I'm converting a 1981 Corvette to a carbed setup, I'm sure others have done the same. How do I handle the torque converter clutch (TCC) activation and wiring?

 

I'm a little confused, I thought the '81's were all carbureted. Wasn't 'till '84 that they went cross-fire. So are you trying to do away with the computer controlled carburetor and still retain the rest of the computer controlled equipment? Get back with us, someone here can help you.

 

Weren't the 82s CrossFire Injected?

I agree re: the computer carb. You can replace it w/ a regular Q-jet as I did that on a 80 Cutlass. Ran a whole lot better.

 

Your right 73, my bad. 82 was the F.I. Cross-fire. The C.C. carbs are real pain to make run right.

 

You're right there. That's why I gave up and changed it out on the Cutlass. Got tired of messing with it.

 

Hey Chambers, I put an eldelbrock on my '81, and I also changed the intake. Getting the correct linkage is the most important part because of the Throttle Valve cable, its not like a normal TH350. My trans shifts fine with no computer hooked up to the carb. If you use the stock intake with another carb, you should be ok, but if you have to use another throttle bracket, the black one from edelrock worked for me (JUST BARELY), they only sell 2 universal brackets. It depends on what carb you are going to use.

The trick is to make sure that the TV cable is properly adjusted at FULL throttle, because the position of the cable tells the transmissions where the car is at, if you do the swap and the trans shifts: FAST FAST FAST and you seem to get the 3rd way to soon, or if its shakey and improper shift points, STOP DRIVING THE CAR until you can correct the adjustment. You can permanently damage the transmission.

The easiest swap is to get another rochester.

 

There are aftermarket companies that have conversion kits where you can install an electric switch or shift it manually. I've seen them for afew different overdrive trannys also. I sent you an e-mail about a week ago concerning this topic but wasn't sure if it sent.