Check Out the Engine Bay of a C8 Corvette Hardtop Convertible (HTC)!

What happens when your prettier C8 Corvette has an uglier engine bay?

The convertible version of the C8 Corvette has been high on the “Want List” for a lot of Corvette Forum members. There are lots of questions left to be answered about the car though. Thankfully, the drop-top sibling of our favorite new mid-engine monster is making it into owner’s hands, so we are finally learning some of the smaller details. That includes what the engine actually looks like under its protective cover.

Jeremy Welborn posted up a video to his YouTube page this week that shows off exactly what the C8 HTC is hiding. First piece of good information to know, the protective engine cover is held in place by 18 torx-head screws. He didn’t say the size, but looking at the video we’d guess T25. Next he gives us a good look at the underside of the cover so we can see the heat shielding. The shielding doesn’t cover the entire sheet, so owners should maybe be careful of hot spots in the corners. We doubt it will get too warm, but something to consider.

Then we hit the bad stuff.

The engine of the convertible C8 looks straight up ugly. There is no two ways about it. Without the decorative engine cover on top, the LT2 is not pretty. We know it is a waste of money for GM to put the cover on the engine, but that doesn’t matter. The convertible still gets the red valve covers, so why not the beauty cover on top?

For us, this is almost a deal-breaker. It is bad enough that the convertible means we lose out on the visible engine that the coupe enjoys. But to knock us down one more peg by making our engine look even worse if we take the time to take out 18 screws to see it? That feels unacceptable.

But that is just us. We’ve seen folks who are very excited that they don’t have to spend as much time cleaning and detailing the engine bay of the car because the entire unit is hidden. All our blabbering doesn’t mean anything though. What matters here is you. Do you guys care that the engine is hidden or ugly? Sound off in the forum to let us know.

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