gkz

I remember as a teenybopper eyeballing a L82 in a showroom in 1975. The sticker, as I recall, told of a beefy bottom end. After recently reading specs on a L82--202 valves, a decent cam, large exhausts, etc; why only 205 HP? Did the cat rip off that much HP?

Jud Chapin

Vettes during that era had very low HP due to, among other things, regulated emission equip. that was mandated by the Gov. The '75 was the real drop and it lasted well into the '80's. The '74 was the last of the 454ci, 270 HP.

marshrat99

Other HP killers were lowering the compression, retarding the timing, leaning the A/F ratio, adding smog pumps, etc.

Jud Chapin

As I remember, I think the insurance industry had a play in the HP reduction also, as rates for coverage really started to go thru the roof for cars with high end HP ratings.

redwingvette

If I remeber right, the insurance companies were responsible for the end of the convertible in 75 as well.

GTR1999

I gave my son my 75 L82 4 spd and it is a great eng. get rid of the cat, add real 2.5 exhaust, tune it and get a better carb and it runs great.
It has steel crank, windage tray,pink rods, forges pistons, 202/160's guide plates, 8" balancer, HEI dist, all good stuff to run or build up.

Mark PittPayne

A great bulletproof engine that can be improved upon easily when the desire strikes.

dgruenke

The aforementioned insurance rates and the federal emission requirements started to take its toll on the performance of the Corvette. After these things took their toll, Chevrolet started investing more of the Corvette budget on making the car a cruiser that people would be proud to take to the country club rather than the race track.

AlCherry

I had a 75 L48. I did a body off on it. Now I have an 80 L82. My wife and I did a near full restoration on it. Seems the L82 has better power, and we like the interior room with the two seat set-up better. The motor & tranny specs say the L82 is the better vehicle to have. We've "de-smoged" this vehicle and it seems to idle better, and the giddy-up-and-go is better.(hows that for old terms). It's never been on a dyno. This machine sat for twenty years before we bought it. Luckily, the rust is at a minimum, and was easily brought under control. IT WILL LIVE AGAIN IN THE SUMMER! Good Luck with your L82

73, Dark Blue 454

Don't forget that starting in 1972, HP ratings were figured at "net HP" instead of "gross". For instance, from 71 to 72, the engines were basically the same, yet the LT-1 in 71 was rated at 330 HP vs. 255 in 72. The LS-5 was rated at 365 HP in 72 vs. 270 in 73. That's about a 25% reduction in how HP ratings were measured.

So if you're comparing your 205 HP to a 60's car it would rate about 275 HP using the "gross" rating of the 60's.

AlCherry

RWHP vs Crank HP

dgruenke

Not RWHP vs Crank HP. It was gross hp (the power of just the engine with no accessories, emissions equipment or mufflers) v. net hp (the power with all of the accessories installed).

427Hotrod

I know of a Forum member with an all original L-82 in his car complete. It runs and drives OK. He is pulling it out to install a bigblock. If anyone is interested..you could get the whole deal from him. Shoot a note to "Gumbo"..he's in Baton Rouge. I'd probably rebuild it..but as mentioned...it comes with a lot of good parts already.


JIM

marshrat99

The "L82" engine isn't more than a 350CI, 4 bolt main block. Not trying to be argumentative, just pointing out that the block isn't unique.

big_G

The block, pistons, cam, crank, heads, intake, balancer, carburetor, added windage tray, compression ratio and torque converter (if auto trans) are different. Other than that, they are the same.

427Hotrod

The block isn't anything special really...but they do have a steel crank, forged pistons, good rods, 2.02 valves, a decent street cam etc.

Years ago, it was very common...I did quite a few for people....to take the almost new motor apart, hone cylinders and drop in 11.0 compression forged pistons. That got you up in the 10.0-10.5 range and if you added some cam..they really ran decent. Even the cam in them wasn't too bad....we would advance it a little.......


Anyway, they are good starting point for a buildup. Do a quick rebuild on it...a little porting etc and you can have a strong 350 for low $$.


JIM

gkz

Thanks; I forgot about the insurance factor. Sorry to mislead, but mine is an L48; I was just curious after reading my shop manual specs comparing both engines.