C3 Corvette Starter Motor Codes 1977 to 1982

Dating your starter motor

This page covers 1977 to 1982 Corvettes. Delco starters used on these cars have a date code stamped directly into the housing, or occasionally on a small tag riveted to it, giving the year, month, and day the starter was built, along with a shift indicator. It is a short string of numbers and letters rather than a full part description, so it takes a bit of decoding to read.

Because starters were a common service replacement part, a date code that lines up closely with the car's build date is one more small clue toward originality, while a much later date usually just means the starter was swapped at some point over the years. Use the table below to translate the code stamped on your starter.