1981 Corvette Carburetor date question

[Gary G.]

We are starting the process of NCRS restoration on our 1981 BG built car. The vin last 5 are 8803, with a build date of Oct 22 1981. While checking the numbers on the carburetor I found that it was manufactured August 12 1981.
From what I could find, the carburetor number 17081228 would indicate that it was built for an automatic car. Being that the build date of the carburetor is 70 days before the build date of the car, brings a few questions to mind after reading other threads. Is it possible that Rochester had completed the production run and that this was the remaining stock shipment? 70 days in the manufacturing world seems to be a long time to hold parts. Thanks in advance for any input.
Dawn Goodyear
1981 BG built (on the road to Chapter Flight Judging)
1981 STL built
1972 our lil red.

[Michael J.]

Re: 1981 Corvette Carburetor date question

I had #2509, mid July '81 BG built car. It had a late May built carb. 70 days apart is not a problem, nor is it unusual as far as I know. The car you have must have been very near the last '81s built in the new BG factory, IIRC, 8995 were built in BG for 1981.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1981 Corvette Carburetor date question

We are starting the process of NCRS restoration on our 1981 BG built car. The vin last 5 are 8803, with a build date of Oct 22 1981. While checking the numbers on the carburetor I found that it was manufactured August 12 1981.
From what I could find, the carburetor number 17081228 would indicate that it was built for an automatic car. Being that the build date of the carburetor is 70 days before the build date of the car, brings a few questions to mind after reading other threads. Is it possible that Rochester had completed the production run and that this was the remaining stock shipment? 70 days in the manufacturing world seems to be a long time to hold parts. Thanks in advance for any input.
Dawn Goodyear
1981 BG built (on the road to Chapter Flight Judging)
1981 STL built
1972 our lil red.

Dawn-------


In the 70's and 80's the Rochester Division of GM was making a plethora of carburetor part numbers for all of the GM car and truck product lines. Consequently, I believe each part number carb was manufactured in batches as it was likely much more efficient to build them that way rather than all part numbers being manufactured continually. Consequently, one could expect a lapse of 70 days (or more) from the time of carburetor manufacture to the build date of a particular car.

[Gary G.]

Re: 1981 Corvette Carburetor date question

Thank you for the input. This certainly is the right place to get correct information. !!
Dawn Goodyear
1981 BG built (on the road to Chapter Flight Judging)
1981 STL built
1972 our lil red.

[Brad Hillhouse (37766)]

Re: 1981 Corvette Carburetor date question

Thank you Mike Johnson & Joe Lucia for your great information for my friends Dawn & Gary. They just recently joined NCRS after visiting my shop last month and I encouraged them to get involved with NCRS and their local Chapter. They are great people and thank you for helping them out!

thats what this is all about!

Brad Hillhouse

[Gary G.]

Re: 1981 Corvette Carburetor date question

Thank you Brad for getting us involved. Dawn is enjoying learning the history and facts of her car. Mike and Joe we are new to the world of NCRS and it is proving to be one of the best groups that we have been involved in. We are looking forward to taking Corvette ownership to the next level!!

[Michael J.]

Re: 1981 Corvette Carburetor date question

Good to have you all here. '81s are a bit of a cult following, but since my first new Corvette was a tutone '81, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for them and loved the ones I have had. Good luck on your forward quest, and don't be shy about asking questions here, we all like to help out when we can, and I hope to see you at an NCRS event soon with those great cars too.