vnardozz

hey guys! I recently purchased a 1982 vette..... I have been in LOVE with vettes since a young age and now finally have my first one!! I have worked on a couple different types of cars but never a vette... so basically I need some help on where to start... trying to decide if I should keep and mod the crossfire or go with a carbed small block? just wanting opinions and I guess a difficulty level on doing a swap or modding the stock motor. I am looking to get around 400-450whp and 400-500 ft lbs of torque. so PLEASE HELP THIS NEWBIE OUT!! I greatly apprciate any and all advice on where to go!! Thanks so much guys.

GS977

congrats on the 82. i have an 82 with a carb.
if you want that much hp then forget the crossfire.
and the stock 82 700r4 wont hold it. you will need a later model 700. like a late 80s to early 90s. and the stock rear will need some help to live behind that much power. 450 hp is not hard with a 383 sb but its everything else that will be a pain. i have a fresh 454 ready to go in mine but im holding off for awhile. i just built a nice 350 to drive it awhile till i drop my bigblock in.
and your 82 has either 2.78s or 2.87 gears.
post some pics

larryg3

welcome please post some pics. if you want to make that kind of HP consider a crate engine and as stated beef up the trans and rear diff.

vnardozz

thanks guys for the advice! GS977 how hard is it to convert to a carb? or did you swap out to an older crate motor? My biggest worry is if i start to switch motors can I just yank the wiring for the comp or will I need to re-wire everything to a crate motor? Like I said Im a newbie when it comes to C3's LOL.

Easy Mike

My advice is not to do anything yet -- other than drive the car for a while. Dirve her through the summer and get to know her. After that you can decide if you want to make modifications.

vnardozz

thanks for the advice Mike!! It really doesnt matter if I want to start modding it before fall or not cause I cant afford it really til then hahaha just was wondering what route to go so I can start doing research and know for a fact what I am going to do then.... Im a planner have to have a definate plan in place for everything before starting LOL

qwank

I agree. you might decide that you don't really need that much power and you can easily get a little more out of the stock engine and keep the drive ability and fuel millage decent.

fortunately, there's some after market stuff out there for the crossfire engines now.

MIKE80

An A.I.M. is a must have! Good luck with your new ride!

http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....Z5Z5Z50000050G

tompands

Welcome. Just open your wallet and hang on, it's gonna be a long bumpy ride.

dry

Welcome to the forum! There is most definately a mass amount of informed knowledge available to you here.

7T1vette

Congrats on your purchase!! But, why in God's name would you buy an '82 just so you could remove the primary reason for buying an '82 [the CrossFire dual throttle body injection system and computer controlled ignition/induction]????

You can install a different cam, different heads, and/or larger throttle bodies, if you want some more power, but the injection system is much more efficient, starts and idles better, and is computer controlled, along with the 4-speed 700R4 tranny. I'd ask you for your rationale on that one...but I doubt that I could come to grips with it.

Anyway, give it some serious thought before you 'do the deed'. And if you do, you might want to mothball everything you remove. A year or two down the road, you may want to reverse your direction.

doctorgene

Yes Sir; I think you are right on, Pull that Turd of a motor, & that injection system, which you will have a heck of a time even buying parts for. The wiring will hook right up to a Carb. & Dist. Leave the computer right in place. You will need to control the flow of gasoline, which I think is about 15 # with a regulator. to the carb. Pull the two 3 Amp fuses to the injectors. You will have to change the throttle cable to a 1980 to hook up to the carb. Unplug all the connectors to the injectors. And yes you will have to have a better Transmission because GM had a bundle of trouble with the old units., & should rebuild the rear end & rear end suspension, but it will handle the H. P. with out any trouble. I don't know what state you live in, but you need to check the EPA laws in order to put it in compliance, don't want the Dog after you. Have a great day. Gene

CRAIGVETTE

Crossfire Solutions now even makes a new intake manifold that should really help pep things up too.

vnardozz

well I just have heard a lot about how crappy the crossfire runs and i didnt BUY the 82 per say... rather traded a POS saab for it and have always want one so when I had the chance I went ahead and took it. However I do want something that acts like a vette should act in my opinion( I built a 77 with a 406 with my father when I was younger so it is more a love for the memory than it is for the fact that it was a crossfire. so to honor him I really want to build my own c3 in my own way so thats the reasoning for wanting to swap out the motors

Mark_Milner

First things first, drive it and find what is good and what is bad. You may discover all your money goes just to keep it running normally, without anything to modify it.

Second, depending on how stock your car is and how nice it is, you might consider trading it for a year more suitable to what you want to do. The '82 has a lot of quirks that makes changing things around a pain compared to earlier years. Go here and check some of them.

http://noel.prodigitalsoftware.com/NC82.html

If you had an '82 CE, I can understand wanting to keep it, but just a plain '82, then like others have said, once you yank the Crossfire Injection and begin modifying, you might as well have had an '80 or '81 and had less hassles.

You could always go for a '77 to match your memories of your dad's, but then you could go for a '78 or '79 and split the difference - nose similar to the '77 but with the greater room of the '78 to '82 body.