are a couple of versions similar to this if you plug in various search strings.

 

As Mark G stated, the main differences were the replacement of the carb, with fuel injection, the change in the trans used and the upgraded computer.

82 was the last year for the body style, so it was basically a carry over from 81. The speedo & tach had a different cross flag logo on them, along with the "Cross-Fire" logo. The rest of the gauges remained unchanged.

The frame was the same as the 80 & 81 frames, except for some very minor items, associated with the engine and trans changes. These would be items like different fuel lines, a different trans mount, and possibly other similar tweaks. The 82 used the same gas tank, as the 78-81's, but used an intank electric fuel pump, instead of an engine mounted mechanical one.

The body was identical to the 81. The front and rear flag emblems, were redesigned, and "Cross-Fire" emblems were added to the front fenders. The 82 hood incorporated a fresh air system for the injection system, but was the same externally, as the 80-81 hood. The Collector Edition featured an opening rear glass hatchback, that wasn't available on any other production Corvette.

All options offered, except for the 4 speed manual, were the same for both 81 and 82.

 

If there is a choice between an '81 or and '82 with all things being equal...the '82 is by far the better choice, IMO. The better transmission and the better ECU system, by themselves, would make that an easy decision.

 

Good reading. Covers all C3s.

 

Thanx for all the great info. The reason I needed the specifics is because I acquired a 'vette many years ago with what I believe is an inaccurate title.(long story). It is CLEARLY an '81 or '82. Based upon all of your info, it appears to be an '81.(3-speed auto, fiberglass rear spring, carb vs cross-fire, no "cross-fire" on front fenders, mechanical engine-mounted fuel pump).

 

Mark did a great job of detailing the differences between the 81 and 82. the only observation is the last comment about engine choices. the '81 only had one engine the L81.
the '80 had three options the L48, L82 and the California 305 Cubic inch (L?)

 

The 10th character of the VIN will be a B for all 1981 Corvettes. It is a C for all 1982 models.

 

COULD still be an 80 with an upgraded rear spring...................

 

I guess you're right.....

 

Mark,
Thanks for the info. A little knowledge is a great thing. thanks again.
Gary

 

the cross fire forum has been upgraded http://crossfireinj.fr.yuku.com/ and there is a new one that sells parts for the cross fire.http://www.crossfireinjection.net/gallery.htm

 

Terry- Thanks for the info. I looked them up and I do recognize some of the names.
thanks again!