Hey everyone...
Here are a couple of shots of my engine bay right now:



I am looking for some tips to maybe make it look a little nicer. I am planning on painting the stock elbow silver (as is found on some '93s, matches UIM), along with the y-pipe crossover tube, and the lower intercooler piping. I think that might help a little. Plus, I know I need to cover up the hole in the intercooler air funnel thing, and plan on doing it tomorrow. I was wondering if there is any way I could cut and fit a piece of aluminum or something to cover up the front part (like the intake for the intercooler, the fuse box, etc...kind of like this:

but for the stock engine front?

Basically, I am looking for some projects I can do myself to make the car look or run better for little money. I am planning on doing a ram-air intake from the open vent on the passenger's side (where ATX cooler would be) using dryer hose...just little things that I don't need to weld, or buy expensive parts to produce. Just little things I can make in my spare time. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Tyler

 

Some polishing would completely change the look, the upper intake manifold, alternator, etc. Also something that enhances performance AND looks would be something like an M2 big SMIC. It'll get rid of those ugly plastic pipes and you could get a greddy polished throttlebody elbow along with it. I think if you did all that it'd really brighten things up.

 

I heard that if you polish the UIM, you can have problems with heat (well, more problems than before :P) because you take off so much surface area. Wondering if this is true, and what the compound is called again (or the steps for that matter). Again, looking for things I can do myself, and I can't make an intercooler (yet). I'll be going with a Blitz FMIC when I do change from the stock one, and I have to get a PFC before I can do that, so I am just looking for some things to hold me over until then. Thanks again,
Tyler

 

Do something unique, thats what i choose todo. But then again you can never go wrong with all polished.

~Luke

 

search... polish polishing UIM <~~That will come up w/ some stuff. use some tin w/ rivits to fill hole or if you want be creative use carbon fiber... I used duct tape untill my FMIC went in. also you may want to make it accessable so you can drop some dry ice in there to make it cold as **** for some fun

 

^not a bad idea...won't hurt anything, will it...probably end up overboosting and die or something

 

For the opening in your intercooler duct, not sure if you have a plan yet. Find some thin sheet metal or aluminum, cut it to fit over the rectangular hole, attach to the plastic duct with rivets and use some black silicone to seal around the edge.

For dress-up, polishing will fill all the DIY time you want. Polish the Blitz intake pipes, UIM, thermostat housing - these don't require taking a bunch of stuff apart like the alternator or throttle body.

Another little clean-up project, re-route that red power wire so that it runs along parallel with other wire bundles using zip ties to secure it. You may have to remove some parts to route it neatly but this makes things look neater. If you a bunch of colors and polishing while dressng the engine bay, try to keep everything looking like a factory/professional installation.

A set of block off plates is inexpensive. Buy the complete set and do the stuff you can now like eliminate the AWS, double throttle, and EGR. Remember to put resistors in the solenoid plugs that control these features.

PCV valve elimination with a small breather bottle to dress up the engine bay.

Ask if you can't find info on this stuff or have questions.

Jack