First Post-First Corvette & Some Questions on My New C8

[jeff58]

Hello everyone,

First off, I would like to thank John for putting me in touch with Boardwalk Chevrolet who managed to squeeze me into their 2020 allocations. His willingness to help out a complete stranger and go the extra mile was refreshing.

I have never owned a Chevy of any kind. Have always been a Ford guy especially the vintage Mustangs. Have restored a number of them from 1966-1972 to concourse conditions. Being now retired, and getting up there in age, the constant fixing of the older cars and the worry in the back of my mind of will it brake down if I drive it, led me to consider a new sports car. I was at a Cars & Coffee recently with my son and we were looking at some of the C7's saying how nice they look. In talking to one of the owners, he starting telling me about the new mid engine car and showed me some pics on his phone. I went straight home and read everything I could and said this is the car that I have been waiting for. I must admit that I am blown away by the design and performance on a car at this price point.

So here are a couple questions that I would like to thank everyone in advance for taking the time to help answer...

1. Relative to the high wing option (non Z51 car). I know that the wing will be shipped with the car and installed by the dealer. Does the dealer have to drill the holes in the rear facia or does the car come equipped from the factory with a Z51 rear facia that already has the holes pre-drilled? What about the brackets, are they also installed on the assembly line and the dealer just has to bolt the spoiler on during PDI? Kind of nervous if dealer has to remove facia and do all this on a brand new car.

2. On the painted brake calipers. With a cost of $695 I was not sure if I was missing something? Can I just pull the wheels, tape off and spray or use a brush on POR-15 type paint to accomplish the same thing?

3. NPP exhaust. I have read that the performance between the standard and NPP exhaust is insignificant. So, this option at a cost of $1195 is essentially just a switch that allows me to change the sound from normal to loud?

4. Are the Corvette letters on the back stick on or are there holes drilled in facia to mount each one individually?

5. Do the side mirrors fold in or are they fixed? The published width of the car is 76". Does anyone know if that is the width of car only or the width from outside of each mirror? A little worried about the width of my garage.

6. Last question, I read a post about someone who selected the carbon flash wheel option as pictured below on my car but was thinking about painting the machined edge to match the body color. I was wondering if we have anyone skilled in Photoshop that could give it a try?

Again, thank you to everyone here. I am looking forward to participating. Jeff

[corvette1953]

I will let others answer your questions, I just want to say congratulations on your purchase of a C8 Corvette.

[John]

Hello everyone,

First off, I would like to thank John for putting me in touch with Boardwalk Chevrolet who managed to squeeze me into their 2020 allocations. His willingness to help out a complete stranger and go the extra mile was refreshing.

I have never owned a Chevy of any kind. Have always been a Ford guy especially the vintage Mustangs. Have restored a number of them from 1966-1972 to concourse conditions. Being now retired, and getting up there in age, the constant fixing of the older cars and the worry in the back of my mind of will it brake down if I drive it, led me to consider a new sports car. I was at a Cars & Coffee recently with my son and we were looking at some of the C7's saying how nice they look. In talking to one of the owners, he starting telling me about the new mid engine car and showed me some pics on his phone. I went straight home and read everything I could and said this is the car that I have been waiting for. I must admit that I am blown away by the design and performance on a car at this price point.

So here are a couple questions that I would like to thank everyone in advance for taking the time to help answer...

1. Relative to the high wing option (non Z51 car). I know that the wing will be shipped with the car and installed by the dealer. Does the dealer have to drill the holes in the rear facia or does the car come equipped from the factory with a Z51 rear facia that already has the holes pre-drilled? What about the brackets, are they also installed on the assembly line and the dealer just has to bolt the spoiler on during PDI? Kind of nervous if dealer has to remove facia and do all this on a brand new car.

Here first is what we know, then what we believe to be accurate. The Z51 wings will always come with the standard spoiler attached, via six holes in the top of the rear fascia, with securing bolts underneath, e.g., why the rear fascia must be taken off to then have the dealer install the high wing through the exact same holes (ergo, no drilling). The dealer does the fascia removal, then the factory low spoiler, install the high wing during the PDI process. We believe but are are not positive that the brackets that transfer the forces from the high wing are not include in the factory assembly, but are part of the parts shipped with the high wing itself.

2. On the painted brake calipers. With a cost of $695 I was not sure if I was missing something? Can I just pull the wheels, tape off and spray or use a brush on POR-15 type paint to accomplish the same thing?

Yes you can do exactly what you are proposing, though my personal preference is to match the calipers to a factory exterior color, getting the paint match from www.g2usa.com (at $110 for their high temp, exact paint match paint). I have used it twice and it is a super-leveling, glossy paint.

3. NPP exhaust. I have read that the performance between the standard and NPP exhaust is insignificant. So, this option at a cost of $1195 is essentially just a switch that allows me to change the sound from normal to loud?

As far as performance difference, there is as you noted, little differences. And yes, sound adjustment is a key difference, but might some high quality aftermarket exhaust firms choose to duplicate this with their own system? Also, is there a sound difference between the NPP or not?

4. Are the Corvette letters on the back stick on or are there holes drilled in facia to mount each one individually?

Thankfully there are just stick on letters (no holes at all); yes, each one mounted individually. Just GooGone and dental floss, a hair dryer, and a touch of patience and are easily removed.

5. Do the side mirrors fold in or are they fixed? The published width of the car is 76". Does anyone know if that is the width of car only or the width from outside of each mirror? A little worried about the width of my garage.

They folded in a 2LT and a 3LT with the pull of a switch on the console. Please see an excellent thread here done by docprego, with measurements, video and more.

https://www.midenginecorvetteforum.c...��docprego-”

6. Last question, I read a post about someone who selected the carbon flash wheel option as pictured below on my car but was thinking about painting the machined edge to match the body color. I was wondering if we have anyone skilled in Photoshop that could give it a try?

While I have not yet seen a photoshop, you could take these pictures and use a magic marker to get a real close approximation.





Again, thank you to everyone here. I am looking forward to participating. Jeff

Answering as many as I can in bold italics below each of your six questions.

[meyerweb]

Hello everyone,

First off, I would like to thank John for putting me in touch with Boardwalk Chevrolet who managed to squeeze me into their 2020 allocations. His willingness to help out a complete stranger and go the extra mile was refreshing.

I have never owned a Chevy of any kind. Have always been a Ford guy especially the vintage Mustangs. Have restored a number of them from 1966-1972 to concourse conditions. Being now retired, and getting up there in age, the constant fixing of the older cars and the worry in the back of my mind of will it brake down if I drive it, led me to consider a new sports car. I was at a Cars & Coffee recently with my son and we were looking at some of the C7's saying how nice they look. In talking to one of the owners, he starting telling me about the new mid engine car and showed me some pics on his phone. I went straight home and read everything I could and said this is the car that I have been waiting for. I must admit that I am blown away by the design and performance on a car at this price point.

So here are a couple questions that I would like to thank everyone in advance for taking the time to help answer...

Welcome to the forum, Jeff. Glad to have you here. Some answers below:

1. Relative to the high wing option (non Z51 car). I know that the wing will be shipped with the car and installed by the dealer. Does the dealer have to drill the holes in the rear facia or does the car come equipped from the factory with a Z51 rear facia that already has the holes pre-drilled? What about the brackets, are they also installed on the assembly line and the dealer just has to bolt the spoiler on during PDI? Kind of nervous if dealer has to remove facia and do all this on a brand new car.

The base (non-Z51) does not come with hole pre-drilled if you order the high wing. I believe (90% sure?) that the locations for the mounting holes are defined on the underside of the fascia, so the dealer doesn't have to figure out where to drill them. The brackets are also not pre-installed. The dealer will have to remove the fascia, drill holes, and install the brackets. Alternately, you could have it done at a high quality body shop,, but that would cost more, of course.

One more option: Museum delivery. The museum PDI staff still has to do all the same things, but given the care they take in general you might feel more comfortable having them do it. Not cheap, at $1000, but you get the full museum delivery treatment, too.

2. On the painted brake calipers. With a cost of $695 I was not sure if I was missing something? Can I just pull the wheels, tape off and spray or use a brush on POR-15 type paint to accomplish the same thing?

More or less. The colored calipers are painted at the Brembo factory, so that's probably the best quality paint job you're going to get, but many people have painted their own calipers. Check out G2, which is probably the optimum do it yourself approach: https://www.g2usa.com/ There are lots of YouTube videos showing the application.

3. NPP exhaust. I have read that the performance between the standard and NPP exhaust is insignificant. So, this option at a cost of $1195 is essentially just a switch that allows me to change the sound from normal to loud?

Pretty much. It's a little more sophisticated that that, with multiple levels of sound programming in between always quiet and (almost) always loud. Assuming it's the same as the C7, you'll have the options of Stealth (quiet all the time), Tour (quiet at low rpm and cruise, but opens up some for more sound during acceleration, (Sport) opens up more, and more often), and Track (fully open most of the time - but close down at certain speeds and gears to meet federal sound standards. MOST C7 owners find the extra volume compared to the very quiet standard exhaust, combined with the ability to make it quiet when you want, to be worth it. YMMV

4. Are the Corvette letters on the back stick on or are there holes drilled in facia to mount each one individually?

Stick on. Can be easily removed with a little heat and some nylon fishing line. Same with the other badges.

5. Do the side mirrors fold in or are they fixed? The published width of the car is 76". Does anyone know if that is the width of car only or the width from outside of each mirror? A little worried about the width of my garage.

They fold, but at the end of the flat bottom support, not the door, so they're still pretty wide. There are a couple of threads on the forum with specs for width of the mirrors, folded and unfolded, I think. On the 1LT, they fold only manually. On the 2LT and 3LT they are power folding.

6. Last question, I read a post about someone who selected the carbon flash wheel option as pictured below on my car but was thinking about painting the machined edge to match the body color. I was wondering if we have anyone skilled in Photoshop that could give it a try?

Again, thank you to everyone here. I am looking forward to participating. Jeff

I think someone's already done that. Hopefully they'll see this and post the photo again.