Tim S

Am in the process of purchasing a 82 corvette local for $7000 if all goes well, it has not been used too much for years and an older guy had it. 140k on motor and 10k on transmission. Looked at it last night and supposedly only thing wrong is knock sensor broke. interior is very good and not smoked up, exterior is good, silver and black, with a mad max style hood that is going bye bye. all else is pretty stock even wheels, except for radio. it runs rather well but since this could be first corvette who knows, i build motorcycles and have had the usual hot rods over the years but first vette. will have plenty of questions for you guys and bear with me.
few questions though.
this is OBD1, would like to interface with laptop to actually monitor things, i suppose this is possible?
air conditioner is there still, easy to convert to r134a?

and lot of people also say to stay away from that year as it is a lemon with the crossfire system, but i have also heard great things. i have tried to put a picture up, let me know, good, bad, or otherwise thoughts on the car.

jehuds10

Welcome to the forum!

Tim S

Glad to be here, will take any and all advice. Thanks. if guy acecpts my offer will be a regular annoyance to all here.

FX VETTE

Welcome to the CF!

Tim S

Glad to be here, am a regular pain in the a$$ on the harley forums, thought i would branch out.

Vetteman Jack

Moving this over to the C3 section - you'll get more answers to your question there.

Alan 71

Hi tim,
WELCOME!
The car you're considering looks like a nice one based on the photo.
Have you checked it carefully for rust in the frame and/or birdcage?
Those are really the 2 things that can spoil a 68-82 purchase, so you'll want to be absolutely certain of this car's condition.
With 140,000 on the engine it may be in need of a rebuild soon… are you prepared for that?
If you're not too familiar with 82 Corvettes have you had someone more experienced look at it with you?
Have you driven it?
Good Luck as you proceed!
Regards,
Alan

Tim S

checked briefly as i could, took flashight and crawled under some, knocked on some areas of fiberglass like i knew what i was doing, judging by what i saw, am taking a gamble that car is pretty good, was a friend of the family of now owner, older guy, interior is pretty good, non smoker, under hood is good and not all bubb'd up as you guys say.

first corvette, have had hotrods before and build motorcycles so can do most stuff but i know limitations, electrical is good, am an electrical engineer. i am getting it for a good price, so i might live to regret it. suppoded to be delivered saturday so will know more.

have pictures in my album here, only bad thing is the mad max hood that is coming off. tires, brakes, headlights, is all in supprisingly good shape. stay tuned.

another thing, is supposed to have bad knock sensor, broken connector and slightly rough idle. make sense to you?????

any good with the crossfire system???

Go Vette Go

Welcome to CF. Lots of great information and people here just waiting to help out.

Where in Maryland. Spent a good part of my young life there!!

Good luck with the 82!

TimAT

Knock sensor is an easy fix- if parts are still around. It's located just on front of the starter on the right side of the engine. It attaches in one of the block drains so if it's broken, you might get wet changing it.
IF the deal happens, one of the first things you should do is spring for the FACTORY service manuals, troubleshooting guides and AIM. The CrossFire has it's own little set of quirks, but there are guys around that have pretty well got it figured out.

Easy Mike

IIRC, the ALDL is under the ash tray. You will need aftermarket software for your laptop.

Is the paint silver and black, or silver and dark gray (charcoal)? A silver and charcoal combination was available for 82, but there was no silver\black.

Tim S

Grew up in Dundalk, spent 36 years in the steel mill till the corrupt politicians and current owners decided that the land was worth more than the 2000 people working there so it went "bankrupt". Live in Pasadena area near airport. All Baltimore area.

Thanks for support, I know i am taking a gamble with a car I saw only half hour tops, but what i saw leads me to believe that it is in pretty good shape. Birdcage is supposedly sound and frame has only surface rust. Other than the mad max hood which is coming off (anyone want free hood?) and usual stuff, seems good, more pictures and info Saturday when it gets dropped off.

What would good books be for the car, not meaning chiltons, but something meaningful especially a crossfire induction system overview.