yusoslo

So now that I have a garage I want to clean out my engine bay. I want pics of your clean engine so I have a reference.

I already have haltech which cleaned things up a bit. But I want to fill in all the holes in the fenders and firewall that are not used. Can I use bondo for this, or do I need to weld and grind them shut. I am just not too sure on how much flex would be on these panels, I think bondo would work.

Also where do you guys relocate your coils and fuse panel to? I want all that stuff gone!

I am in the proces of relocatingthe battery as of now.

Lastley What kind of paint should I use. I dont have a paint gun. I laid a quick coat down last summer and it looked great! but even after clear coating it it still smudged up with grease, but I want to keep it white.

So should I go with a Laquer??

I want a glossy white finish resistant to oil and grease!

yusoslo

I have searched but can't find any info on good places to relocate the fuses and coils.

yusoslo

so no one has shaved their engine bay...or relocated and tucked all the wires away???

StarScreaM2k1

Heya!

I have kinda started this, my bigger project is the Haltech Install. I find that making it neat is also quite challenging without screwing up. I'll post some stuff up once i get home!

turbo80cid

hey, I moved my fuses.......about 2 inches...haha!!

yusoslo

Not bad looking at all.

I vouch to have the cleanest rx-7 engine bays come spring. And you can mark my word.

I plan to hide and relocate everything I can, including wiring harnesses. Run all my haltech straight back into the firewall.

my biggest issue is if I can bondo/gorrilla hair the holes in the fenders and wirewall or if I need to weld them shut.

I might go e-fan but the front of my motor is ugly! I havent rebuilt it so I havent needed to paint the motor.

The sucky part is going throught the existing CPU harness and removing everything that isnt plugged in.

like next to your primary coils...what is that green plug that is never plugged in?? it just sits there.

oakback

Green plug is for diagnostics, I believe.

yusoslo

its gone then!
as with my horns, who needs em!? I do want to run one horn that plays DIXIE and wire it to my sparco wheel

matthewromeril

I ran all my wires down the boxing under the wing (you can drill into it from behind the fuse box). A bit of a mishion but worth it. seperated all the gear box whiper moter and egi wires out and ran them down the other side most only went through the bulk head. but standard looms run them miles round the car. you can also relocate the fuel pump voltage regulater behind the dash and ditch miles of wire of the run its the unit bolted to the gray piece of metal behind the lights. I also ditched the fuse box just ran a new feed to a 4 way fuse box behind the lights for the front power (lts and pop up motors) and an egi fuse from the relocated battery in the back. just be methodical you have to cut wires just do one at a time. yau can also remove the wires from the plugs just be carefull i find a very small drill bit is great to release the plastic clips just lable everything carefully and draw the plugs with wire colours.

7romanstatesmen

iTrader: (1)

looks nice, turbo80cid.

good project idea, i've wanted to do this a while myself. i've been a sucker for clean engine bays ever since, as a 11-year-old kid, i looked under the hood of my uncle's 68 chevelle ss and saw what an engine bay was meant to look like. even though the big-block 427 took up most of the space, i was amazed by the lack of miscellaneous crap obscuring it.

be sure to post pics when you're done, or along the way.

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

Search for "engine block paint" for a recent thread that contained a lot of engine and engine bay pictures. Also, you can search for "pics engine bay" for the same thing. Make sure to check out the 2nd Gen Projects thread in the archives as well.

At the very least, you will want to use fiberglass/kitty hair to give the filler some strength. But ideally you will weld them up.

Put the fuse box wherever you want. The coils are harder to hide but some people put them in the cowel (where the wiper hardware is).

Any paint is going to get smudged with grease. The trick is to lay down a THICK and SMOOTH clear coat so that you can wash the grease off. You have to spray closer then the can recommends and you should do several coats leaving only a short flash time between them.

Laquer is nice in that the colour is throughout the paint, but it's also very sensitive to chemicals and solvents. Best stick with base/clear or an enamel.

yusoslo

so what kind of paint to go with the clear? And enamel base paint with a clear coat?

I am looking forward to being creative about the engine bay. I will put an offical thread up of before and during pics.

rotaryracer11

is that the stock top mount in that pic......

yusoslo

This is what I am starting with, I had just sprayed the engine bay quickly when dropping the new motor in. I am a bit unsure what to do with the headlight wiring loom that is on the drivers side frame rail. It needs to go. As do the holes in the shock towers.

but none the less my 3 hour engine bay job from last year. Sucks cause I used etching primer, 4 coats of paint, and 2 clear, and it was chipping from tools and such hitting it.

turbo80cid

Yes, it's a S4 intercooler on an S5 engine so it doesn't fit right.
I removed the sealing "lip" that use to go all the way around the intercooler.

Slow Rotor

Well here is mine it should look pretty when the engine is back in, im in the process of cleaning everything up and painting a few things

Johny zoom

iTrader: (5)

Before and after pics

yusoslo

wow very nice. Veru similar to mine right now but I want those holes gone! and move the other ISH.

BTW Is that Tupperware in your engine bay!?!?

and what kinda paint did you use?

yusoslo

just a bump to see if there are any more clean engine bays out there.

I am about to tackle this engine tomorrow when I get off work

NCross

iTrader: (18)

rubbermade....

yusoslo

makes sense, since you have to work on these cars so much might as well keep some snacks under the hood for ya.

MazterDizazter

iTrader: (5)

Very nice; I hope I can find time to clean up my engine bay once it's out

Johny zoom

iTrader: (5)

I wasn't even going to respond to the tupperware comment but since it has drawn a little more interest, It is a Moroso cool can, a lot of drag racers use them to cool fuel before its ignited.
I actually use it to cool fuel after the fuel rails, Then it goes into a pre intercooler before the front mount. The fuel is the cooling media. much like a water to air. The fuel is then returned to the tank via the return line. I also do water meth injection and monitor intake temps on both sides of the I/C.

Thanks for the interest, maybe Ill try potato salad next


The paint is the same as the outside GM white

Johny

NCross

iTrader: (18)

that lady is so freakin hott

yusoslo

Im gonna try and post pics later tonite. I relocated the battery, split open the wiring loom and rerouted all my wires under the frame.

The headlight relays are now fed from where the windsheild washer resevior was and on the drivers side there is a hole as well. The fuse box is located under the brake booster.

So all that is left is my haltech harness and my coils.

I do need everyones help though...should I try and respray my engine bay white, which is a pain to keep clean. Or paint it satin black rino liner???

And help would be appreciated.