Need to help identifing corvette.

[82z96ss]

I appreciate the help fellas.

[TimG]

The redline on the tach will tell you what engine may have come in the car. Solid lifter engines had 6500 RPM redline.
Also, solid lifter cars had 80 lb oil pressure gauge vs a 60 lb. Steep gears, 4.11 & 3.70, only came with HP engines. Solid lifter cars were the 340 horse (carb) and 360 horse fuelie engine cars.

[DANA/TA]

Make sure that the gauges don't look better than the overall car. The gauge faces can be refinished to whatever red line you want. Many cars are made to look like HiPo cars when the the rest of the car doesn't support the gauge cluster. It is a common occurance with Corvettes. A car percieved to be a high perfomance car always brings in the bigger money. Do your homework.
Mike

[olredalert]

-------Mike is right. The guages are only a little harder to change than the tires,but rarely do the installers leave them with any dirt on them so they sort of stick out on an unrestored car..........Bill S

[Vettefinderjim]

Seems like all my Corvette buds are jumping in here.......so here is my 2cents.

What does the trim tag say under the glove box next to the vin tag?
It will tell when the body was built, what exterior color, and what interior trim. The ECL codes will also help with options the car came with like radio, power steering etc.

Over the years, I have noted that most restorers were lazy in the old days.....and did not have much money, so they only changed items that had to be changed. For instance, if the engine blew on its original 300hp and the owner wanted to replace it with a 340hp engine, he would restamp the motor and make it 'look' correct, but use the original carb, alternator, regulator, pulleys etc. If you look closely at all the parts....check the numbers and post them here, chances are old DANA T/A will catch them. He use to be a wild judge in the old days!!....and can probably spot the cars history.
Jim

[DANA/TA]

Thanks for the vote of confidence Jim. But did ya have to say "Old Day's."

Mike