Hello All,

TOTAL CORVETTE NEWBIE. Long time lurker, first time poster here, with the first of what is likely to be many questions for all you C3 aficionados out there. Full disclosure: I have already ordered the shop manual, it just hasn't arrived yet, so I imagine many of my questions will be answered there. My brother and I are looking to get my late father's 1982 Corvette back out on the road, so this is a labor of love type-thing. My question today centers around vacuum hoses, specifically for the engine/crossfire injection. From what I understand, the crossfire injection can be a finicky beast, and really needs a properly-functioning vacuum system to work. As I look online, I can find vacuum hose kits specific to the headlights, the wipers, and heat/AC, but nothing specific to the engine beyond "silicone dress up kits" (I'm not really worried about shiny show-quality hoses, but if they work, then fine with me.) I should point out that the owner prior to my dad "Bubba'd" the car- missing/cut vacuum hoses, hoses plugged with screws, valve covers replaced with chrome Edelbrock covers etc. You know...all the things that people did for the engine to get the "ceasefire" moniker. So using the engine in its current state for reference doesn't really seem a viable option at this point.


I guess my question is: would one of these "dress up kits" supply all the necessary hoses for the engine to fire or at least be sufficient to eliminate bad vacuum as a reason why the engine won't start? (it turns over, just doesn't start. I'm aware that there are potentially 10,000 other reasons why the engine won't start, and my brother and I are addressing each as we can.) If anyone knows of any vacuumm kits that would help in this capacity, please let me know where I can find it. I'll upload photos as needed by those who might be willing to offer some solutions as we move along with the car, and also as a measure of progress for those who are interested. Think of it as two knuckle heads with decent knowledge of modern engines working on an older, complicated engine, all for a good cause.


I apologize if this is a dumb question, or a question that should have been asked in a different forum. I also apologize if this is a duplicate question - I didn't really see any questions like this in my search of other forums. All my questions are just meant to get my dad's car back out on the road, where it should be. Thank you in advance for any replies received.

 

The engine compartment vacuum hose routing is shown on your emissions decal in the engine compartment, as well as in the Shop Manual in the "Emissions" section. The vacuum hose routing is like this - very simple - not complicated at all:


A "dress up kit" won't get you anything other than a roll of "pretty" vacuum hose and some shiny end fittings. Just get some regular vacuum hose and re-route your hoses per the diagram and per the shop manual. Your messed up hoses are not the reason the engine won't start - it will start with or without all the hoses hooked up. Get the trouble codes off your ECM - it may tell you what your problem is.