7 Best C6 DIY Mods and Upgrades
We're willing to bet that you've already thought about doing one of these. Simple and effective, these are all mods we can get behind.
1. Cold Air Shroud
There's no argument that every car can reap some rewards from an aftermarket cold air intake, but you get gains very close to, or the same as, many of those expensive systems out there with a simple shroud. Chevrolet improved the location and size of the intake opening in going from C5 to C6, but the induction system is still open to under hood heat. By adding a simple shroud (upper and center left, above) you can isolate and direct the incoming air toward the filter for a reliable increase in horsepower. As always, the greatest gains come when paired with a low-restriction performance air filter. If you still want a full cold air intake system many companies offer a variety of choices, from Callaway (right) to carbon fiber (bottom left).
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2. CAGS 1-4 Bypass
This mod comes from Craig Leres at WHT Z06 Mods, and is for those who want to bypass the Computer Aided Gear Selection. CAGS is the solenoid that locks out second and third gears on the manual six speed, when accelerating under light throttle. We're sharing it because there has been discussion about it on the forum and it's just plain interesting. Craig offers several simple ways to do the bypass, but all of them involve adding a resistor to a already blown fuse and plugging it back into the CAGS circuit. Interested? You can read more about it here.
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3. Roof Panel Fix/Update
Forum member and moderator talon90 offers this solution to an issue common to many a C6: loose, rattling, or squeaky roof panels. The 2004-2007 model year panels are particularly susceptible to noise problems. He offers fixes for each individual year—ranging from the mod the factory performed on the earlier cars and instructions for installing improved later-year latches, to adding noise-reducing O-rings and simple lubrication. Turns out lubrication is always a good idea. Read his hyper-helpful and super detailed full post here.
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4. Trick Stock-Looking LED Tailights
This is another mod from Craig Leres at WHT Z06 Mods. His solution to keeping the stock tail lights, using the factory lenses, while converting them to LED is pretty darn well thought out and executed. His research led him to choose the same LEDs that Pratt & Miller use in their C6R and C6RS. He didn't want to epoxy them to his stock untis so he cast custom adapters that connect the LED modules to his C6 lights. He also added load resistors to keep the LEDs flashing at the same rate as the factory units. It's another interesting and detailed build, read more about it here.
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5. A-Pillar Paint or Swap
A car's A-pillar is one of its most distinctive styling features. We like the one Chevy gave our C6s, but some of us would like ours to match our Vette's body color or gloss black top. This detailed how-to comes from forum member ncvette_1FUNRIDE. The procedure is pretty straightforward and fool-proof. As with anything from the world of trim, you have to be careful working around paint and glass and rubber. Aside from that, the hardest part of this tweak is painting the new parts. Isn't that always the case. Red the full post here.
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6. Vacuum Line Routing
Forum member StKnoWhere gives us this mod which re-routes the NPP vacuum line. Forum member comments on this change include: "I'm doing a clutch install right now and I can tell you that I am getting fed up with that dangling vacuum line being in my face," and, "getting the rubber line away from the exhaust and out of the weather is good." His mod requires running the vacuum line down the fender behind the battery, through the rocker, out in front of the rear brake duct, over the rear wheel, and across the frame to the muffler. Check out his post here for more detailed info.
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7. Jack Pads: Yes, Crossbeam: Probably Not
Someone is going to have to lift your Corvette into the air at some point, and if it's you, a great cheap hack is to use a hockey puck between your jack and the factory jacking points. We've seen all manner of expensive, machined, embossed, polished aluminum, and urethane pads you can spend your money on, but hockey pucks work great. They fit, they are strong, they don't slip. What else do you need? We'll tell you what you don't need: a crossbar jack. The factory doesn't specify you use one, or recommend you need to jack the car from more than one point (unless it's with a professional shop-type lift system, of course). A crossbar jack doesn't make jacking safer or more stable, nor have we ever seen a professional technician use one. We know some forum members might be using them and if they work for you we don't want to harsh your buzz; consider this advice for those on the fence—the fence doesn't offer a stable base from which to work on your pride and joy.
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For help with service of your car, check out the how to section of CorvetteForum.com