Photo: marknaggy13 on the Corvette Forum
It’s hard to imagine the C8 Corvette arriving at dealerships in 1LT specification. But even if you level up to the 2LT and 3LT trim levels, Chevrolet is much obliged to take your money for the so-called Engine Appearance Package.
$995 is the price to pay for “carbon-fiber closeout panels on each side of the engine” and “LED lighting illuminating the engine compartment.” Painting the small-block V8 engine cover in Edge Red or Sterling Silver costs an additional $495 as per the configurator, and frankly, that’s a little bit too much.
Thanks to two members of the Corvette Forum, you can spruce up the engine bay and engine cover of your Stingray or Stingray Z51 on a budget and with OEM-rivaling attention to detail. First things first, let’s talk about "N4Speed."
The forum member took the engine cover out, sprayed two coats of high-temperature primer for obvious reasons, then applied three coats of red paint for a lovely, eye-popping result. Before getting down to business, user N4Speed first washed the cover with dish soap then rubbed some alcohol.
It’s also important to take your time prepping the cover for painting. Covering the metallic inserts with masking tape is the make-or-brake operation.
Moving on to LED lighting for the engine bay, user “marknaggy13” has posted the result of his “$20 appearance package” on the Corvette Forum to a standing ovation from the other members. The remote-controlled LED light bars are fairly easy to install with double-sided adhesive tape, and they run on AA batteries instead of electricity from the car’s battery. About that adhesive, it’s fairly easy to get the residue off whenever you take the lights out with nothing more than a dish soap-water mixture.
Taking both cosmetic upgrades into consideration, we’re talking about less than $100 for the DIY mods as opposed to $1,490 for Chevrolet’s options. It’s obvious that value favors the do-it-yourself instead of the automaker, but then again, some people prefer paying extra for these features.
Thanks to two members of the Corvette Forum, you can spruce up the engine bay and engine cover of your Stingray or Stingray Z51 on a budget and with OEM-rivaling attention to detail. First things first, let’s talk about "N4Speed."
The forum member took the engine cover out, sprayed two coats of high-temperature primer for obvious reasons, then applied three coats of red paint for a lovely, eye-popping result. Before getting down to business, user N4Speed first washed the cover with dish soap then rubbed some alcohol.
It’s also important to take your time prepping the cover for painting. Covering the metallic inserts with masking tape is the make-or-brake operation.
Moving on to LED lighting for the engine bay, user “marknaggy13” has posted the result of his “$20 appearance package” on the Corvette Forum to a standing ovation from the other members. The remote-controlled LED light bars are fairly easy to install with double-sided adhesive tape, and they run on AA batteries instead of electricity from the car’s battery. About that adhesive, it’s fairly easy to get the residue off whenever you take the lights out with nothing more than a dish soap-water mixture.
Taking both cosmetic upgrades into consideration, we’re talking about less than $100 for the DIY mods as opposed to $1,490 for Chevrolet’s options. It’s obvious that value favors the do-it-yourself instead of the automaker, but then again, some people prefer paying extra for these features.
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