Help! 1981 turbo Corvette ?Factory?

[zwitteron]

March 15, 2009
Hello Bud,;help
My name is Donald Abel from Texas. I contacted you back in 1998 when I purchased my 1981 turbo corvette. You all were a lot of help back then. Some thought it was a Duntov and others just believed it was all aftermarket. But I still contend it is factory as the original owner ( Ron A.Yarbrough) said it was, who worked for G.M. when the car was built. I saw your thread on the 1980 factory turbo corvette in Amarillo, TX. That car is almost identical to mine, besides the color. My corvette has the Doug Nash 4+1 Five speed option and different emblems but, other than that they look like cousins. This is the first other C3 I've seen as close in resemblance to mine. My car is in nowhere near the condition of the 1980 but it has remained pretty much stock as I received it back in 1998. I had to replace the starter, master cylinder, water pump, alternator bracket, brakes, etc. over the years. Unfortunately, it has sat for about 2 years. It sat for 13 years before I got it in 1998. I still run it from time to time but not out on the road. I drove the car from 1998-2007 without too many problems. I just had to deal with Harris county emission laws for a few years. I think the mileage is around 56,000. I am having some problems with the turbocharger smoking. Do you have an idea where to get parts for this old Rayjay turbo? I will post some pictures of the car. Any information anyone can offer would greatly be appreciated.


VIN# : 1G1AY8760B5101107


Trim tag info.:
B 07A 101107
741 80L 80U 98M E
CHEVROLET

Thanks,
Donald Abel;help

 

[Yoda]

Donald,

I remember all the discussions about your Corvette
AND now I live in Texas too

Right now we are in Scottsbluff, Nebraska taking care of some business. We should be back home by the end of the week. I'll contact the local Club and see if I can get the name of the 1980 Turbo owner.

Last year during the Extravaganza Show in Amarillo, I spend over an hour talking to the owner and how he aquired his car and the history behind it, but more important the contacts from GM that "Helped" him with the correct restoration and parts search.

Have you tried contacting General Motors with your Car Information and esp. the VIN. We have probably already suggested this in past discussions, but you car is a Bowling Green production model, so there should be build information about it in the National Corvette Muesum archives (build sheet and window sticker available of course at FEE )

I can't access my email here, Comfort Inn here in Scottsbluff, does not allow hotmail access along with some other sites I'll try to check back later this evening or this week sometime

Bud

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

Aside from the claim of the original owner, what makes you beleive that this is a factory add-on?

I've never seen any paperwork that mentions such a thing- how would they get it certified for sale?

 

[zwitteron]

Thanks for the question,

The original owner was an executive or something at G.M.. It was told to me that he had it built for him by the factory, special order. He was like 60 years old back in 1981 and in 1998 he was still alive. I never could get ahold of the gentlemen. The second owner, who I purchased it from, was a friend of his and was the one who told me the story of the car.

 

[6880 Mike]

Your turbo was probably not installed at Bowling Green since the engine with the turbo would have had to have been emissions certified. It's possible the car was sent to Warren and the turbo installed there before the GM employee took ownership. Contact the National Corvette Museum and see if you can obtain a copy of the build sheet for your car.
https://store.corvettemuseum.com/services/buildsheet.asp

There might be information on the build sheet saying where this car went after it was assembled.

 

[JohnZ]

Not factory - never happened. Neither the engine nor the transmission was ever emissions-certified; it's all aftermarket.

 

[Hib Halverson]

I'm sorry to "rain on your parade" but here were no production, Corvette, turbocharged engines in 1980, or any model year, for that matter.

Also, no production Corvette had the Doug Nash five-speed manual transmission.

Anyone who says they had the "factory install" these items is lying to you.

There were a several aftermarket tuners who modified late-70s/early-80s Corvettes (some were shipped right from St. Louis or Bowling Green to the tuner's shop) with turbocharger systems and Nash five-speeds.

It is, also, possible that this person who once worked for GM, took delivery of the car then, had one of the GM entities or outside subcontractors which created concept or show cars, modify the car with those items on an aftermarket basis.

But...no 1980 Corvette came off the assembly line with a turbocharged engine or a five-speed transmission.

 

[LanceB]

Original from factory? Probably not. Regardless, the poster seems to be looking for parts for the turbo to keep it from smoking.