I am seriously tempted to pull the trigger on a collector 82.

In my opinion, the car looks great and has fairly low mileage.

My concern, of course, is the cross fire injection system. I've owned many C3 corvettes over the years, but never an 82. The cross fire system has always been talked about in negative terms and I know it has been brought up on this forum in the past.

I just wanted to get some feedback on:
1. are parts available for it?
2. Is it reliable?
3. do you have to be a rocket scientist to diagnose problems?
4. How much of the engine does the ECU actually run on this car?

 

1. Most everything but the ECM is available. There are workarounds for the ECM
2. Yes
3. No
4. Only the engine and torque converter lockup.

 

Your correct, this comes up from time to time.
I hear that the knock sensor can be hard to find.
Most other parts are available or there is a workaround. They run really well and make good torque.
It's basically just throttle body fuel injection. It just has 2 throttle body's. Very much like most cars and pickups from the 80's.

 

I had an '82 for several years, and it was great. I had to replace a flat cam, and then I disassembled and rebuilt the entire intake and throttle body system with available parts through NAPA. No problem at all using the stock ECM. The car got 26-28 mpg at 70 mph level cruise and was a joy to drive. Not the fastest thing around, but very "snappy" and comfortable. I'd get another one if I could find one that hasn't been hacked by people who can't work on a dual throttle body with ECM control - good '82s are being destroyed by ignorant hacks, and few good ones are left. Buying one that has been hacked is a nightmare, and those of you hacking them should be shot.

Lars

 

The 82' had a great long block....and the CFI was the father of the TBI system that GM built millions of that was super reliable......BUT......age and lack of knowledge have left these somewhat of a leper in Vettedom......they work exactly the same as a 2bbl TBI V8 system...but the throttle bodies coudl come out of sync.....fuel pumps were barely adequate....regulators and pickup coil wires would disintegrate from age and weather.......top plate gasket for the intake would petrify and leak......

The only thing that is a deal breaker on these for me was the intake manifold........GM cut off half of the intake port on each runner.......a Renegade intake is worth 30 horsepower with no other changes....headers and duals add another 20.........and I cannot drive something that is choked up like that knowing it....
The knock sensor is not just hard to find....it is a unicorn.....they are so rare that I took mine off of my 82' Ex-CFI Camaro and sold it to Buccaneer......

Jebby

 

Put about 65 miles on my Collector Edition last night, T Tops off, windows down, 65-70mph

Glorious.

The Crossfire does get a bad rap. It's undeserved. It's reliable and works well.

Finding a mechanic to work on it.....that's the hard part.

Mine is NEVER for sale.

 

Amen to that.

 

i had a 84 with the cross fire ,for 22 years and never had a problem ,it ran great!

 

Absolutely love my 82 Collector. Turned 10,700 miles last night. They drive great if left unmolested. Fantastic looking cars. They aren't slugs. They pull pretty good out of the hole and with a 24 gallon gas tank and 28 mpg, you can enjoy long drives.

 

I had over 100,000 miles on my 84 when I sold it 11 years ago. It was a very reliable car that got excellent fuel mileage (like 27mpg highway). However after getting my first 4cyl Toyota Camry in 2010 as a company car I realized it actually had more get up and go than my 84 z51 corvette.
I tried to find an aftermarket intake but all I found even then was someone who talked of having their tooling used to make manifolds with many people who had made preorders waiting a very long time. I then thought about buying a spare stock manifold and trying to port it but that never happened either.

 

Love my 82 CE. Runs great and looks fantastic

 

"I have a 82 C3 , the one issue I had was fuel pump issue, I discovered if you pull sending unit out of tank and solder ground wire , it fixes the issue , haven't had problem since

 

Not a CE but I fully agree here. 2Tone82 is such fun to cruise in. My crossfire has been flawless for 27 years now...don't let the system scare you away. Selling 2Tone82 will be my kids problem and truth be told, the two-tones are rarer than a CE! (I said what I said)

 

Like most anything else, if well maintained, it should prove relatively trouble free, so long as the care continues. The problem is that a lot of these Crossfire Injection cars are NOT well cared for, and in that case, they become a virtual nightmare with mechanics actually willing to touch it with any measure of competence on a very short list, nationwide. If you know the entire history of the car, and the car has a stack of maintenance records, that's a great start.

Put it this way, some cars can take more neglect and abuse than others and come back for more - A Toyota Corolla, for example. An 80's fuel injected Corvette, not so much. There's a long list of other cars as well that do not and cannot hold up to neglect - you can probably name a bunch off the top of your head.

I would not purchase one that has been neglected - that's where these 'bad raps' come from - folks buying neglected cars because they picked them up on the cheap, and then loudly complain about all the issues. Moreover, the Crossfire unit is relatively delicate - it's simply not able to withstand a ton of neglect. Also, they aren't terribly tunable - can't do much with them in that regard, and replacement parts are getting harder to source by the year. It was an innovative concept from GM, but there is a reason it didn't last long. Even new, Crossfire had its fair share of critics - but so did the '82 in general, with the MSRP nearly doubling compared to the '79 MY with a negligible performance gain for all that extra cash.

These cars are expensive enough to repair with that Corvette premium applied to just about every part, without having to worry about fiddling with an injection system based on late 70's early 80's tech. It's inferior to the more reliable TPI that the '85 C4s got fitted with. The Crossfire-equipped '84 C4 (a carryover part from the 82 C3 MY) was a relative dog compared to the TPI-equipped cars, which is when performance started making a real comeback.

If you have to buy a neglected C3 Corvette (or one without service history), at least get a carbureted year. Otherwise, be prepared for the long and frustrating journey of becoming a Crossfire expert. That or run a contemporary aftermarket FI setup.

 

I want to thank everyone for their well thought out replies. I read every one carefully several times. This turned into a very difficult decision for me.

I have built, and owned, many c3's over the decades. I never owned an 82 with a cross fire system. Having said that, they are spectacularly beautiful!!!! Especially the collector edition.

My dealer, whom I've known for many years, sensed my hesitation and offered up a 1974 unrestored, LS4 454 big block.

Being a septuagenarian knowing this would probably be my last C3 tinker project, I spent time going over both cars and evaluating my options.

Being somewhat resistant to change, I opted to go with what I know best, the 454.

Thanks again for all the thoughtful replies.

 

Big blocks are alot of fun. Looks very nice. A split bumper Big Block is a great ride.
Enjoy it!

 

Lovely car, for sure. Nice choice, OP!