Topic: Info on 1982 Corvette
in Forum: C3 General Discussion
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Oak Creek, WI - USA
Joined: 5/21/2008
Posts: 1965
Vette(s): 1981 Great White Shark. Red Interior, 350/190 hp. PS, PB (SS), A/C CC, T-Tops. Served three years in Active Duty Army, then Retired Air Force after 34 years! Badger State Vettes Car Club. 175,000 Original miles!! Now own a 1998 C-5!
rmendoza said:
John,
johnu said:
LOL,
dyoes said:
Many C3 snobs pooh-pooh the later cars because they weren't fast. Hell, was anything fast in 1982?
LOL,
My last three mini-vans have had more HP then mine. 
John,
After 40 + years of corvettes, I have to agree with you. In the 10 I've had, I've experienced hair raising situations in my youth and more controlled pleasurable experiences as I matured. As I mellow with age my attention and appreciation has shifted to the shear beauty of the lines and the reliability of a Chevy. All with their special aspects, IMO a beautiful C3 has that eye drawing, jaw dropping capability to leave an indelible image on your mind.
When I test drove the '82 CE saturday, I got the feeling that I was in a touring car with its great freeway ride. With a great story and price, it was a no brainer. This is the car that I'm taking on the National Corvette Caravan this year. Assembly Plant move to BG in '81 and the '82s their first production run, I'm taking her to her birthplace.
My car was "born" in St Louis, so I cannot find her "birth certificate"!!!
she was born in MARCH OF 1981!
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dskopp said:
rmendoza said:
John,
johnu said:
LOL,
dyoes said:
Many C3 snobs pooh-pooh the later cars because they weren't fast. Hell, was anything fast in 1982?
LOL,
My last three mini-vans have had more HP then mine.
John,
After 40 + years of corvettes, I have to agree with you. In the 10 I've had, I've experienced hair raising situations in my youth and more controlled pleasurable experiences as I matured. As I mellow with age my attention and appreciation has shifted to the shear beauty of the lines and the reliability of a Chevy. All with their special aspects, IMO a beautiful C3 has that eye drawing, jaw dropping capability to leave an indelible image on your mind.
When I test drove the '82 CE saturday, I got the feeling that I was in a touring car with its great freeway ride. With a great story and price, it was a no brainer. This is the car that I'm taking on the National Corvette Caravan this year. Assembly Plant move to BG in '81 and the '82s their first production run, I'm taking her to her birthplace.
My car was "born" in St Louis, so I cannot find her "birth certificate"!!!
she was born in MARCH OF 1981!
Dan, I checked the NCM site and the '82 VIN is unfortunately in the group that is missing.
............however I'm in luck because the previous owner has both the window sticker and the tank sticker, so I'm getting the birth paperwork on this CE 
I bought my '68 in Nov and it has none, but in luck on this one.God Bless, rick
'75 Steel Blue Stingray Coupe
'75 Hot Red L82 Stingray Convertible
Congrats on the new purchase. You will love the CE. Several members here have one.
I have owned my '82 for 10 years now (time flies when you're having fun).
The odometer turned 45K last summer. Of course it turned 100K a few years before that.
Some owners have problems with the throttle bodies and a "searching idle", but when they are balanced correctly, it idles very smooth and the response is instantaneous.
I have a stock fuel pump and it runs fine. It's not a race car; it's a luxury sports car that is 30+ years old.
You may want to check those tires. If they are more than 10 years old, there may be some serious cracks.
Last summer traveling on I70 between Moab and Las Vegas, the Garmin registered 115 mph and the speedo is still operating fine.
You will probably want to change all the fluids, belts and hoses just for peace of mind.
Good luck with it and we'll see you in BG. Hopefully, we'll have pizza Friday night in Cave City.
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dwright said: Congrats on the new purchase. You will love the CE. Several members here have one.
I have owned my '82 for 10 years now (time flies when you're having fun).
The odometer turned 45K last summer. Of course it turned 100K a few years before that.
Some owners have problems with the throttle bodies and a "searching idle", but when they are balanced correctly, it idles very smooth and the response is instantaneous.
I have a stock fuel pump and it runs fine. It's not a race car; it's a luxury sports car that is 30+ years old.
You may want to check those tires. If they are more than 10 years old, there may be some serious cracks.
Last summer traveling on I70 between Moab and Las Vegas, the Garmin registered 115 mph and the speedo is still operating fine.
You will probably want to change all the fluids, belts and hoses just for peace of mind.
Good luck with it and we'll see you in BG. Hopefully, we'll have pizza Friday night in Cave City.
You hear a lot of bad things about the '82 and the Cross Fire Injection, but as some one said, "Nothing was fast in 1982" and to the point did you know: "The 1982 Corvette went 0-60 mph in about 8.1 seconds and performed the 1/4 mile in 15.9 seconds at 86 mph. This 1/4 mile time made it the fastest production American car for 1982."? You just had to be there back then to hear the raves I guess
I found a great article about the '82 CE and I recommend all '82 owners or anyone considering getting a '82 CE read it. I did and I feel so much better about my purchase. I don't have it yet as the title has to come from CA but after reading the article I can hardly wait to get my hands on it, wax it, drive it and get that first double take, Thumbs up or question....."What year is it?"
|UPDATED|3/5/2014 10:19:22 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|
God Bless, rick
'75 Steel Blue Stingray Coupe
'75 Hot Red L82 Stingray Convertible
rmendoza said:
John,
johnu said:
LOL,
dyoes said:
Many C3 snobs pooh-pooh the later cars because they weren't fast. Hell, was anything fast in 1982?
LOL,
My last three mini-vans have had more HP then mine.
John,
After 40 + years of corvettes, I have to agree with you. In the 10 I've had, I've experienced hair raising situations in my youth and more controlled pleasurable experiences as I matured. As I mellow with age my attention and appreciation has shifted to the shear beauty of the lines and the reliability of a Chevy. All with their special aspects, IMO a beautiful C3 has that eye drawing, jaw dropping capability to leave an indelible image on your mind.
When I test drove the '82 CE saturday, I got the feeling that I was in a touring car with its great freeway ride. With a great story and price, it was a no brainer. This is the car that I'm taking on the National Corvette Caravan this year. Assembly Plant move to BG in '81 and the '82s their first production run, I'm taking her to her birthplace.
I would still do all the preventive maintenance previously mentioned as the 82 CE is no different from the regular production vice the cute little exterior and interior color scheme. LOL
I had a CE, but the paint would have cost 10K in 2007 dollars when it only cost me 4k the same year to paint my code 13 silver 82 (I eventually traded my CE 'even steven' for a 2002 HD Springer). Either choice you had when it came to the '82's certainly benefited you...good buy!!!
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Ellijay, GA - USA
Joined: 1/2/2007
Posts: 38
Vette(s): 1996 Collector Edition Coupe, LT4, 6 spd
1982 Red on Red, 60k miles
1970 Convert, Maroon, Lt Saddle, 383 4 spd conv with ac
2016 Z-51 yellow Convert, 7 speed (Sold)
1974 Avanti w/Chevy 350 - 4L60 trans
2020 Polaris Slingshot GT LE
I have had a number of C3 Corvette.
The 1982 is one of my favorites. It is a great cruiser, good gas mileage and sounds good, and still has all the creature comforts. They are still the old chevy we can all work on and the drive train and components are modern but not high tech! I have had some later model C4 and C5s and there is not much the averige guy can work on on them, They are more High tech and component replacement.
So I think the 82 is one of the best driver corvettes around. I have loved all three I have owned and regreted selling each one and still own one. There are always some things you would like better on a car, but the 82 is a good middle of old school with a little tech and a really good modern driver you can take on trips!
Not to many fairly stock 30 years old + cars you could take on a trip in todays world!
�
Lifetime MemberModerator
Duncanville, TX - USA
Joined: 11/8/2003
Posts: 20229
Vette(s): #1-1974 L-48 4spd Cp Med Red Metallic/Black deluxe int w/AC/tilt/tele./p/w-p/b/
Am-Fm/map light National/Regional/Chapter NCRS "Top Flight"
#2-1985 Bright Red/Carmine Cp.L-98/auto
Member: NCRS, NCRS Texas, Corvette Legends of Texas
rmendoza said:
I found a great article about the '82 CE and I recommend all '82 owners or anyone considering getting a '82 CE read it. I did and I feel so much better about my purchase."
That's a pretty decent article.
Perhaps not 100% accurate(no Corvette ever had the 2004R transmission), but still a good read. Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56 
My Link 
(click for Texas-sized view!) NCRS
"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"
Yeah, I saw that and assumed it was a typo, should have been a 7 instead of a 2
God Bless, rick
'75 Steel Blue Stingray Coupe
'75 Hot Red L82 Stingray Convertible
Lifetime MemberLemon Grove, CA - USA
Joined: 10/17/2007
Posts: 2041
Vette(s): 1982 C3 Collectors Edition 44000 miles, sat in the sun most of its life, My wife purchased it for me for Father's Day in 2007 from her girlfriend that had it for 19 years. It is on the road again. I'm retired but it is now my daily driver.
Something you need to be aware of. All CE's rear hatch
hinges will expand and the hatch will get stuck.
The distance across the hinge if i remember is 3" and at 3 1/4" to
3 1/2" you hatch will not open anymore. You then have two choices
bend them back carefully or contact this guy who makes replacements that
actually work and last forever. Normally this happens before 30,000 miles
so with a low millage car you may not notice. By the way it is not
uncommon for the owner to have the latching mechanize adjusted (it is designed
to be adjusted) so yours may already have started to expand and you do not
notice it yet.
I would recommend that you get in line for a set of his
hinges as he only makes some once in a while and may stop completely at
anytime.
His story is his wife owns a CE the hatch stuck shut so
being an engineer he designed a set. Lots of people saw what he did so he make
a batch of 10 and every few years or so he makes another batch of 10.
Last I know he said he was not going to do that anymore but then I saw
that he made another batch. That is why I'm telling you to get on his
list.
By the way he has lots of articles on tuning and balancing
the TBI. He will not sell to dealers by the way. He will only sell
to individuals. He put me through a little quiz before he would sell me a
set.
steve@theCUBEstudio.com
tb2k82ce said:
Something you need to be aware of. All CE's rear hatch hinges will expand and the hatch will get stuck.
The distance across the hinge if i remember is 3" and at 3 1/4" to 3 1/2" you hatch will not open anymore. You then have two choices bend them back carefully or contact this guy who makes replacements that actually work and last forever. Normally this happens before 30,000 miles so with a low millage car you may not notice. By the way it is not uncommon for the owner to have the latching mechanize adjusted (it is designed to be adjusted) so yours may already have started to expand and you do not notice it yet.
I would recommend that you get in line for a set of his hinges as he only makes some once in a while and may stop completely at anytime.
His story is his wife owns a CE the hatch stuck shut so being an engineer he designed a set. Lots of people saw what he did so he make a batch of 10 and every few years or so he makes another batch of 10. Last I know he said he was not going to do that anymore but then I saw that he made another batch. That is why I'm telling you to get on his list.
By the way he has lots of articles on tuning and balancing the TBI. He will not sell to dealers by the way. He will only sell to individuals. He put me through a little quiz before he would sell me a set.
steve@theCUBEstudio.com
Just another example of the value of this sight and its unselfish members!
That has already happened! When I looked at the car and asked that the rear hatch be opened, he showed me that I had to pull the hatch release, while he gently pushed up on the rear glass hatch until the two pins moved forward enough to then to come out of the holes. We had the hinge discussion and that it would need new ones. It also needs the two struts as they don't hold up the hatch very well. Eckler has them for $89 a pair so that isn't much, but the hinges may be more costly.
I'll cross my finges and send off an email immediately and see if I can get on his list. Thanks so much for the insight.
God Bless, rick
'75 Steel Blue Stingray Coupe
'75 Hot Red L82 Stingray Convertible
in Forum: C3 General Discussion
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