C5 Corvette Z06 Body And Exterior Makeover - Extreme Makeover C5 Edition

Getting at some fasteners requires removing the outboard taillights, which must be done anyway to transfer them to the new fascia. As mentioned, the kit comes with new inboard lamps combining a red-lens section and a clear-lens backup light.

After unclipping the fascia wiring harness from the right side of the bumper impact bar, the old unit is ready to come off. Notice the holes along the rear edge of the quarter-panel where some of the fascia fasteners pass through.

In this shot, the license-plates lamps and the third brake light have been bolted in place on the new piece. Likewise, the new fascia's grille screens have been secured. Though the inboard taillights can go in at this time, the outboard lamps must be left out to access some of the fascia-mounting hardware.

Here's the finished rear fascia, complete with a new license-plate surround (we chose to paint this to match the fascia, but you could also do it in black). No, we didn't take off Todd's 3-inch exhaust and replace it with the kit's 2.5-inch setup shown here. We just temporarily bolted up the Corsa system to show you what it looks like.

We'll skip over the front-fascia procedure, which is similar to the rear. There are small bolts and/or pushpins securing the fascia top and bottom, and more substantial hardware attaching it to the front fenders. Once again, CDC's instructions are thorough.

The center, left, and right air deflectors must also come off, as do the fascia "close out" panels to which the corner deflectors are secured. The close-out panels and center air deflector will be reused. The deflector is necessary for proper engine cooling.

It's pretty ugly with the fascia off. The headlamps must be in the up position to remove the fascia. Simply turn on the headlights, then disconnect the battery. The arrow is pointing to a connector that has been unplugged to free the front-fascia wiring harness. Our subject vehicle has had revisions to the factory brake ducts. This required slight modification to the kit's supplied duct inlets.

The finished fascia looks something like this. The kit's brake scoops feed from the elongated corner openings.

The CDC shopping list also includes a quad-tip, stainless Corsa exhaust system, specifically chosen to fit the outlet dimensions of the new rear fascia. Without this system, exhaust modifications will be required to fit the stock exhaust tips within the smaller opening.