Say all you want but computer = confusing.

5 pages trying to explain, and he will most likely never get it figured out.

3 sentences will fix him up:

New Distrib.
New Carb.
Unhook computer.

Argue that.

 

This is for Kalway... First off, your Vette is very nice. Looks just like my 80!
Just a question.... I was a resident of KOLOFORNIA for almost 50 years. The Natzi Smog Patrol that smogged my 80 Vette every 2 years would have never passed it without the computer hooked up and a kitty under it. I see you live in San Diego. Is the county that you live smog exempt or do you plug in every 2 years for the $100 smog cert.? Im so happy to live in Oregon. No anual smog check on ANYTHING or ANY YEAR Auto or truck (yet). I have kids in Northern California and they still have the every 2 year blues getting their cars smogged. Just wondering how you get past the smog police?????

 

I'm trying to get it registered as a "vehicle of historic value." That'll get me exempt for at least another year. If they try to hit me for smog after that I'm going to register it in Arizona at my dad's address because they're passing a new bill that, starting in 2007, will exempt cars 24+ years old. I haven't had plates on since like Febuary because of this red tape state.

 

A lot of people feel this way, and the system is indeed unusual, it was only used in the Corvette for one year. But I was able to figure it out and do all my own work just by reading up a little and going for it. I'm not a mechanic, I teach martial arts for a living. If I can figure it out, I'm sure anyone else that tries could also. God bless, Sensei

 

Im pretty sure the same systems the 81s used was also used on the Cali 80s..so it was actually two yrs...but point taken...

 

OK....
New distributor = needing to find out about springs & setting advance curves, etc.
New carb = a post on what carb to get. Then several posts on setting the idle mixture, primary mixture & secondary mixture. Vacuum or mechanical secondaries? Setting up the choke? What are all these vacuum ports for?

Both systems (computer & "old school") have their advantages & their disadvantages, it's swings & roundabouts. The problems occur when you start mixing the 2 systems together, ie the swing smashes into the roundabout, or people who don't understand them start fiddling. As Sensei says, it's not that difficult. When I 1st got mine I was so overawed that I'd got a Vette after a 20 year wait that having a computer in it was just a minor detail (like what make of tires were on it). When I started looking at the system I was thinking "Holy **** Batman, wtf have I bought? ). Then, after ripping out all the unwanted smog bits n bobs, along with any extraneous wiring, the system was so simple that it was easy to glean what was going on in there. It's the smog stuff that makes it such a complicated headache, but all GM did was to get the computer to control the smog stuff that was on earlier models, so it's not really gained in total complexity, it's just made the computer system over-exposed to any problems with the smog stuff.
The factory shop manual for the '81, along with Doug Roe's book on Q-jets & the people on this forum, should give you enough knowledge to be able to get it running OK.
What I did was to copy the wiring diagram for the CCC system & then put a big red "X" on every wire that ran off to one of systems that had nothing to do with the carb, dist, TCC or the sensors (O2, MAP, etc). When trying to work out how the system works I was finding that I was tracing wires that ended up being used for the EGR, etc, which was a complete waste of time. By the time I backtracked to where I was, I'd forgotten what I was actually looking for! Putting an "X" over the unwanted wires made the diagram a lot simpler & much easier to understand. It also taught me how the smog systems were controlled (before they got ripped out) which helped a lot because the logic used was generally carried over into the other systems.
In your situation I'd probably look at the whole lot & work out if it's cheaper to put it back to stock (computer), or to go to the "old school" style setup & take a decision based purely on cost.

 

Thanks UKPaul. That's exactly were I am right now. I'm working out the costs either way. It's a given both with the CCC or old school I need a new distributor. It would be a lot cheaper to replace the correct CCC Controled Dist - plug in the carb and see what happens. As I said before - I can always sell the Distributor.

I suspect the CCC is still working as i did connect the Carb to see what happens and it cut the fuels mixture withing seconds of starting and buzzed like a banchee. I do like your idea with the wiring diagram. I have been in the Computer field for 33 years I was attacking the problem in a similar way by attempting to trace wires on the car. I will get a blowup of the wiring digram and begin there.

Does anyone have a picture posted of how things should look under the hood of an 81?

 

It would be worth posting a "WTB" in the parts for sale/wanted section. There's a lot of people on this forum who have junked the CCC system, so there must be lots of old & unwanted dists laying unwanted in dusty corners. Doing it that way would show whether your system is working, nearly working, or beyond hope without having to lay out the cash for a new part. Or maybe, dare I say it, somebody could be in a position to lend you one?