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I am old. I am forgetful. Get that out front. I thought I read somewhere that the 1982 Corvette differential came with a drain plug. It was the only year C3 to have one. I could have been delusional because I can’t find any reference to that in the Shop Manual.
I attached a photo of what could be a drain plug between the exhaust pipes.
Does anyone know for sure 1) if that is true and 2) if there is a drain plug, the picture is of that plug?
Thanks.
I guess I was dreaming it!
I have a great vacuum/suction pump I use for changing my boat’s engine oil: Topsider Vacuum Pump. Got a long thin tube and works great. So, sucking out the oil is not an issue.
No drain plug. Those are actually the three bolts for mounting the rear spring. The 80-82 used three bolts to mount the rear spring instead of four like the earlier years.
I have an aluminum 1982 differential crossmember with the differential cover as an integral part. I just went out to my garage to look at it. It has a drain plug..or perhaps more accurately a fill plug. If you remove the plug, you'd need a suction pump to completely drain the diff.
Why do I have a 82 differential crossmember? I thought that to save some weight, I'd use the 1982 all aluminum differential crossmember, aluminum differential housing in one of my early C3s. Abandoned this idea when I found out the torque rating of the 82 rear end is very low.
Thank you for confirming that drain plug information.
I recall reading Chevy was looking to lighten the C3 as much as possible for fuel economy. Since the 80’s C3’s weren’t known as torque monsters, I guess it was safe to back off from the BB days.
I drive mine like a Miss Daisy car. No worry on the torque load here.
In fact, compared to my old 2013, 6.2L, L9H, all aluminum, “incredi-motor” I had in my 2013 Chevy 1500, this 5.7 would need a lightning strike to compete with the torque that truck made. Chevy reconfigured the 6.2 heads for the L9H for the trucks and got max torque (417) at a lower rpm for towing. It came with the 6-speed tranny, 9.75”/3.42 gears. It was a fun truck to drive and tow my 10K lb camper with. Sold it (regrets) at 120,000 miles and it didn’t even leak or use oil. Great engine.
A little off topic.
If I were building a Vette for hp/torque, I would look for a 2013 6.2, L9H. It was the last year Chevy made the 6.2 without the AFM (Active Fuel Management).
My 82CE will be rolling gently around the pasture for the rest of its life.
Thanks again for the confirmation.
Did you post pics of your build in the pictures thread?
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1982 Differential
