Has anyone purchased and installed the "C8 Corvette Stingray to Z06 Front Bumper Conversion Kit" from paragon performance? If so how is the fitment and would you mind sharing any pictures of your C8 Stingray with the Z06 front bumper painted and installed? I like the look of the Z06/ERay front bumper more than the stock C8 Stingray one but wanted to see some pictures of it in the wild and customer feedback.

 

Interesting... I'm the other way around. I like the original C8's looks (from the front) more than the Z06 or eRay. I DO prefer the looks of the low Z06 spoiler over the Z51 spoiler. To each, their own! Or as I once heard Chip Foose say, "That's what makes a car show."

 

Okay, you have struck it lucky as I have more info than you probably even want on this topic. I deep dive farther than the average person, so I have info most others would never notice. First off, the pics on Paragons website are just slightly misleading, as the page says the bumper is from Auto Addict in California, and it is, but the naked, raw unpainted pics of the bumper are actually the Extreme Onlie Store bumper instead of Auto Addict's bumper. All the painted pics installed on the car are the actual Auto Addict genuine bumper pics. The two bumpers are ever so slightly different, but they are indeed different. The biggest difference in the two are that the EOS bumper has pre cut slits in the sides of the bumper for installation of the Dive Plane Canards. The Auto Addict bumper does not, and the side canards are actually affixed on this one from the outside by screws tapping into the side of the bumper. As such, you have no option but to install the side canards with the EOS bumper, but have options with the Auto Addict version.

Some will question, (Probably even Paragon!!!) how I know the unpainted bumper is the EOS bumper, and I will tell you to look very closely to the side view of the bumper just below the headlight. The EOS version has a slight, but noticeable "Character line bulge) molded into the bodywork! This character line IS NOT FOUND on the Auto Addict USA bumper. Check anywhere on the Internet and you will find when you find Z06 conversion bumpers with this character line, you will also find that this bumper has the pre cut slits for the canards. The reason for that character line is because this line IS TRUE TO DESIGN on the actual wider fenders of the REAL Z06, but since Stingray fenders are flatter and narrower than the Z06 fenders, this line starts, but is "blended" back out on the Conversion bumpers, again because ther is NO such line of the Stingray fenders for it to intersect with! On the Auto Addict bumper, they simply eliminated this character line bulge altogether! Also, the Auto Addict front splitter is ever so slightly deeper and more aggressive than the pic of the unpainted bumper, and the side canards also have a most slight difference with the Auto Addict version extending slightly more across the front splitter than that of the unpainted version. (I warned you I'd have more info than you'd even want! )

I can speak to all of this from 1st person perspective because I own and have on my car the Auto Addict Z06 front Conversion bumper. I did a lot of research before I purchased mine and the consensus seemed to be that the Auto Addict version was a higher quality piece. I compared EVERY picture I could find on the internet to check for myself. I also leaned heavily onto the opinion of the YouTube Channel Goonzquad boys where they bought the EOS bumper first and installed it on one of their rebuilds before swapping it out for the Auto Addict which they said was a better quality bumper. I looked carefully at their Rapid Blue C8 and of course it looks flawless. These guys are however MOST PROFESSIONAL as this what they do all day, everyday and they have a team working together for their goal. I purchased the Auto Addict bumper and had it professionally painted, and installed it myself (alone) in my garage! I ran into a couple of fitment issue that I was not able to resolve 100%. I am an admitted perfectionist, so the issues I ran into might not bother some others, but again I stress and seek perfection. I could MOST definitely have benefitted from having a second pair of hands during the installation and fitment of the bumper, and I feel I could do a better job should I do a second one, ... ( NOT!!!!) The assembly of the bumper with it's 15 pieces is a tedious job for sure! There are no instructions and you have to figure out which of the many clips and screws goes where??? Since there is so much flexibility in the bumper before all the structural pieces are added you can easily install one piece and find it difficult to attach or install the corresponding opposite side piece! (Again, a 2nd pair of hands helpful!) ... Aftermarket pieces, no matter how good of quality simply will never be as good as OEM products! ... I'd advise anyone doing it to buy form Amazon the wire mesh grill material and custom configure a set of radiator grill inserts. I did this and they came out GREAT!

All in all, it came out pretty good, but I cringe at car shows whenever anyone starts to look closely at the fitment in a couple areas. Was it worth it, and would I do it again ?? .. I'm not sure, because I had already done things with my Stingray front bumper that had it looking better than any Stingray front end I'd ever seen! But, as a rule (At least to me!) No Stingray front bumper will ever look as good as a Z06 front bumper, and this is what prompted me to move forward. I personally will not be fully satisfied until I actually own a true Z06 it seems.

 

Good writeup! I also have a 70th anniversary white pearl, and just put the Auto Addict wing on and I have this Z06 conversion bumper waiting to install as well. So this gives me a great idea of what it will look like when done. I’m going to paint mine myself.

How do you feel about the wing? I think the bracket needs better support, too much flex IMO?

 

That bumper and rear wing looks really good.

 

Yeah, the wing flexes out at the tips. It doesn't seem to be the brackets or the mounting base that's flexing, but rather the unsupported wing tips that are oscillating. To me, the design of the wing trying to use the existing center holes from the factory Z51 wing is part to blame. I say this because ... if you notice on the factory Z06 wing the upright support stanchions are spaced out wider than these from the Stingray. By having the legs farther outboard that gives more support to the wings, and it looks better as well because the arms are just a bit too long stretching out there with no support. Also, I suspect the wing is not solid ??? and that gives it more chance to move around a bit? C7Carbon makes a Z07 type wing that looks to be better designed and likely won't flex as much .. I kinda think?, .. but C7Carbon has such insane prices that I can't see how they can stay afloat! ... I'd buy if they were $1,500 or so bucks, but $4,000 is just plain too much. ExtremeOnline store also has a Z07 wing that I think may be better? It requires some REAL cutting into the bumper, but it spaces out the stanchions and then covers the old holes with a coast to coast rigid lip type cover. I think it looks pretty good but it too is a bit high at about $2,100 I think? Overall, the quality of the wing itself is Ok, but I could have made it great with a couple small design enhancements.

 

I thought about the C7 Carbon one as well, but the price is what also pushed me towards this wing. I may try to fab my own chassis mount for this existing wing and see how it turns out.

 

[QUOTE=Stew24;1608746085]Okay, you have struck it lucky as I have more info than you probably even want on this topic. I deep dive farther than the average person, so I have info most others would never notice. First off, the pics on Paragons website are just slightly misleading, as the page says the bumper is from Auto Addict in California, and it is, but the naked, raw unpainted pics of the bumper are actually the Extreme Onlie Store bumper instead of Auto Addict's bumper. All the painted pics installed on the car are the actual Auto Addict genuine bumper pics. The two bumpers are ever so slightly different, but they are indeed different. The biggest difference in the two are that the EOS bumper has pre cut slits in the sides of the bumper for installation of the Dive Plane Canards. The Auto Addict bumper does not, and the side canards are actually affixed on this one from the outside by screws tapping into the side of the bumper. As such, you have no option but to install the side canards with the EOS bumper, but have options with the Auto Addict version.

Some will question, (Probably even Paragon!!!) how I know the unpainted bumper is the EOS bumper, and I will tell you to look very closely to the side view of the bumper just below the headlight. The EOS version has a slight, but noticeable "Character line bulge) molded into the bodywork! This character line IS NOT FOUND on the Auto Addict USA bumper. Check anywhere on the Internet and you will find when you find Z06 conversion bumpers with this character line, you will also find that this bumper has the pre cut slits for the canards. The reason for that character line is because this line IS TRUE TO DESIGN on the actual wider fenders of the REAL Z06, but since Stingray fenders are flatter and narrower than the Z06 fenders, this line starts, but is "blended" back out on the Conversion bumpers, again because ther is NO such line of the Stingray fenders for it to intersect with! On the Auto Addict bumper, they simply eliminated this character line bulge altogether! Also, the Auto Addict front splitter is ever so slightly deeper and more aggressive than the pic of the unpainted bumper, and the side canards also have a most slight difference with the Auto Addict version extending slightly more across the front splitter than that of the unpainted version. (I warned you I'd have more info than you'd even want! )

I can speak to all of this from 1st person perspective because I own and have on my car the Auto Addict Z06 front Conversion bumper. I did a lot of research before I purchased mine and the consensus seemed to be that the Auto Addict version was a higher quality piece. I compared EVERY picture I could find on the internet to check for myself. I also leaned heavily onto the opinion of the YouTube Channel Goonzquad boys where they bought the EOS bumper first and installed it on one of their rebuilds before swapping it out for the Auto Addict which they said was a better quality bumper. I looked carefully at their Rapid Blue C8 and of course it looks flawless. These guys are however MOST PROFESSIONAL as this what they do all day, everyday and they have a team working together for their goal. I purchased the Auto Addict bumper and had it professionally painted, and installed it myself (alone) in my garage! I ran into a couple of fitment issue that I was not able to resolve 100%. I am an admitted perfectionist, so the issues I ran into might not bother some others, but again I stress and seek perfection. I could MOST definitely have benefitted from having a second pair of hands during the installation and fitment of the bumper, and I feel I could do a better job should I do a second one, ... ( NOT!!!!) The assembly of the bumper with it's 15 pieces is a tedious job for sure! There are no instructions and you have to figure out which of the many clips and screws goes where??? Since there is so much flexibility in the bumper before all the structural pieces are added you can easily install one piece and find it difficult to attach or install the corresponding opposite side piece! (Again, a 2nd pair of hands helpful!) ... Aftermarket pieces, no matter how good of quality simply will never be as good as OEM products! ... I'd advise anyone doing it to buy form Amazon the wire mesh grill material and custom configure a set of radiator grill inserts. I did this and they came out GREAT!

All in all, it came out pretty good, but I cringe at car shows whenever anyone starts to look closely at the fitment in a couple areas. Was it worth it, and would I do it again ?? .. I'm not sure, because I had already done things with my Stingray front bumper that had it looking better than any Stingray front end I'd ever seen! But, as a rule (At least to me!) No Stingray front bumper will ever look as good as a Z06 front bumper, and this is what prompted me to move forward. I personally will not be fully satisfied until I actually own a true Z06 it seems.

 

Hello I also installed the Z06 conversion bumper on my stingray. Absolutely love the look! Do you know how to go about getting parts for the kit? I already managed to slightly damage the splitter. Will a Z06/Z07 aftermarket splitter work with this setup??

 

If you in fact have the Paragon Z07 wing, it is manufactured by AutoaddictUSA in California. I would simply contact them about possible replacement parts ... I would guess!

 

@Stew24 Thank you so much for your write-up. The Paragon piece is $400 more than EOS because of a $100 price difference and Paragon's $300 shipping charge. it would seem that's worthwhile if I'm already spending the $900 to spend another $400 for a better quality piece. I also know that Paragon has great customer service and have no experience with EOS in that regard. I was going to make a thread but it seems there is no need now. I will say that EOS has a link to a really comprehensive YouTube video that may have been added since you made that post, and I don't foresee any huge issues... it is annoying that I will have to buy some sort of tool to cut off those shipping brackets but everything else looks manageable. Not sure if the Auto Addict will have that but I predict it will to give support during shipping.

 

Do they offer markers for where to drill the self-tappers? I really don't want to mess it up if they offer no guidance, and they should absolutely not be leaving it to me to measure and make sure things are straight. I will absolutely ruin everything if that's the case. Pretty sure I want them installed, but it's a one-way process because if you take them off after the self-tappers are screwed in, you'll have holes where they are...

 

Okay, a couple of questions to be answered. First, that video that you posted was most certainly produced before I ever started my process, and I used parts of it to make my decisions. The Autoaddict version bumper does use these bracing strips during shipping, and have to be removed before installation, but I'm pretty certain mine only had the braces on the lower open grill section, and did not have the ones at the top as seen in your question. Also, there's no need for any special tool to remove them. They are only lightly attached for structural rigidity during shipping, and they slice off easily with a sturdy box cutter type utility knife. ##########

Next, .. the Dive Plane Canards, ... I did a lot of research on what others did when using this version, and I found pics of them installed all over the place! Some were installed with the leading edge tips "above" the front splitter, .. some had the leading edge tips "blended and integrated" into the corresponding edge of the front splitter (Proper OEM location). I've even seen one high, and one low on the other side in some pics! What I did was to use small ver thin pieces of 3M double sided automotive molding tape to "pre-position" the canards to see where I should attach the self tappers. ( I made the mistake of doing the driver's side first, and it looked so good, that I immediately put in the self tappers!) As luck would have it, when I measured and tried to replicate the position on the passenger's side there was a slight gap between the canards and the bumper that was noticeable!) It turns out that if I had trial fitted BOTH ... instead of just one side, I could have found a corresponding angle that worked best for both sides. Not sure why there was an inconsistency from one side to the other, but we are talking about maybe a 1/16th gap, but I could see daylight thru it, and it was unacceptable to me. I had to demount the first drivers side version, and start all over until I found that happy medium that worked for both sides. The attached photo shows mine when trial fitted "without" any self tappers on the passengers side. You will see the leading edge tip NOT perfectly blending into the splitter. Nothing I could do would make it match the other side perfectly until I started over and re-positioned the original drivers side. With much fenagling I eventually got a version I could live with. 👍🏼

 

Looks like American Muscle has one too. I wonder if this is the Auto Addicts brand also? Or perhaps the EOS brand. The one review says it came in bubble wrap and he/she has no complaints about the fitment or quality.

https://www.americanmuscle.com/corve...8z06-20up.html

 

The bumper American Muscle is showing and linking to is for sure the ExtremeOnlineStore bumper. There are three dead giveaways to confirm this. #1, the bumper has the little character line "blip" that normally intersects with the widened fenders of the OEM Z06, but does not have a corresponding line to meet on the Stingray. Not sure why they didn't just smooth this line out, and remove the way Auto Addict did on their front bumper. (See my attached photo that points this out.) #2, Look at the Canards in the individual pieces breakdown pic and see the inserting tabs located on the Canards. These tabs slide thru the sides of the bumper in the corresponding pre-cut slits that are a part of the EOS bumper, but are NOT the design of the Auto Addict bumper, as that one uses self tapping screws that affix the Canards the outside of the bumper. (See the attached photo and the pointer showing the tabs) And lastly, #3 ... the photo clearly shows "ExtremOnlineStore decal across the top of the windshield of the display pic of the front bumper. Both bumpers have some features I like, some I don't like. I actually like the positive & exact location means of attaching the Canards on the EOS version, .. but also dislike that you don't have an option to NOT use them, because you have a number of pre-cut slits in the bumper, and no way to hide them but with the canards.

 

Thank you yet again... I emailed EOS with a few questions and rather than a bulleted list of 4 answers to my bulleted list of 4 questions, I got a picture like you just posted of the parts included and was told to go watch the installation video. Helpful since I didn't know there was an installation video, but I saw the parts picture already and couldn't discern if a splitter was included or not, and if I'd have to buy one or use my Stingray one (2 of the other questions). My other question was about the cameras. I searched a Facebook group and while I'm aware they aren't the best for information, I saw that I can indeed mount my existing cameras into the Z06 bumper. Someone did complain about the angle not being OEM but he may have positioned the cameras improperly and I don't know if he bought EOS or Auto Addict.

The canard installation has me nervous since you mentioned self-tapping screws... is it at least easy to tell where they need to go? Driving a screw through an $1100 piece of fiberglass when they could have pre-installed them for me is going to suck.

Can you elaborate on the custom radiator grille inserts? I assume you're talking about the grille guards that protector the front radiators. I bought an Amazon set for my Stingray and they were a pain in the *** to install, but they were also not $400 like the rip off Scrape Armor or whatever. Since this is an aftermarket bumper, I'm hesitant to buy any grille guards meant for z06 because any fitment issues will just be blamed on me for having an aftermarket bumper and I'll probably be SOL without even being able to return. Even if I buy something a little more quality/expensive this time and just eat the cost, like Paragon's.

Something someone else mentioned (last thing for now, I promise lol)... someone asked the question "won't the radiators look smaller and not fill out the whole background of the radiators?" And it got me wondering. I believe the z06 has a center radiator and Stingrays don't, so I'm wondering about that area too. I've installed a front LED kit and so it would be even more noticeable if there is an awkward gap in the middle and the side radiators are clearly not big enough to fill the openings in the bumper. Now, if the gap doesn't look goofy, fine. But if it does, the LED kit will make it look very obvious. Can you share any pics and give your opinion looking at the front head-on, if possible shining light so I'll know what it will look like?

 

On the Canard installation, again .. what I did was get some thinnest variety (Thin as in "thickness" not width!) 3M body molding tape and put a couple small pieces on the canards and simply "trial fit" the location of the canards in what looks proper and correct as it fits to the bumper side and the splitter front leading edge. Look at pics of the OEM canards on a true Z06 to see where and what it should look like. The canards have a flange on the underside that is unnoticeable unless you get down on your knees and look under the canard on the side of the bumper. I'm sure it came with the black self tapper screws but I also went to O'reilly Auto and got some black self tappers. (Can't remember which ones I used?) Once you have BOTH SIDES TRIAL FITTED at the SAME TIME, and are happy with the look and the fitment, then you can drill a small starter pilot hole for the self tappers. The self tapper hole of the canard at the very front leading edge has a quite severe angle to work with underneath the canard blade. I had to buy from Harbor Freight an extended length drill bit to reach under there and start my pilot hole for that front location. I also had to use an extension length on my drill/screwdriver to afix that self tapper. I would say it's important to get this leading edge screw in place because at highway speeds that Canard is taking on a lot of force with it's aggressive angle of attack and if you tried to just use tape on that front location due to the difficulty reaching under to it, you'll likely get some variance to it's original desired location point. (The canard can't go anywhere because the side tappers have it secured, but that leading edge tip moved maybe a 1/16" on mine (After running on the highway), when I tried to get away by not putting a screw in that hard to get to front hole. (I probably lost you in that winded description (If you didn't have the piece in hand to see what I mean), but is easy to understand if you had the canard for reference.)

As for the Grill Guards ... What I did was buy a roll of aluminum mesh grill material from Amazon for about $45. I bought 1 roll of this and had enough to do the entire front area of the bumper. This is a "custom" type thing, as you already have the bumper on a stand to assemble all of the 15 pieces, so when doing this just go ahead and install the custom grill guards. I made cardboard templates of the areas that needed grills, then I took the templates and laid them over a section of the flattened roll of grill material, marked it and then cut out a corresponding section that would be for the desired grill guard. The grill material is black painted metal mesh, but it cuts fairly easily with some large garden shears. (There's a YouTube video of another person doing this, and is where I got my idea of how to do it!) The individual sections are then attached to the bumpers grill by smallest variety black Zip Ties! You drill a small hole in the blade of the grill, and you simply zip tie the guards into place at multiple locations until it is 100% secure. You have to be careful that you cut the guard material large enough to cover the desired section, but just a bit of overlap so as to not have any unwanted open or uncovered areas when finished. The small black zip tie attachments are absolutely totally undetectable! This is custom work, but if you're the handy type it's not hard at all. I'll have to get a pic for you later, but I can say this came out AMAZING!, .. and looks 100% OEM as I compared mine to true Scrape Armor grills on a Z06 at a car show, and they looked exactly the same, ... with the mesh grids being the same size and design! Total cost was about $45 and a little bit of time and effort.

 

These are taken from Paragon. You can see the grill guards, although I have no idea what they are using? Mine look very similar indeed though! You can see in these pics how Paragon got the Canards "off" a bit in my opinion. The trailing edge is too low, and that has the leading edge kicked up just a bit, and one side is actually higher than the other side! This is the kind of issue you can potentially have with the Auto Addict version. This is why I said I kinda like that EOS has slots and tabs to mount theirs with no variance in locating the proper attachment points. I will say this, .... be prepared for a bit of adjusting and fitting to try to find a happy medium in all of this. These are not OEM parts and there is a difference I have found.

 

I agree with what you said 100%. I am not a body shop. I had a proper shop do the painting, then did my installation in my garage without a second set of hands! (Which I don't recommend!) It is NOT a simple swap by any means. Alignment was challenging when only one person is available. The look is very satisfying though in the end!

 

I have the AutoAddict bumper and I used rivnuts to install the canards so that they were a good solid fit to the urethane bumper.