Bullet81

I need some advice on what to do with my 81. It is bone stock with no mods. That being said it is very slow and has the performance of a 81 Camaro or worse. I recently read an article that cited the 1981 Corvette as being the slowest Corvette that Chevrolet ever produced. The article added further humiliation to us 81 Vette owners by saying that the Mazda Miata could hold its own against the L81.

Now my delima is do I keep my 81, which is a very beautiful car, and upgrade the engine a bit to get the performance that the Vette should have. Or, do I trade it in on a later model Vette. I have been eyeing the C-5 FRC's.

I hate to carve up this car due to everything being there. It is ALL there just like it came from the factory and it only has a little over 45,000 miles on the odometer. But on the other hand it would be cool to clean up the engine bay and get rid of all the pollution control crap that hides the engine behind miles of hoses and gadgets.

I am not new to hot rodding, having converted a Datsun Z car into a 350 powered car with a 700R4 tranny, with many other upgrades to the suspension and electrical. So hot rodding the Vette does not scare me. I just do not want to drop the value of my 81 any by tearing up the originally of the car.

Any opinions will be appreciated.

Kadorja

Trade!? What!? A C5 are you serious... cmon... I live in Florida so I might have to pay you a visit if you trade away the most beautiful generation Vette...

Ok but seriously I have an 80' and I think I would win the slow race. We have the worst years for emissions reasons sadly but honestly they are amazing cars in their own rights. My car is going through a mid life crisis and I am still keeping her even if I dont fix her up.

That being said you have plenty of options avaliable. I am going to try to go with a suspension, transmission and engine upgrade at a minimum. I'm probably also doing the interior, frame, brakes, and a few other things as I find them. You dont have to blow the doors off all other cars out there... I mean if you're going 120 who can see how bad *** of a car you have? The only mod my 80 has is chrome sidepipes and I get the big thumbs up everywhere... for a $8k car with maybe $2k into it, it sure sounds badass and puts up a cloud of smoke to this day.

MN-Brent

Go drive an FRC with the LS1-6spd and and then drive your 81 again. Then follow your instinct.

I know everytime Im near a Z06, I'm smitten & giddy. Just waiting my time to pull the trigger. Still trying to figure out how to keep my C3 and add another Vette to the stable........

a1sensei

A stock '81 running properly will do the quarter mile in 16 seconds, Nothing to brag about, but that is not really slow, and certainly not the slowest Vette.

That said, there are a lot of invisible mods that you can do. (heads, cam, pistons, work the carb, hotter timing, power chip in ECM).

Also, if you want to clean up the engine compartment, get rid of the AIR and put in headers and 2.5" duals. The performance difference is HUGE!

I got mine bone stock also. I keep cars forever, so I had no problem "making it mine". But I did keep everything I took off. The car is now pretty fast and reliable for every day driving.

God bless, Sensei

3JsVette

The C5s are a great buy right now. If you are only thinking about performance you can't buy more Corvette for the money. Those cars are the complete package - they're fast - fuel efficent - and loaded with creature comforts. The downside is they're electroniced to death and if something goes wrong can you fix it yourself and at what expense? (others will also say they are still depreciating and nobody notices them)
You can make your '81 a lot faster and more fun to drive without spending a fortune especially if you do the work yourself. If you do that save everything! Don't destroy anything you're taking it off. You may live to regret it later on down the road should you ever decide to sell. Just keep in mind when you're done you will have a car that you will enjoy driving a lot more than when it was stock but it still won't perform as well as a C5. You can drive yourself crazy with these kinds of decisions.

larryg3

don't do it!!!!! keep your c3. i have had my 81 for a year now and i love it!!!

i had the gear in the rear changed from the 290 to a 3:54.
i also put in true dual exhaust 2.5" ss with magnaflows and i got rid of the air pump best thing i could ever have done. now she is a lot more fun to drive.

Bullet81

Thanks for the advice guys. I love the C-3's that is why I bought mine. But I also love a car that is scary fast and right now my C-3 is anything but.

A good analogy of my car compared to what I want would be a kiddy go cart track. You know the ones where all the carts go the same speed so you can basically hold the pedal to the floor all the way around the track without any consequences. I would describe my car as one of those carts. The only difference would be that it would be the one cart that is actually slower than all the other slow carts lol.

Here is what I think I will do:

1. Start removing the smog stuff starting with the AIR pump
2. Fab a test pipe for the cat or buy one somewhere
3. Start looking at heads
4. Maybe go with a different carb

I will try to be careful enough with everything so that it can all be put back on the car in case of a sale.

Thanks again for your advice

terry82

pull motor set it in the garage corner .buy a crate motor that you can afford ,you now have power and cool for a lot less money than a c5 and can be put back to stock any time .

OldCorvetteKid

Is it more fun to have a stock 1981 or a HOT ROD VETTE? I asked myself...Does anyone really care if an '81 is all original? Well, yes there are some that do and God Bless them for keeping original pristine examples for us to view at shows. They are nice to look at, but a stock 81 isn't really that much fun to drive IMHO because they aren't much on performance(horsepower), they don't have overdrive transmissions, the steering is outdated and sloppy. For me the choice was easy because I really wanted to drive the car a lot and enjoy the way it performed. A couple of things are a must to upgrade, the top end of the engine and exhaust(sidepipes?) has to be upgraded, an overdrive trans, rear gearing, and steeroids. There is some serious money in purchasing those items and lots of time spent installing and getting all the bugs out, but the performance is well worth it. Almost anybody can buy a C-5 and they are wonderful cars, my son has an '02, but IMHO they can't match the classic looks of a C-3. Good Luck.

70ZZ3 96LT4

My vote is to keep it just like you bought it.
If you do decide to sell it in the future I truley believe you will get more money for your actually low mileage C3.
Some must believe that removing an air pump is going to make their Corvette seconds faster. I still have my original owner 68 327/350 4-speed M21 3:70 just like it came from the factory with all the plumbing of the air pump. The AIR system will never be removed as long as I own it. There is no gain in performance and AIR pump functions with no significant horsepower loss.

Bullet81

Yeah if I do start removing things I will do my best to save the original stuff for the future. I do love the looks that the C-3 gets everytime it hits the road. You just do not see them as much on the road as you used to compared to the the C-5 which is just another car that we all see everyday while out driving.

I have been browsing through the C-3 forum while waiting on responses to my post and I have to say that I have become quite excited about keeping my C-3 and modding it to make it a better driving faster Vette!

CA-Legal-Vette

My suggestion is to advance your timing a bit. In warm GA weather you’ll likely be limited to 10 degrees initial or so before it starts to ping on acceleration. Remember to disconnect the advance plug at the distributor first. This will help a little and make it more drivable.

After that, you can do a lot of things, starting with the exhaust and heads to get progressively more power. It's a never ending quest though.

a1sensei

1. DON"T replace the carb, you will get NO performance benefit and it and the distributor are the major components of the CCC system.

2. Even here in hot Florida, with a performance chip, I have no problem with 14 BTDC timing with premium gas.

3. Removing the AIR pump will not give you more power in itself, but it does clean up the engine compartment and it does not make the car pollute more. By getting rid of it (boxing it), you also allow yourself to use regular headers for performance.

God bless, Sensei

SIXFOOTER

I agree, spend a few bucks and start with exhaust. If you can go with a complete dual system, 2 1/2" is all you need. You can even reuse the stock mufflers or go with a nice SS upgrade like Bourla for low bucks. A better cam and you could go with new heads if you have amind to, thats where the breathing problem is on that engine. My choice would be AFR180's. Its a very good streetable head that will make a lot more power and you can keep the CCC system, dizzy and carb. Flat top pistons will get you some more HP.

King Lear

I went through the same delimma with my 72 when I got dusted by a Honda Prelude at a stop light years ago. Since, I have rebuilt it from the stock 8.5:1cr engine to a 10:1cr 383 hydro roller cam with 563/543 lift, rpm air gap intake, quick fuel 750 dp carb, RHS 200cc alum heads, msd 6al ignition, hooker headers & sidepipes & 3.36 gears. I am much happier. I did not care if it was numbers matching or not, the performance meant more to me. So it depends which means more to you. If you dont care about stock then go for it!

Bullet81

Okay in the risk of sounding like I do not know what I am talking about here goes a question. What do you mean by "CCC System"? I can only assume you may be referencing computer control maybe, I really have no idea.

I took a look at my vette a few minutes ago and was amazed at all the junk that is connected to the AIR pump. It even has metal tubes welded straight into the exhaust manifold! If I do remove the AIR pump then what do I do with all of its tentacles that are far reaching? I would assume that one would just remove and or plug the parts left behind.

Should I cut the metal tubes going into the stock headers then weld over the holes for now (temporary fix until aftermarket headers)?

By the way if I start going this route I will probably at some point have the engine pulled and rebuilt professionally. I know how I get on a project like this so there would be a whole crap load of "while I'm at it" going on.

a1sensei

Yes, CCC is computer command control, and is it a very simple, reliable system that gets you good efficiency and still allows performance upgrades.

I would get rid of the AIR at the same time as the exhaust upgrade, but if you do not, yes you must somehow plug the holes/ tubes in the headers. Again, if the stock headers are still good, take them off and box them, or plug the tubes, I would not cut and weld them.

God bless, Sensei

O.J.

I own an 81 and was at the same point as you a few months ago. Mine was pretty much stock. The old 350 was just leaking a little to much for my taste. I went back and forth over the "keep it stock" or "buld it up". I decided to ditch the old engine and have a 4 bolt/1 piece rear main seal 383 built. I will still be running the stock intake, carb and even heads (heads are for now....maybe longer if I am happy with performance). Also added the hooker sidepipes. Just dropped the new engine in today (I will post pictures soon).

I love the look of my 81 and would have regretted getting rid of it. My plan is to add a 71 and 01 to the heard down the road. Till then I will have a solid sweet running classic looking vette with a little extra punch!!!

Bullet81

Yeah I have regretted getting rid of every car I have ever owned that I had some love for. I always end up kicking myself later.

Ah decisions decisions, I will not be able to mess with the Vette again until Thursday. I think then I will go ahead and start to dismantle the smog stuff and see what I can do with the engine bay. Heck on and 81 you can't even get to the valve covers without removing a ton of stuff first lol.

Yeller81USNRet

I have a stock 81 and in these hills in West Virginia it has more performance than my driving skills will allow me to take it and can get me in trouble with no problem. I belong to a Corvette club and I do manage to keep up with the C5s and C6s with no problem when we go on a run. Plus it looks COOLER than they do, Now on the highway if they were to run flat out I would be in deep doo doo.
Enjoy my 81 just the way it is.
Ken