The 1978 Silver Anniversary has an L-82 badge on the hood however the engine does not have special valve covers and the intake is blue.

I thought L82 intakes were aluminum and had special valve covers, here is a pic.

 

look at the tac, does it say l-82?
And post the number on the engine block, guys here will read it and tell you all about it. but, no L-82 tac, no L-82 engine.... also the L-82 had a duel snorkel CAI

 

Nothing looks L-82 about it. What's the VIN? The 5th digit signifies the engine, "L" indicates an L-48 base motor, "4" indicates the optional L-82.

 

'78 L82 should also have dual snorkel CAI breather. Hard to tell from the photos, but it appears there may be some pinstripes and accents missing, including at the hood bulge, and the rear window trim should have a chrome reveal, not be solid black. And, if it isn't, the rocker trim should be flat black with small bright reveal at the top edge. Of course, the front air dam (if present) and rear spoiler are not original to an SA, but more than just a few of us have added those.

 

It is a single snorkel, crap, I have a bad feeling I don't have an L-82, I will get VIN numbers. Where is the engine code located?
I will check it out, here are some pics I have here at work with me.

 

Pretty sure all 78 L-82s had A.I.R. pumps too. Like the guys said, the VIN number on the driver's side window pillar (visible from outside the car) will tell you which engine you have.

Pretty unlikely that someone took an L-82 and put L-48 valve covers on it AND painted the intake manifold aluminum. Only *I* would do something like that. (That is, I really want to paint my entire engine corporate blue like the stock L-48 when I pull it for better pistons and a roller cam)

All that being said... nothing wrong with having an L-48. The difference between 185 hp and 220 hp was big in 1978, nowadays, that's nothing. Put a nice exhaust system and headers on and you'll be faster than a stock L-82. Open the engine up and it really doesn't matter anymore.

 

It certainly doesnt look like an L-82 in any way, the Vin is far more informative as to what the car originally was equipped with. The stamps on the engine itself, located on the pad in front of the passenger side cylinder head - somewhat concealed by the AC mounting bracket, will better describe what you have now.

The only real concern you should have about it being an L-82 or not is based on either what you paid for the car, or what you hope to sell the car for. The L-48 as has been mentioned can be made to outperform a stock L-82 in any case.

 

yes you can make a 48 beat an 82,,,, but a 48 will always have a 2 bolt main, smaller valves in the head and a smaller cam.... even if he changes out the head's and cam you still have a 2 bolt main....but many have put 500hp on a 2 bolt...

yes, the engine stamp is the best way..
btw, those wheels are not factory ether..

but again... look at the tach, if it says L-82 then it is or was at one time an l-82, otherwise, l-48.....

but that engine looks as if it will be needing the once over here very soon....

 

Question I'm begging to ask is how much did you pay AND how was the car presented (known issues)?

 

The windshield moldings shouldn't be black on a 78, either. What color is the interior? From the pictures it looks to be doeskin, but the tinted glass may be fooling me. Doeskin was not available with the Silver Anniversary package, or solid silver either, though GM did allow color combination overrides sometimes. The paint code on a Silver Anniversary car would be 13U 07M. If you post the entire VIN and also the info from the trim tag, someone here can decipher it for you .

 

Dad paid about 5000, 10 years ago when it had about 75K and he believes it is an L82, he has not driven it in 3 years cause he cannot sit in it (bad back) and trouble smogging it, he let me have it. Last year I drained fluids, got a battery and started it up several times, got some tires, changed plugs wires etc. however it has an electrical drain which I am working on, and it has not been smogged (we live in Southern Cali) the interior is Oyster? I found some used Recaro seats and put them in, the old seats frames were broke, no wonder his back hurt! Starting in 2012 1978 Cars in Cali will only need to pass the sniffer test, only visual test will be gas leaking so I have a year and a half to get it seaworthy.

At least this is what I think it says...

AB2683 states....
(1) Submission of proof that the motor vehicle is insured as a
collector motor vehicle, as shall be required by regulation of the
bureau.
(2) The motor vehicle is at least 35 model-years old.
(3) The motor vehicle complies with the exhaust emissions
standards for that motor vehicle's class and model-year as prescribed
by the department, and the motor vehicle passes a functional
inspection of the fuel cap and a visual inspection for liquid fuel
leaks.

 

IIRC, the L82 hood emblems shouldn't be so far rearward (I'd have to check that against my original L82/SA hood), and now that we can see better there is indeed a good bit of pinstripping and accents missing for an SA paint package. (Much of it was stickers, which tended to blow off all to easily at the coin op.)

Yes, Oyster was an SA interior color, and it can yellow quite a bit left unattended, but you might be surprised how well it may clean up with a little TLC. FWIW, the windshield surround did come all black with bright mouldings at the header and around the T-tops.

As mentioned, there is hope for the L48 tho. Just do a little homework and throw a few well spent bucks at it.

 

Your right, I was thinking they were still bright stainless in 78. It was the T-top moldings that were still polished stainless and the rear t-top receivers that were chrome.

 

Quite right - the L-82 badges are indeed too far back on the hood - see my car for factory location.

as for AB2683, it does read that way but one thing I've learned about laws is the way they read and the way they are enforced can be two very different things. - It also clearly states it has to be insured as a classic vehicle which may gove wiggle room for interpretation. who can say.

However that is an improvement since my car should be able to pass the sniffer test with true duals and no cat

 

So, my 78 is pretty much only going to be used for the occasional parade/going to car shows, whatnot. I probably put under 200 miles on it a year at this point, at best it'd easily be under 1000. Does that mean it will fall under this exemption? At whose discretion is it?

 

The engine code stamped on the pad on the block at the front of the right head will identify the engine and tell you whether it's an L-48, L-82, or something else.

Looks like an L-48 to me.

 

There isn't that much difference between the L-48 and L-82: valve sizes, cam and the badging is about it. [yes, the L-82 has a 4-bolt main...but the HP it made did NOT need it] For how you will be using the car, it is of little consequence...AND you already have the "L-82" badges!

For emissions, you need to tell the inspector that it has the L-48 engine, even though the badges say otherwise. That is important, as the L-48 had different emissions equipment than the L-82. Then you need to make sure that the emissions components which originally came with the L-48 are in place on the car and that the fuel cap is a NON-vented cap like came on the '78 L-48 engine. What the inspectors will do is look for all the correct emissions components, verify the fuel cap is correct, and 'sniff' for any raw fuel leakage. If all those checks are OK, you will pass the new testing. Don't forget about the fuel vapor cannister that is located on top of the left frame rail just behind the front wheel. That needs to be in place and [at least] have the hoses running to the proper locations, too. It is part of the emissions control system.

You should purchase a copy of the Assembly Instruction Manual for 1978 (commonly known as the AIM) and a copy of the Chevrolet Chassis Service Manual. Those two manuals will provide all the info you need on the construction of your car and proper set-up. They are "must haves" for an owner who wants to work on his/her own car.

Congratulations on receiving a nice bit of Corvette history. Take good care of it and you will enjoy having in for many years to come.

P.S. If you decide to modify the engine for more power, your Collector Car insurance and the CA emissions boyz will not be 'happy'.

 

Don't worry about teliing a CA smog tech about your L-48. Smog techs don't know L-48's from LOLCATS. They will enter you vehicles VIN into the test machine and that will inform them as to what you will need to comply with.

 

Looks to me like somebody put a Target Motor in it during the '80s.

 

What does a Target motor mean,
did they buy an engine from these guys