1982 Corvette Gets Big Power Infusion With 383 Stroker Swap

This 1982 Corvette emerged from the factory with good looks and poor performance, but that’s no longer the case.

As most Corvette fans are well aware, America’s sports car – like all performance-focused vehicles at the time – went through a bit of a rough patch in the 1970s and 1980s amid an oil crisis and tough new emissions standards that led to the demise of the great horsepower race. As such, we saw the Corvette diminished from one of the most powerful, fastest vehicles one could buy to just another V8 sports car with barely enough power to get out of its own way. That is no longer the case with this 1982 Corvette up for grabs at Bring a Trailer, however.

Back in 2009, the owner of this 1982 Corvette ditched its original 350 V8 in favor of a 383 cubic-inch GM ZZ383 crate motor, which provides a massive upgrade under the hood and is fitted with a Holly Sniper EFI system, tubular headers, and an exhaust system with remote-controlled cutouts. The owner also ditched the slow-shifting four-speed automatic for a proper five-speed manual gearbox, which sends power back to a Positraction rear differential with 3.54 gears.

That alone is enough to transform what was already a great-looking machine into a proper sports car, as should have been the case to begin with. However, the seller also went to work upgrading some of the C3’s other mechanicals, adding Bilstein shocks, a Steeroids rack-and-pinion conversion kit, and four-wheel disc brakes with Wilwood calipers. The original 15-inch wheels were retained, but also replaced with gray 18-inch Vision 143 Torque wheels and Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 tires for a more modern look and better grip.

Originally finished in Corvette Gold Metallic, this 1982 Corvette was later repainted silver, but currently sports an orange vinyl wrap to give it a more unique look. The interior is mostly stock, however, finished in tan leather and adorned with a variety of amenities including an Alpine CD stereo and converted air conditioning.

Overall, this C3 is a nicely updated example of a largely undesirable vehicle, at least among collectors, which is the case solely because of its poor performance – a true shame, really. Thankfully, correcting that little oversight is pretty easy, as we can see from the results of this cool build.

#gallery-1 {
margin: auto;
}
#gallery-1 .gallery-item {
float: left;
margin-top: 10px;
text-align: center;
width: 33%;
}
#gallery-1 img {
border: 2px solid #cfcfcf;
}
#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {
margin-left: 0;
}
/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Photos: Bring a Trailer