Im going to be taking my engine out soon to do my 383 swap. Im going to finish undercoating the car. Should I repaint the engine bay the color of the car or should I go all black.

 

I always prefer black under the hood for some reason.

 

I think black will look better

 

black all =)

 

Black looks great no matter what color car it is.

 

when i see a car with a black engine bay that isn't black i think the owner didn't take the time or attention to detail to body match the bay. some cars originally came with a black engine bay no matter what the body color. thirdgens were not that way.

it's obviously a personal opinion so who is to say what's right or wrong but you are setting yourself up for so many little negatives if you don't body match the bay.

 

I agree 100% with kandied

 

what kind of negatives are you talking about?

I say do whatever you think would look best. How often is it you get a thirdgen skeptic that wants to check out your car to see if the paint job is original. Furthuremore, who cares? Just do what you think is right.

 

I also agree with Kandied, especially if you're planning to show the car.

Here's some eye-candy for you (from my personal "inspirational photos" archive). Obviously an exceptional case, but proof positive of what a color matched engine bay can do for your car.

 

Its 50/50 on the vote and I posted this on another site as well and its 50/50 there to. I can see both points. Body color would look better but paint it black would eaiser. My plan is to make the car clean and nice but not a show winner.

 

here's a simple one.

automatically the value of your car goes down. 99% of people know that a mismatch engine bay typically means some sort of engine work which scares 90% percent of buyers.

the person asking this original question obviously cares what people think or it wouldn't be asked. general rule of thumb with automobiles is a mismatched engine bay means some sort of hack work.

it's your car... do what you want.


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clean and nice is better then rusted and same color... do what you must. you'll probably only hurt during resale value down the road and that's assuming that your car will be nice enough at that specific point to warrant higher money that would make a difference if the bay was a mismatched color.

also remember too that the normal percentage of thirdgen owners range from 15-22 and most high school kids like the flat black engine bay look.

 

I prefer body color

 

I understand completly what your saying. Im not worried about resale cause Im not going to sell it any time soon and Im not building it to resell it. If I wanted the highest resale I would restore it to original. But Im building to go fast and have fun. Plus I have done alot to the car and gotten rid of alot of the orginal parts some its no going back now.

 

so, do you plan on showing the car at all? If so, then body color would probably be your best option. I lucked out...with my car being black

 

First of all, made up percentages based on your opinion causes 94% of all car owners to think you are 100% retarded.

I don't think many people give a second thought to mismatch engine bays thinking engine work was done. There could be a million reasons other than pulling the engine becuase it was hacked- (what "hack" paints an engine bay anyway). He is swapping in a 383, so there IS in fact serious engine work, so unless he's selling himself short and claiming its the stock engine then it's a moot point. Once again he's also not concerned with resale.

I think flat black looks bad on engine bays. Gloss black looks classy but body color makes it looks like it belongs. If you really put time into making the engine the main feature (polished everything, etc.) then a smoothed out black engine bay can really make the engine stand out. And I don't blame him for asking, there are alot of times I've considered projects without really seeing it in person, so other useful opinions from experienced members can be very helpful.

 

my engine bay is semi-gloss black, guess that means i'm a "hack" I couldn't imagine wrenching on my car at the track or home while having to place enough sheets/pads etc around it to protect from nicks and scratches from a ratchet or whatever tool while changing plugs or....

I guess if this car was a trailer queen that never was worked on then I would have paid to have the engine bay painted body color, but as for now no one has ever mentioned it at a car show or anywhere else.

 

If the car isn't a race car, then paint it body color. Any time I see a engine bay that is different then body color I assume the worst. Doesn't matter if you plan on reselling it, do you plan on opening your hood? Do you want people to go, wow, that looks good, or I wonder why the paint under the hood doesn't match the rest of the paint. It is just one more thing to detract from the appeal of your car to other people, and since you bothered to ask here, you obviously car what other people think about your car.

 

Besides the local f body meets I do not plan on showing the car. Thats what I have my convertable for.

 

I decided to paint the engine bay semi gloss black. I know some will not like it but oh well. Plus it will kinda go cause I am painting the car two tone. It will be Black above the belt line and green on bottom sort of like another members car on here but I think his is orange and black.

 

I disagree. Usually a mismatched engine bay leads buyers to believe that the car was originally the color of the engine bay. But, the outside was repainted.

Although this may "scare away" a potential buyer, I still like the look of a black engine bay!

 

Seeing in how my car is black, my car doesn't count :P

If my car was any other color I'd still paint my engine bay black and paint the engine a certain color. The focus under the hood is the engine. Keep to the basics and make people look at the motor because I'm pretty sure if someone is looking under your hood they're not going to comment on how well you painted the fenders .

My 2 cents

 

while some people may (apparently) associate engine bay coloring thats different from the body with "hack work", I like to think that they're going for a color scheme or for contrast, something artistic that shows they are focusing on the entire car (personally, I didn't like the yellow car w/the yellow engine bay). now, if the person painted over dirt, grime, or other junk, or painted horribly carelessly, I'd assume that they didn't put much effort and/or thinking into their vehicle.

me, I'm going with the whole color scheme idea. I'm toying with after building a new engine for my 89 TA, painting the block and heads "anodized red", keeping the accessories chrome, and having the engine bay, headers, and most everything else done in "wrinkle finish black", if I can find a wrinkly black paint that should be able to withstand it all.

P.S. remember to put up some pics DerekKraese, don't leave us here wondering how it went

 

I have had my engine bay both colors. I finally took the time to smooth the firewall and painted the bay the same color. I cant tell you how much more attention that the car gets from this little detail. Take the time and paint the bay the same color its worth it. I raced my car a lot this year and had no problem with tools falling what so ever, you just have to becarful and watch where you set things. But its your car and you have to do whatever makes you happy and is in your budget, that is why I went black at first. Check out my cardomain for pics if you like. Good luck in whatever you decide and post some pics when you can.

 

I like the look of a black engine bay.
BTW the car is Blue.

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here is another.

 

Vortec,

Your engine bay is c-l-e-a-n! How much crap did you delete?

 

LOL! thanx!

AC equip, Blower motor, heater box, cruise controll, fuel tank vent canaster, smog equip, winshield fluid container, and orginal over flow container, replaced with fabed aluminum container placed in driver side battery box.

 

Derek,

Exellent choice................

 

I think it totally depends on the color of the exterior now. Like if it is a bright custom color like Kandys was or the yellow of Sinisters then i say def go with the same color as the exterior, but if it is a plain boring stock color then why not change it up a little bit and try to make your car look a little different by doing the black (flat or gloss) which ever you like. But remember whatever you choose to do should be based on what you want to do not what other people say people will think about your car. Its what you like.

 

This is precisely the reason I went Semi flat. Semi flat does not get as dirty as regular flat and I am always wrenching. When you scratch your bay all up to hell, A simple can of paint is all you need. Plus semi flat blends very well to old paint

 

I think body color looks best if it's done right and if you're capable of keeping it nice. But, if you're like me, and you're under your hood more often than behind the steering wheel, flat or satin black works great because it's very easy to touch up. Nothing's worse than a nicely painted engine bay that got all scratched up because of your last engine upgrade.

 

I have seen both, some look great some look like crap. Personaly i like black better. Even if i dident my car is going to be white, there is no way i am going to try and keep a white engine bay clean so black it is.

 

I'd say color match it, black is ok in older cars because thats just what they did, but it just looks unfinished if its black, just my opinion

 

I love a black engine bay on older cars. ....and if every last detail under the hood is cleaned, polished, painted, chromed, coated, whatever, then black looks good too.

I prefer colored, but black is cool.

.......However, I have to come to Kandied's defense here. I think it's funny how half of "black" engine bay guys are arguing that its SO MUCH EASIER TO WORK ON, and the other half is arguing that black DOESN'T MEAN IT'S HACKED!!!!!

Lemme let you all in on a little secret: If ya ain't in this hobby, pretty much anything not factory original means its hacked, regardless of how good your work actually is!!! I know a salesman at a new/used Ford dealer, and they said they'd actually REMOVE flowmaster's and K&N's from the "nicer" trade ins because it made 'em easier to sell!!!!

 

paint it the color of the body; it will look much much better

 

Just to further comment on that, around here Stock WS6 Trans Ams sell for around 19K, but a fully decked one with a procharger, etc that runs 10's has been for sale at 6k for 3 years now.

 

.....I know I said I liked color matched better, but DAMM, VortecIroc, that is one AWESOME looking engine bay!!!!!!

 

Unless the car's body is black, black in the engine bay looks like a cheap cop-out to me. The person didn't bother to take the extra time or effort to go the extra mile. But that's just my personal opinion.

If you disagree, then paint it black and call it good enough.