Late C3 Changes
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Instructor
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From: NY
Late C3 Changes
Sometime ago, somewhere I remember reading that in 1980, the thickness of the frame rail steel, the thickness of the fiberglass body panels, and the thickness of the window glass were all reduced, I'm assuming to assist in weight reduction, and thus increase fuel efficiency. Is this true? I also remember reading that the factory began phasing these changes (thinning out of all of the above) into production sometime during the 1979 model run. If this too is true, does anyone know in approximately what month, or around what sequence number, did this begin to be phased in for 1979?
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...I remember reading that in 1980, the thickness of the frame rail steel, the thickness of the fiberglass body panels, and the thickness of the window glass were all reduced, I'm assuming to assist in weight reduction, and thus increase fuel efficiency. Is this true?...
...I also remember reading that the factory began phasing these changes...into production sometime during the 1979 model run...
Last edited by Easy Mike; May 5, 2017 at 06:52 AM.
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 221
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From: NY
Do you know if the factory started thinning out the gauge of the frame rails for the '80 production year, or did the factory start phasing this in sometime during the '79 production year run? Thank you in advance!
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From: NY
More or less. I'm not sure frame rail steel changed, but the differential and cross-member were aluminum in place of the previous steel. Door glass thickness was reduced. Fiberglass roof panels, hood, and door skins were reduced a bit. Chevrolet says the 80 models weighed about 300 pounds less than previous years.
AFAIK, the 80 weight saving changes were not phased in during 79 production.
AFAIK, the 80 weight saving changes were not phased in during 79 production.
