Never2old

Hi Fellas, I have a 1982 Collector's Edition which I have owned for twenty years. I am retired, but have been blessed so far with good health and am still able to somewhat effortlessly crawl under the car to do necessary repairs. My plan is to leave the car to my grandson when he becomes driver eligible. However here is the dilemma, I have been reading recent threads regarding the unavailability of certain key parts i.e. knock sensors and ECM's and possibly others, that, without them the car becomes a very pretty, 3000 lb. anchor. I have, up until now, never considered selling the car, but am strongly considering doing so due to the extinction of key parts. I am also struggling with a guilty conscience of selling a car that may become undrivable. The car may run for another 100,000 miles without part failure or it may only go 100 miles so it now becomes a gamble.

I was wondering how you fellow 1982 owners (or other C3 owners as it may apply as well) are coping with this issue.

Kerschmolar

Lucky grandson!!
I haven’t heard of anybody’s classic Vette becoming an anchor because of part unavailability.
Some parts might take a little longer to get ahold of. Other parts might need a little creative ingenuity; that’s what this forum is for.
Sign your grandson on to this forum when he gets the car.

ChiliPepperGarage

You are correct, the car is now totally worthless. I'll give you $50 for it. Please let me know where I can pick it up.

Here's my thinking on it. Even though it is all stock and you think that is where the value is, it is still just an older car. If one of the electronic parts fails and is no longer available it is time to rip all that crap off and build it into a performance car. You can keep all the stock stuff although by the time you gift it to your grandson, I don't think he will care about originality. The CrossFire (CeaseFire ) stuff isn't all that great to begin with. You can remove it all and convert it to carb of modern EFI components. You will gain performance, drivability and power making the car more fun to drive.

Admittedly, I'm a hot rod guy and was never big on restorations or all original stuff but the car is an '82 CE and never going to be highly valuable. It's not like it is an L88 car or something. Just make it fun to drive and enjoy it!

Greg

That is a good question. Somebody needs to (and probably will) start offering ECM's for these later C3's. A local shop owner friend of mine here in Palm Springs has one sitting in his parking lot for the last year in need of an ECM.
Cheers, Greg

chevygod

N2O,

Painless Wiring used to have a Crossfire Adaptor kit (60112) now unavailable, that would allow one of their modern single two barrel TBI harness systems run a pair of CFI throttle bodies. They call out 60101 and 60210 TBI harnesses. Doesn't look like too complex a part to make.

And 87 to 90-something TBI harnesses are common, along with all of the hardware that they work with. So maybe that is a possible avenue, modern harness and controls (and ECM), converted to run CFI?

Good luck,
Tom

Buccaneer

There is NOTHING wrong with a 82 coupe, CE or 84 CFI vette. With that said...Yes, the electronics do go bad after 40 years or more. Anything electronic will go bad at some point, then what? FORTUNATELY there is an alternative if your stock ECM goes bad in either CF car. Dynamic EFI to the rescue with the EBL Flash II ECM... ECM LINKY You will also need to have the HAM board installed so it makes it plug-n-play, no cutting of wires, repinning or splicing anything. Now, your CFI vette becomes 100% laptop tunable and I will give anyone who wants it a free stock CF tune. Load the tune and drive the car. You get to keep your CFI system as well 100% and if you decide to mod the motor at some point, all you have to do is start tuning to accommodate the mods added. It doesn't get any better than that for CFI.

As for the knock sensor issue. That is a potential problem at the moment if it goes out. They typically last almost forever unless you mess with them and either break the sensor trying to remove it or the harness. Because of these two things is NO reason to get rid of the car, jus sayin'.

L-46man

There really is no issue...only the uninformed 'see an issue'.

There are certain parts that have been 'almost unobtainium' for some time now..
The Back window being one...but truthfully you can get one if you're willing to pay.
As a member of this community for nearly fifty years (C-3) I've seen this all before, and pardon me if I express a modicum of derision for such statements.

Have you ever owned an Old AudI RO-80 or Porsche, or Citroen? What do you think of parts prices and availability is for for those cars?

C-3 Corvette parts are positively CHEAP and AVAILABLE.

The ECM problem is SOLVED...it's no issue...It costs about $560 and you can tune it with a laptop. Try ordering a powersteering pump for a Mercedes...you'll spend $1000's GLADLY.
The Knock sensor 'issue' will turn into a 'other part substituted' issue.

People are lazy, panicky, don't know how to do research, and unfamiliar with dealing with 'opportunities'.

A boat anchor HARDLY...it's a small block Chevy.

A few years ago the hatch hinges were the panic-stricken soup du jour....it's not an issue.

Tell the Guy who just paid $44,000 for his 82 CE at B-J LAST WEEK.

All I can say is ; Calm down and chive on!

Unkahal

drwet

Corvette owners are a resourceful lot. It will take a lot to make them unrepairable. Our cars will all become obsolete eventually when we can't buy gas for them any longer. Even then there will be guys grafting in electric motors. I for one will give up my Vette when they pry the keys out of my cold dead hand.

killain

Unkahall has this down solid. A young guy who has a 'YouTube channel Named Ben friend thecorvetteben, made a statement a few years back about C3 Corvettes, and he said "Corvettes (C3's) are really cheap to fix, the Interior parts will cost you out the kazoo, but the engine and drivetrain are just plain old Chevrolet parts, you can find the parts at a junkyard or a AutoZone easy" and he has a really good point as does Unkahall, try finding a coil for a 1953 Jaguar drop head coupe, or a 1950's Porsche ? I'm looking for another C3, and I have to admit, I was looking at 1978 to 1992, and I think I'm more comfortable towards the earlier models, but only because I want a 4 speed. 1981 and 2 didn't come with a 4 speed, but even at the worse if it ever got to be a issue, a 1982 can be converted to a Carb and you still have analogue gauges where as the 1984 Corvette is frozen in time. There is no way short of re-inventing the wheel can those cars be retro-fitted with anything not 1984 L-83 cross-fired, I had a 84 coupe and the only reason I sold it was it was way too difficult to get anymore than 300 HP of of a L-83. The engine's just don't have a set of heads that flow worth a crap, and then there's the Insane intake manifold, Oh sure you could get a "Renegade" manifold for $650.00 and a set of better heads and then you'll need a much better set of headers and a better exhaust but I'd be better off stating with something Workable from the get-go. But that in no way means the a very nice, very stock will ever not be maintainable, and anyone who thinks that is a little naïve, and while we at the whole Repairable issue and EV's abounding like weeds ( which is what I think they are) but look at the American public, look at how they have dealt with being locked up for the last 17 months. . . . Now what do you think they'll do when you tell them "No More Gasoline ! " Shoot, I'd be real damned scared if I held public office when that law is read out to the masses. You no longer can have a ICE powered Automobile ????????????????????

drwet

I live in Canada and we are a lot further down the road to socialism then you guys are in the States, and there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the day is coming when our cars will be outlawed. We are already paying $6 (CDN) for gas and that will be increasing on a regular basis due to the 'carbon tax'. The nanny state is already coming for our guns. ICE cars will be next. I guess they legalized marijuana in the hopes that we'll get stoned enough that we won't care.

L-46man

Killian.

1. 81 is the last C-3, 4 speed.
2. Ever heard of Alcohol? lol!
3. I'm so 'not worried'..........
4. Wanna sell your 82 CE, IM ME.....I'll GLADLY take it off your hands!

Does anyone remember ten years ago or so when the Gradient Fade stripes were 'unavailable'....Phoenix Graphix makes a beautiful set... again, "tempest in a teapot!"

Tom (Buccy) and I are working on sourcing a knock sensor.

The conversation kind of went this way.... So 99% of the time the knock sensor is doing NOTHING.....when it doesn't 'hear' anything it's doing and saying NOTHING to the computer. How #$%^ hard would it be to 'spoof' the computer????
Assuming good fuel of the right octane and all other things engine management-wise being hunky-dory....the car shouldn't be 'knocking/pinging/detonating' in the first place.
I'm a Design Engineer...I look at things a little differently. Buccy is the designer and fabricator and owner of the 'RENEGADE' manifold....so he went and DID SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
Many years ago, I used to design such stuff for Caterpillar Diesels....KNOWN Technology... either a piezo or a accelerometer...not freakin' rocket science.
We are lucky that it is a EXTERNALLY mounted part... My neighbor just sold his MODERN 2003 Chevy 2500 because the knock sensor is mounted in the V of the V-8 under the manifold and he got a $2500 quote to fix THAT. {He wanted a new truck anyway}.

"The sky is not falling!" LOL

Unkahal

killain

I'm 70, but way back when, I worked for a older man, and we were talking about something, I don't remember, but I do remember what he said " The Government can pass all the laws it wants, doesn't mean anyone or Everyone is going to pay any attention, what are they going to do, put us all in prison ? " Now this has historical influence as this is EXACTLY what Dr. Martin Luther King devised back in the sixties, and proved it works, during many of the civil rights protests, the different counties where the demonstrations took place were unable to put all the demonstrators in jail as there wasn't any room in the jails after the first few hours. The local cops had to start releasing people if they were going to lock up anymore. This is a little off subject, but I've watched this very thing for the last 40 years and every year, we're getting closer each year to the point where there isn't enough money of people working for the government to continuously imprison anymore of the public. It's not a unlawful effort, it's simple Mathematics. The harder the government pushes the harder the public and the larger the black market will get. If for no other reason than the 18th Amendment was a complete failure, and after a few years the government had to pass the 21st Amendment so they could still have some degree of dignity while still appearing to be "in-power." There will be parts for whatever vehicle so long as there is a need.

7T1vette

That's some "reality" for ya"........

pltmgr

I have an 82CE and will cross the parts not available bridge when and if I come to it. I definitely would not sell it for the reasons you are concerned about. Your grandson may never forgive you.

Buccaneer

For those CFI owners that may want to know...What's the cost of the EBL upgrade? The cost of upgrading your ECM or replacing a bad one will be approximately $700 total cost, complete package, delivered and ready to go in. Try upgrading to an EFI system for $700 or for that matter converting to carb for $700 total cost which would include tuning and other mods. So the $700 is not a bad price for what you get and the fact that you CAN change the tune if you don't like it or want more power. Oh, and if you want to change the tune, you need another piece of software which would be the tune editor, more money? NO! it's FREE and works great. A lot of the Mustang guys use it and I've been using it for more than a dozen years or so. TunerPro RT is the software to download. All the other software needed is provided by Dynamic EFI in the complete package.

A lot of people freak out when they hear the words...Laptop tuning. It's not rocket science, but you DO have to do your homework, but again, I made it easy on you guys and offer a FREE stock tune. Good for 82 and 84 CFI. I wish somebody would have done that for me way back when I could have used this stuff, but that's another story for another time.

Again, on the knock sensor issue...Hopefully Hal and I can procure a source for a 82 vette knock sensor, maybe not, but we are looking into the issue and see what happens.

<------- One last thing for the member's that know nothing about CFI and just want to comment on how bad they are. My avatar says it all. CFI can run well with lots of power if you want it to. Mine runs mid 12s with lots of power when I hit the loud peddle with ONLY two injectors.

Sids04

82 is the easiest year to LS swap lol..

Mr D.

I would be more concerned if your grandson could afford to buy gas for the 82 than parts availability.

panther-19

I can understand some of the concerns you have about the 82 CE. I always liked the them and got one last year which was an original complete car for what I thought a reasonable price. It did not run. After researching this website and asking some questions on this forum, Buccaneer and others helped me get my CE running and back on the road. It was actually enjoyable working the bugs out and making progress bringing it back. I ran into some issues with extended wait time for some parts I needed but nothing was a dead end. As it goes, my idea was to convert it to a 5-spd manual car, but after more research, decided to sell the CE and just buy a manual trans. Corvette. I sold the 82 CE last last month and picked up a 1975 coupe 4-spd car couple weeks ago. I think the 82 CE is a cool car, and being a c-3 likely always fixable.

JC82

I was at my friendly Porsche dealer several weeks back getting a new transfer case installed in our Cayenne S - 5 Grand and no longer under warranty....Ouch! While waiting for the repair I and another old guy was looking over the new Taycan, all electric coupe with a sticker price of $137,000 and ugly to boot, in my opinion anyway. We were reminiscing about the old air cooled 911's and how easy (relatively) they were to work on. I mentioned that I had and old 1982 Corvette and my worry with the current crop of leftists in DC was that I can foresee a day when getting gasoline itself will be problematic and expensive. A few years ago I had to sell all of my 35mm camera equipment at a huge loss. Remember when you could find 35mm film and someone to process it? Might not be a good analogy but you get my drift.

OldCarBum

Just think of all the 32 Ford coupes, 41 ******’, Cobras, and any muscle car of the 60’s and 70’s that OEM parts are no longer available for.
If the parts you need are no longer available, rebuild it or replace it with a different technology part that will modify and improve it.
Nothing in the drive train, suspension, or steering will be original when I complete the restomod of my 73.
It will run better, be quicker, have improved handling, stop sooner and the overall driving experience will be more enjoyable.
It will also be worth more and sell for a higher value than any stock 73.
Some might not think so because it’s modified, but others will see the value in all the improvements and pay more for the modifications over buying something all original.
Keep your 82.
If something breaks and the original parts are no longer available, replace them with good quality aftermarket pieces or go for improved performance or handling.