Hey everyone, I've been kinda cleaning up my engine compartment (what I can do without taking everything out, sanding and repainting completely), and was wondering what else you would do to it to make it stand out. I definately need the passenger side duct and hose for my dual snorkel, and I'm considering a STB. Any and all ideas will be valued! Even if you want to criticize, let me know!

 

well first off get rid of that hidious black air filter thingy (not sure the technical name of it), and get yourself a good looking filter with a nice top. Thats number one. Then, get some of that braided hoses stuff and do what you can with that..........lets see....maybe some split loom wire/tubing covers might organize things and make it look a little better.....
Just clean everything up, get some engine paint and paint a few things here and there a different color to make it contrast with the black, just dont do EVERYTHING cause then the parts dont stand out as much.....yeah pretty much just clean it and get rid of the black air filter cover

 

also, if you want to make it stand out of the crowd at cruise nights, car shows, etc. maybe some tasteful and well positiond neon lights would draw some attention......i dont know what the rest of your car looks like but if you could get the engine compartment to glow red or something...even if its just a few LED's here and there.....the cruise nights i've been to alot of the cars i liked at first sight were ones that had tasteful lighting.....i dont know how you'd feel about this but maybe even hiding a strobe light in there so you get a few flashes once and a while?

 

I think it looks good don't cover it with paint and ****ty plastic from autozone shine all the rubber and plastic with tireshine and a rag and clean the rest of it the best you can (try to avoid the racer boy look)

 

I don't particularly care for the red looming. And I agree with penguin that a nice air filter would look a lot better.

 

IMO you should get rid of that hideous looking coolant overflow tank. GM still has new ones on hand and they run about $15-20. A minor mod like this makes a hell of a difference under the hood. Better to see new bright white than old faded yellow.

 

is you want looks go with a aftermarket cleaner, plate and lid, but if you want performance then keep the stock intake, it pulls in cold air instand of an aircleaner lid which is just sucking in the air in the engine bay which is a mixture of warmer air fromt he engine and cooler air from out side.

 

you could just get the stock air filter casing chromed, shouldn't be all too much, so this way you get looks and performance with the ducting and stuff

i'd also throw on a nice set of valve covers, def do the overflow tank, but overall i think it looks nice and clean

 

IMO I would take the stickers off. Stickers are for tool boxes!

 

get rid of the red looms for your wires get a braket for your a/c lines so they are back to where the are out of sight. spiffy chrome air cleaner would make a huge diffrence. loose the stickers. maybe some valve covers other than that looks clean and neat. we used to spray paint stuff under the hood with clear paint to detail it before it went on the lot. not sure how long it lasted on the parts though.

 

Oh man, I just put that red loom on it before I took the picture! I think it contrasts well and will go with the red accents I'll have on the body when it gets painted. I might try to get my air cleaner lid chromed, but I definately don't want an open element air cleaner, I like sucking cool air instead of hot air, I just need that dang passenger side duct and tube. I agree with you about the stickers they need to go, anybody recommend a good adhesive remover? And a coat of clear on every painted part? That might work. I've always just used a tire dressing on the hosees and etc for the wet look, but Paint sounds better for the black. The only thing that was on my a/c lines was like 2 little plastic straps that clipped onto the fan shroud, is that what you mean? Where do I get those, the dealer? I haven't been able to find them at the parts stores. I wonder if Motormite or Help would have them.

Thanks for all the suggestions! Keep em comin!!

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You know that tire foam stuff, I use that on all my hoses and some of the plastic peices. It really makes the black shinier.


I didn't get a chance to clean up the everything in the engine bay in this pic.