Workin' on the Engine Bay... 56K DIE!!

[tollboothwilley]

I've been cleanin' up the look on my engine bay for a little while now.

BEGINNING:

Istarted off with the Valve Covers ( I did a write up of this). I decided to paint them blue.Plenum off:Plenum on:

Next I did the intake. I wrapped the entire thing (z-tube down to stillen air box) with heat tape and painted it.

heat wrapped air box:painted and installed intake(minus the ram air):

Next I decided to even out the engine bay. I went with a JDM battery cover for the empty open space on the right. I painted these as well as the ram air intake.

The next thing I did was polish my plenum. This has actually been in the works for a while now. It took much longer than I had hoped. Using most my free time.

Here's what the polished plenum looks like on the car. I am gonna polish a few other things now too.Changed plenum spacers to the Motordyne 1/2" instead of the BLOX 5/8".

A few updates (10/27/2009)Got the polished NRG Front strut bar a while ago, painted the bases black. Polished the timing chain covers a little as well.Polished some parts of the lower plenum that are visible.Polished the MD 1/2" plenum spacer as well.Changed radiator hoses to blue Samco.



Polished the inside of both upper and lower plenums (not visible obviously) but took the liberty of doing a "mini wire tuck" while I was down in there.

More to come.
Modified by tollboothwilley at 10:46 AM 10/27/2009

[4drmadness]

it would be great to get the following things to finish the look

1) oil cap2)radiator caps3) all 3 pi-thon caps4) leds in the engine bay5)polished bolts6) strut bar, a polished one7) polished timing chain8) hoses

Jus a couple more mods to think about. ill be doing my engine bay sooon

[johnparkyourcar]

I dunno about leds but daymn looking good

[srv2nv]

Looks great! Especially the painted valve covers, I think you're one of a few (if not the only) owner to have that done. The RHD battery cover really helps to finish off the engine bay too.

Keep us updated on the polished plenum, I'd really like to see that installed!

[tollboothwilley]

I have seen a few engines with painted valve covers, but those had the engine dissembled for complete builds. I don't think I've seen a NA with painted VC yet.

Vivek...I'm not getting LEDS in the engine bay. I'm pretty sure I've told you this before! I am getting hoses (Samco or Circuit sport) at some point.

I'll throw a few more pics up as I finish a few little things.

Stay Tuned.

[G_whizz]

Really really looks great!!

Can't wait to see it completed!

Nice job.

[smockers83]

Looks good. Couple of questions though. How come the painted Stillen box is all shiny and smooth and the tube isn't? And does the paint defeat the purpose of the heat tape or not? And whatcha got painted behind the coolant and power steering reservoirs?

What's the point in getting a polished timing chain?

[tollboothwilley]

Looks good. Couple of questions though. How come the painted Stillen box is all shiny and smooth and the tube isn't? And does the paint defeat the purpose of the heat tape or not? And whatcha got painted behind the coolant and power steering reservoirs?

What's the point in getting a polished timing chain?

The z-tube is wrapped with heat tape. It has a foil-like cover so that was also painted, which is why you see lines.

The heat tape is probably like 30 mils thick. The biggest reason the tape shield from heat is the cloth-like compound it is made from. Its very fibrous, not unlike what you would use for header wrap. The difference is that with the tape it has a glue substance which is the adhesive part of it.

Behind the coolant and power steering reservoirs is my oil catch can.

Having a polished timing chain cover is for looks, like the plenum.

[BrandAidDesignG35]

IMPRESSED!!! As always turned out pimp.

I think you need a pic with that plenum mounted, just a question, how did you do that ???? I must know, it looks sick

[tollboothwilley]

how did i do what...polish the plenum?? A lot of sanding. A LOT. When I replace my plenum I'll polish this other one. It shouldn't take me as long. I'll probably end up selling it.

[smockers83]

56K is like on dialysis, so it's pretty much dead. It survives only because some of the family want it to.

[tollboothwilley]

and nobody can figure out why the family wants the 56K alive.

Its a last resort.. and even then you can get wireless carriers with broadband.

[nuctech99m]

Nice lots of work to get to that point, if I had the time I would try to to some work on mine, but I did put a RHD battery cover on mine a while ago it really completes the look makes it look finished

[tollboothwilley]

polished plenum is on now...

[SVTCOBRA]

WOW! Looks great!! Nice job on the polish! Got some rims that want to spend the weekend with you and your polisher!!

[tollboothwilley]

Sure, just go ahead and bring those over SVT... I'll pull out the sand paper and polish for ya haha

[pfarmer]

I've been cleanin' up the look on my engine bay for a little while now.

Istarted off with the Valve Covers ( I did a write up of this). I decided to paint them blue.

Here's what the polished plenum looks like on the car. I am gonna polish a few other things now too.

I'm also going to be using "back to black" to on a few plastic trim pieces.

More to come. Tell me what you think so far...

I like what I see so far. If I was going to do some more additions and from what I see I bet you are, it would be braided hoses, a little work on dressing up wire runs, just some detail work. Hard to fault anything you have done so far.

Perry

[tollboothwilley]

Back from the grave...I've done a little work since last seen.

Still a work in progress. I might need to repaint the valve covers since the BLUE doesn't match with the radiator hoses. :'(

[370Z/28]

Blue is a very hard color to match. I had my alternator powder coated teal to match my Camaro and it really clashed BAD.

BTW....do not powder coat an alternator. Learned the hard way. They don't work good after you do that.

Looks good. Come do mine.

[Joey666Crack]

I'm sure it's somewhere on the forums, but what technique did you use to polish your plenum kind sir?

[tollboothwilley]

Blue is a very hard color to match. I had my alternator powder coated teal to match my Camaro and it really clashed BAD.

BTW....do not powder coat an alternator. Learned the hard way. They don't work good after you do that.

Looks good. Come do mine.

Ya, powdercoating ruins brakes as well...you have to rebuild the brakes if you try to do the calipers. It does make things look pretty though

I'm sure it's somewhere on the forums, but what technique did you use to polish your plenum kind sir?

I used a process of a lot and lot of sanding. Lots of work. There's a reason that people charge a lot of money to do this...believe me, its not as easy as it looks.

I bet i spent a good $40-50 in sanding materials and the polish..possibly more.

[Ar878]

I like the progress!

I need to clean my engine bay soon...

[Poyzinous]

engine bay looks good. I wish my engine bay had a VK50VE in it...

[Guju Rider]

what is the reservoir that is between the windshield cleaning fluid and power steering fluid. I cant tell what it is and it doesnt have a cap on it. and its also close to being empty.

[Poyzinous]

Thats the coolant reservoir.