Google
 
Web NASIOC.com

View Full Version : Engine bay clean up and dress up


Imprezer
07-07-2001, 07:14 PM
What do you guys do to make your engine bay look pretty? I mean we all wash the cars and wax them, but I know I do "special" things to make that heart of my car look nice and clean.

Of course, you can clean the bay and wax the paint where possible, armour all all the plastic and rubber peices and do some other stuff, but this is what I do/want to do to my WRX's engine bay.

First of all, of course, I clean it as often as I clean my car. I use 409 All Purpose Cleaner and wet rags. I recommend staying away from Armour All, as it makes things look greasy and attracts dust in a major way. This is about all I did so far on my WRX besides polishing the turbo heat sheild on a wheel buffer.

This is what I want to do. I want to replace the coolant hoses with high quality Samco hoses. Maybe in Red or Blue. This way I will do both, pretty it out and make sure that no coolant line will ever bust open. Of course, I will use high quality hose clamps which will also provide max clamping, no hose damage and hey, they are shiny. ;)

Then, I will re-run all the additional wiring I had to make (gauges, TEC, ect) to make it invisible.

Then, maybe get some color vacuum lines. Then, once my fuel rails are done, my fuel lines will be replaced with EARLs SS ones with EARLs ends. Once again, performance and looks.

I think at this point I ran out of ideas. What do you guys do/want to do. And please be serious. Those who don't care about the way their cars look can save their silly comments to themselves.

-Alex

Andrew
07-07-2001, 07:33 PM
im not sure what else you could do, i guess paint parts of the engine...

but this is to anyone who is reading this and has never cleaned their engine bay (which was me until I fixed my burning oil problem). If any of you guys have real ugly greasy engines use some engine degreeser. Those things works great. Just idle the car until its warm and spray it all over everything but the intake. Wait 10 minutes and spray it down with a hose and the engine looks brand new. It also works great on any oil leaks or anything that has accumulated underneath the car.

SkToBe
07-07-2001, 07:41 PM
Well you can also Jet-Hot a lot of parts in the engine bay to give it that show quality look...

SUBYRS710
07-08-2001, 01:10 AM
chrome all dat *****

Fred Zaplitny
07-08-2001, 02:28 AM
Just don't drive your car in Michigan in winter, or anywhere else that salts the roads in winter. As clean as I keep my engine bay, all the little plated fittings and hose connectors are corroding bigtime. I hate winter! Damn salt pisses me off. If everybody around here drove a Subaru, we wouldn't need to salt the damn roads!

Don
07-08-2001, 09:05 AM
You could start powder coating everything in sight. Either send stuff out to have it done, or buy a cheap kit and do it yourself. Could be a decent business, too, if you offer powder coating on the parts you sell for a few extra dollars. Lots of colors available, and the coatings (supposedly) make parts easier to clean.

DeliciouSpeed
07-08-2001, 10:05 AM
Besides your typical billet oil cap, Alum pulleys...not the crank, Picture of me under your hood...heck I make everything look better :cool: .

Ken

Prog
07-08-2001, 10:15 AM
you can have it look like the STi with the red powdercoated header/manifold thingamajig (sorry dont know the term in eng..)

david2z4
07-08-2001, 10:47 AM
There is a spray like armorall but does not stay wet and sticky. It gets completely dry and does not collect dust and is anti static.

Just can't remember who makes it. It drys dark without a high shine and is not a paint, and doesn't yellow or discolor the hoses and aluminum. Some good car detailers use it.

Maybe by Miguires.

-Dave

david2z4
07-08-2001, 11:47 AM
I sometimes put hair conditioner in the car wash water to extend the life of the wax job. It also hides micro scratches and water rinses off better.

-Dave

North Ursalia
07-08-2001, 01:49 PM
http://www.bakerprecision.com/silicone.htm and http://www.bakerprecision.com/hosetech.htm

Brian
AIM: captaindamorgan ICQ: 84483950

http://www.ravensblade-impreza.com
Come See The Magic World Inside the Abandoned Refrigerator!

david2z4
07-09-2001, 11:30 AM
yes and the product I was talking about had no silicone in it also.

HoratioCaine
07-09-2001, 01:50 PM
ahem. Shouldn't this thread get moved to Dress-up and Style? :D
some people... :p

Clegg
07-09-2001, 02:07 PM
yeh Chrome the INtake manafold and Alternator housing

Kimbie
07-09-2001, 04:15 PM
All I do is take a bottle of Simple Green and spray down the engine bay and hose it off. Then go back with a toothbrush and hit the fine spots if I didn't get it the first time. It is easy and environmentally safe.


K

Conduit
07-09-2001, 05:10 PM
Has anyone thought about polishing the intake manifold? Just using wheels and polish, not chroming it or anything...

Seems worthwhile to do since I'll have to remove it anyway to install that damn intake pipe :D. Any thoughts? Is this stupid for some reason?

Conduit
07-13-2001, 11:55 AM
:D

Jarvis
07-13-2001, 01:28 PM
I was (and still am) a big fan of simple green. But I did have a "scary" experience with it recently. I was cleaning the engine compartment of my 1998 Trooper and sprayed it liberally throughout. As I rinsed it off, it reacted with something that Isuzu had applied to all the plastic pieces. Some sort of film I guess. It looked like skin peeling off after a sunburn. The good news is that I scrubbed it all off and nothing seems worse for the wear...yet. We'll see. Just be careful about what you're spraying.

jim