Greetings Vette Lovers,

Mine is an 80 L82 that I have proudly owned for a whole 2 months! She has 30K miles on her and is completly stock inside and out. On a scale of 1 to 10 I am a 2 when it comes to mechanical ability. If the day is warm and the road is dry I might be able to change a tire! That said, I really would like to add some ponies to my ride. I would love it if some of y'all could make some suggestions regarding light engine mods to give her a little more zoom. Perhaps a different exhaust system? Also, I see many in the forum with lots of under hood chrome. I'd love to dress up mine the same way but most of the Vette catalogs seem to have pre and post78-82bolt ons but not much for my year. Heck, even the air cleaner and covers don't seem to be around in chrome. Any advice or direction would be greatly appreciated. I look forward to eventually meeting some of you.

Well for easy horsepower and not too much money, a set of headers anda true dual exhaust will give you some more muscle. Other than that, you would have to do a cam swap, change heads, etc. and that gets into a lot of money

sounds like you should be able to handle a K&N air filter swap for some easy ooooomf.

As you start getting into chrome goodies and more horsies, you will find out that NOTHING on these cars is cheap if you can not do it yourself. You will also find out that your mechanical ability will increase greatly rather quickly. You should be able to handle all the chrome goodies yourself cause they are pretty much all just replacement parts. If you remember left to loosen and right to tighten, you will have no problem. Check out catalogs like Eckler's and Mid America for most of the replacement chrome that is available. If you want to really get insane, take off what you want chrome and take it ( or send it ) to a chrome plating shop or to a place that does sterling ceramic coating ( like Jet Hot Coatings ).
Good luck to you !

Duk,

Fine looking car you have there. On the exhaust, do you recommend any type in particular? Buy it through mailorder? Can one have headers without side pipes? I appreciate your advice, thanks.

Andrew

Hi Garry,

The KN will fit my existing air filter housing?

Glenns,

If I had a ride like yours I'd never want to leave the drivers seat! Sharp! It did occur to me to get some of the less standard motor parts done by a chrome shop. It seems that the air filter housing is unique to 1980 and Edelbrock and the like dont make the same in prechromed aftermarket. It looks like the exhaust would be a great way to get some more strength and perhaps make the purr growl a bit more. Thanks for your advice.

Andrew

Not sure where you got the idea that "it may not be the right ride for me" Rob but I can assure you she has a permanent and lifelong home. I love the way she looks and am proud to have it, however as a Vette purist I am sure you must know that the 80 was not known for the muscle that her older cousins were. I simply would like to give the old girl a little push.

Cheers

Here's robdssa's reply without the mega-sized signature image (click here if you want to see it).

robdssa said: I am curious, why would you want to alter a 30k stock Vette? So many people are trying to achieve what you have with restorations. Perhaps if this isn't the car for you, you may consider selling your ride to someone who wants a pure Vette and you can find yourself one that has a lot of HP and the chrome goodies already installed. Good Luck.

Jim O. - moderator

|UPDATED|1/30/2003 3:00:29 PM|/UPDATED|

K&N air filters are avaiable for all performance cars. you can get them at speed shops and on line. corvette central has them for you 80 for $37.95 Also the have a chrome air clener cover for your 80 $39.95 www.corvettecentral.com