1981 Chevrolet Corvette Sh/v-tech

1981 Corvette Facts and Specifications:, For the Corvette, 1981 was a year of transition. Changes were made not only to the car itself but where it was assembled as well. Since 1954 the Corvette had been built only at Chevrolet's St. Louis assembly plant. The Corvette line there was small and cramped and not capable of handling the 40-50,000 units being cranked out annually since 1976. , , With a new generation Corvette planned for 1983 as well as the high demand for the current model, Chevrolet chose to abandon St. Louis for a new assembly plant that would be dedicated solely to the Corvette. , , 1981 the first Corvette to use a computer on all production models., , The 1981 Corvette had two cooling fans to increase engine power.The regular engine-driven radiator fan was made smaller with fewer blades and less pitch so it consumes less power.Also installed was a Auxillary electric cooling fan., , The 1981 Corvette was visually identical to the previous model, with the exception of minor changes to the emblems. The new Corvette assembly plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky opened its doors in June 1981. The old St. Louis plant built its last Corvette on August 1st. Therefore, for about two months, Corvettes were built at both facilities., , For 1981 more weight is saved through the use of tubular stainless steel exhaust maniifolds for all 50 states and a new fiberglass reinforced plastic monoleaf rear spring. An 81 Corvette can weigh in at just a shade over 3300 pounds packing 24 gallons of fuel and a hefty equipment load., , A new kind of rear leaf spring (which was an industry first). This new spring was the latest in the use of fiberglass-reinforced plastic for structural applications being pioneered by Corvette. Being a monoleaf, there is no inter-leaf friction as the spring deflects, eliminating a major source of ride harshness. Perhaps most important, the new spring was 33 pounds lighter than the multileaf steel spring, and yet delivers comparable spring weights with exrended life service.(I highly recommend that if you need to replace your rear spring on your older C3 Corvette that you replace it with the fiberglass Mono Leaf Spring.) You will love the improved ride.