All you L81'ers

[Yoda]

There is a thread going about the reliabilty of the 1981 L81 and in that thread I see a couple members that have owned their 1981 for a NUMBER of years. This got me thinking.. always a dangerous thing when Yoda starts thinking...

How long have you owned your 1981..

Me personally... Rare and I have been together since 1997 and I don't regret going back into the C3 ONE SINGLE BIT
(It will be 7 years this July 18th)

 

[AUSSIEVETTEMAN]

6 Months already.

The wife and I picked her up in Townsville in North Queensland in April this year.
We saw the ad, booked a flight from the Gold Coast and drove her back two days later.

It was love at first sight. :love

We have spent hours tinkering over that 6 months and even two trips on a tow truck, but it has all been worth it.
We have repaired most of the drive line such as the transmission, the drive shafts, the diff, the suspension and the steering and are planning an engine rebuild next year after Christmas.
Nothing too aggresive, just stock if we can get away with it and the bore is OK. Last time the heads were off, which was the first time in her life, there was a bit of carbon build up, but not much lip. Not bad for 22 years!
Have also found a small amount of flakey rust on two body mounts. We scraped this away and applied a rust converter. I checked this the other day and it was gone.

Should have bought one years ago!

Cheers

Tony & Tanya

 

[81 Corvette]

14 months give or take. Something like 10K miles. Would be more, but being in the shop for 2 months hurt.

143,000 total

 

[texancanuc]

how long

ive owned mine for 2 years
and will keep her for 20 more

 

[fmize]

I have owned mine now for 3 years, and only put about 2100 miles on it, but it's getting real close to being finished.

Franky

 

[jdads2]

I've had mine for about 3 and a half yrs. Three yrs and counting on the rebuild!

I'll get the engine done this winter One can hope can't he! After that I intend on finishing the interior, it's about 90% done. With that comes a stereo. I'll drive it until I can afford the paint job...I hate to plunk down that kind of money all at once. I know when it's done it'll look great though.

 

[Tomlin]

I've owned my baby since July 1995 and she just keeps looking better every year. HI BUD, yes I'm still around.

Tom

 

[Dave L.]

I have had mine for 3 years now. It has 112,000 miles on the original stock engine. I put about 4000 miles a year on it. It's never let me sit,turns right over everytime and uses very little if any oil. Needless to say,I'm extremley pleased with the car and it will be stuck with me forever!

Dave

 

[SteveV]

I have had my 81 for a year. I drove it daily this past summer w/no
problems. I'll begin my winter projects very soon ( boxes of parts are
rolling in). I also purchased a new sound system w/a Infinity powered
sub-woofer. The system should be in around January. I'll let you know
how the sub works out. I know this has been a hot topic.

Take Care!

 

[Vette81]

I have owned my 81 since 1998 and plan on keeping it until I get to old to drive it. It has 113,000 miles on it and runs great!










Grizzly

 

[MidShark]

I've had my '81 for one year now. It doesn't have the power of my other cars, but it is the most comfortable to drive, and corners like a slot car.
Dick

 

[22229stingray81]

5 years next month! Lucky enough to have it as a first car, and responsible enough, no tickets, no accidents, put over 30,000 miles on it, everyday driver, has 127k on it total!

-Tatortot

 

[phxraptor]

One year this month Only put a couple hundred miles on it so far. All of the safety features are new, trying to decide on which way to go with the engine and trans:confused. Got the hots for a Harley now:cool sooooo

 

[kdlp]

.... about 3 months.... 2 months on the road and she's been undergoing a frame-off for the past month. I will say that considering the car is 20+ years old that the body/frame were tight with just superficial frame rust.

Of course the bushings were a bit mushy and in my car the engine had been rebuilt with smog and computer removed so I can't give much info on those systems. I will say I had absolutely no electrical or vacuum problems.

Kelly
(kdlp)

 

[smithjw]

I've had mine for 5 years. Only driven during summer months. Has 78K miles.

During winter months is when I have it stored in the garage and usually choose some area of the car to upgrade. So far I have replaced steel spring with fiberglass, replaced mufflers with Targa type, replaced cat with Random Tech, replaced parking brake cable, replaced all power steering hoses, replaced starter, replaced alternator with higher amp model which now powers 400W sound system I installed, replaced seat leather with leather like, replaced carpeting, replaced speedometer with 140mph model, added window tint to all windows except windshield,replaced all shocks with bilsteins,fixed all scratches in paint and detailed.

After all this, the car is like brand new and probably better. I am thinking of making some minor engine upgrades next, like new heads and intake. Unfortunatlely, as much as I love this car, I only find enough time to drive it maybe 500 miles each summer. But, I do enjoy working on it anyway.

Jeff

 

[Dave L.]

Sounds like a nice car jeff,got any pictures?

Dave

 

[DDLS3]

I have had my 81 since March of 2000. The milage was 45,000 and now is 58,000. The engine is original, headers, a vacuum advance type HEI distributor, true dual exhaust, and an Edelbrock performer carb are about the only changes from stock.

 

[RONS81]

2 TONE ORIGINAL OWNER, & STILL HAVE WINDOW STICKER,
DDL,RON & MELISSA SAY HI, RAN INTO NUT,IN OCEAN CITY
2 ND TIME CAR WAS USED,SINCE CORVETTE MUSEUM TRIP:



beer :bar :bar

 

[Tom Bryant]

My wife ordered hers and took delivery in Oct of '80. got all of the papers even the complete dealer order file. Chris works there. I married it....I mean her in '83. Nice car and not a bad wife either. Never been out in the winter (the car) and has missed a few summers too. Sometimes she is just too busy to drive it. I drove it 3 or 4 times this year. Son Blaine drove it to the prom and she rode in it once when we went out for our anniversary. The longer she has it the more scared she is of driving it on the road with all of the nuts out there (not you Nut). I think she fears deer the most. Getting way too thick around here.

Tom

 

[DDLS3]

Hi Ron and Melissa!!!!! Good to see you on the forum.......... Had the blueshark out for a cruise yesterday, 82 degrees here in KY. Was running over on 55 south blistering some turns and met a KY State Trooper. Thought for sure I would get a ticket. He about drove off into a field getting a look but never turned round to give chase.............
life is GOOD