when does a corvette become not original
Asked by rmotor22 Nov 14, 2015 at 10:54 AM about the 1982 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe RWD
Question type: Car Customization
I have a 1982 vette
it is numbers matching
but the engine has been rebuilt once and bord 30 over.
the front end has been replaced from a previos reck.
the carpet somebody put house carpet in it.
so my question is to ceep it original colors or customize it with diferent colors of my choosing.
oh yea and im building a 383 stroker to put in it.
8 Answers
Keep the original engine. Without it you devalue your car a lot. Cars with original color paint are also more valuable as it costs a lot of money to return the car to its original color. I would get rid of the house carpet and get a correct carpet kit too.
The second best choice for paint is to use a color that is correct for the year instead of the original paint color.
When you mentioned the replaced front end, the house carpet, the engine (not stock/OEM) replaced, you pretty much answered your own question. It's not orginal, so pick a color, stuff the stroker, burn some rubber. 6spd auto would be kinda cool behind that 383
The replacement of the front end would qualify as accident repairs and does not impact the "originality" of the car at all.
You could install a stroker kit in the original block and the engine would look exactly the same as the original yet have significantly more power. The engine could be returned to original specifications at any time for a purist. Boring an engine out 0.030 over would not result in deductions of points in any concours competition.
1982 is a finicky year for corvette. I believe it was the last year for the c-3. if you are bent on keeping it all original then once you have bored the engine it is no longer at the original displacement that chevrolet intended. the fact that you still have the original engine and trans then for resale purposes you can market it as such, 1982 corvette c-3 with original engine, trans, rear that has been repaired and restored (if you take the awful house rug out and replace with oem style carpet) to original appearance. mention the boring out to .30. now if you want to keep it and do not care about keeping it original then enjoy the car and do what you want. so decide if you want to sell it or keep it. if selling then keep it as original as possible, understand that 82 is not the most valuable year but hey you never know. if you decide to keep it then do what YOU as the driver of it want to do and let your critics be damned.
repaint...if keeping it orignal determing if the existing paing can be salvaged with a good rub down and buff, in my opinion that adds to the originallity of the car if it can be salavaged (with assumption that the body is straight and those gol darnned front and rear bumpers are on straight) if you must repaint it, again its about what do you want to do with it, if you are going to sell it then repaint the original color, if you are going to keep it, then do what YOU want to do. also check with the with the NCRS they sometimes can give you a full break down and history of your corvette.
