Questions about my 1981 Corvette
lanceh007
03-05-2002, 10:50 PM
I'm 17 and I've had my 1981 Corvette for about 4 years now. The old 350, 190 hp stock engine has about 87,000 miles on it, and I was thinking about modifying it to get more horsepower. So, I took it down to the chevy dealership for them to check it out, and they tell me I have something called "blow by" with major oil problems that can't be fixed. They said I will need a new engine, so I went down to the local speed shop, and I'm getting them to build me a new 383 with over 550 horsepower.
I was at school today, and I realized that going from 190hp to 550 is quite a good jump, considering my car is the most powerful car I've ever driven. I'm kinda worried about all the parts in the car like the transmission (wich I think is a 400, but it could be a 350, does anyone know what type of transmission they put on an 81 vette?), the driveshaft, axle, or any other part that has direct relation to the engine, will they be able to handle that much power? I'll have to drive it every day to school, and it's my only ride, but I was wanting to take it down to the local drag strip every once in a while to test it out.
What I really want to know is how hard can I push it without having to worry about breaking something? I've gotten pretty used to flooring it with the old 190hp, but I'm pretty sure flooring it from a dead stop with 550hp will surely break something. I was wondering if anyone could help me out, and tell me what I should, and shouldn't do with this new engine? How far can I push it, and if I must, what parts of the car should I replace to handle this much horsepower? I'm very low on money right now, mostly because of the new engine, so please keep it small. I was also thinking about getting new tires on it soon, so what type would you reccomend with this new engine? Thanks for all your help!
I was at school today, and I realized that going from 190hp to 550 is quite a good jump, considering my car is the most powerful car I've ever driven. I'm kinda worried about all the parts in the car like the transmission (wich I think is a 400, but it could be a 350, does anyone know what type of transmission they put on an 81 vette?), the driveshaft, axle, or any other part that has direct relation to the engine, will they be able to handle that much power? I'll have to drive it every day to school, and it's my only ride, but I was wanting to take it down to the local drag strip every once in a while to test it out.
What I really want to know is how hard can I push it without having to worry about breaking something? I've gotten pretty used to flooring it with the old 190hp, but I'm pretty sure flooring it from a dead stop with 550hp will surely break something. I was wondering if anyone could help me out, and tell me what I should, and shouldn't do with this new engine? How far can I push it, and if I must, what parts of the car should I replace to handle this much horsepower? I'm very low on money right now, mostly because of the new engine, so please keep it small. I was also thinking about getting new tires on it soon, so what type would you reccomend with this new engine? Thanks for all your help!
VetteNV
03-07-2002, 07:43 AM
Try the L81 Vette Registry at http://www.l81vetteregistry.com/
327belair
03-09-2002, 10:20 AM
you might want to go through and replace things like u-joints that might be worn out at this point, but your stock drivetrain is basically what they put behind the 60's and 70's big block corvettes, so it should be able to handle that power without much problem
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