I'm not sure but I'll bet that Gm decided to go with a corperate color. That was about the Time when GM was making Headlines for putting Chevy Engines in Cadilacs Olds and Pontiacs not to mention GMC Trucks. Like anyone who bought them didn't allready know. That way when You looked under the Hood it looked like a GM engine. Not a Brand Engine.

I've got an 1980 vette with a blue block, but the 1982 has a black block is the 1982 correct?

  My 1980 had the Blue Block and Heads. I still have it sitting in a Locker its been there for 21 Years and its still blue. And yes I am the original owner of the car. Was the 82 an Export to say Canada????

The '82 would could be black, from what I know...There is another thread here somewhere with the info about those..it was discussed a year or so ago, and the consensus then was that some of the '82s were black...Adams' Apple2008-11-13 06:26:17

Richard the 82 is a Colorado vette, here for resto.

I'm pretty sure my '78 L82 SA had a black block.  The L48's that year had blue blocks and valve covers.

My 77 has the original L-82 engine and the heads and block are both blue.

    According to the GM Tech Center, their records say that an engine color change was first discussed in 74 for two reasons: help define leaded and non-leaded engines (huh?) and to appeal to more women buyers. GM was loosing sales to women and didn't know why, so they took a poll and found that 67.3% of the women didn't like the engine color. They wanted something more eye appealing and orange wasn't it. Orange didn't go well with the engine bay color. How many women look at the engine when buying a car anyway? But, it must have worked because after the change sales to women increased by about 32%, Make sense? It doesn't to me.

My 82 has the blue block. If I were to rebuild I would go with orange. Just personal preference.jbs82vette2009-01-02 15:30:57