And this is microscopic - in the whole scheme of things....but thought I'd throw it out there in case there was any interest. Had a couple of vintage mini stainless marine clam shell vent covers laying around from my uncle's old boating days. On a lark, I stuck one over a wire pass thru on my firewall and liked the look. They were polished stainless (looked chromed), so I soaked them in Lysol toilet bowl cleaner to take the shine off and then buffed with 4/0 steel wool. Came out looking like nickel. Now, not sure if half a dozen of these would look right plastered all over a firewall covering multiple pass thru pieces.....but I like the look of these two (most all of my wiring goes low thru the bottom of the firewall). They come in all shapes and sizes and "used" are usually pretty cheap.
Looks good, kinda reminds me of 53-56 F-100 taillight wiring shields. I used one of those on my wiring loom out of the firewall on my F-100.
Hell yeah, nice touch. Love the small things that make a guy's car just a little "better" than the one next to it.
I like the details in anycase! I allways try to make stuff look like chrome by polishing as much as I can=Don't understand,an never will,why anyone would dull anything.
I don't hate any ones car,even though I would of done something another way. I can still like it as far as its been taken. None are perfect,not even my own,always room for gains if the will is there at other times ! Alum canbe high polished and look super nice ,or too me* can look as though,it is not taken care of well yet. But if it's there at all > A good thing As a teen,I didn't have $ for chrome,but I knew how to polish * an make things have a look of great care n nice shin.
I respect that, and feel the same way. Do what you can with what you know, what you can afford, and what you prefer.
Nice. Marine stores have some neat stainless bits and pieces available, you just have to use your imagination!
Cool use of a non-automotive item, @Joe Blow . When I'm in a thrift shop or junk store, I'm always trying to think of ways to "re-use" pieces in a hot rod application. Rarely do I come up with something this cool though.....Now if I could just figure out what to do with that collander I picked up at Goodwill Industries!
Little things can be missed ,but I really like them,I added a lot of them in the early 1960s too my Sr High School hotrod{ I still have*} Stuff I thought of as I could. So Even now days I look a bit extra for that type of stuff on others cars as well. I guess ,some day I should count,what I call details? My be around a 100 or so. My front wheel pic has a few, like the 25cent caps on all rod ends an JFK 50 cent kingpin caps, coins I put in place to be shiny spots,the homemade brake scoops n shiny bolts , drilled holes> It would of helped if I cleaned things more often as well,before clicking pic too Opsss.
Can't think of any use, on a hot rod, for a colander Don....but I did think about wearing one for a helmet when I raced my heap (at the Dirt Drags).
Those look great. FYI: They are called a Clam Shell Vent (Ventilator). They are available in stainless or chromed brass and come in several sizes. They are typically used in boats so you may be able to find them at your local marina or on-line.
Hello, Having sailed in various size sailboats since high school, those vent covers always looked good on anything. The shape just looks as if a “rocketeer” had a hand in designing it/them. On the boats with motors, small or large, the shapes were used as an air flow to get the aroma of the diesel or V8 motor out of the motor compartment. No one wants or needs excess gasoline/diesel aroma to stay locked in an engine compartment below decks. So, from these little vents or to larger louvered vents these are for vents that allow sealed motor areas to vent to the outside open air areas on boats. replaced with a single stainless steel louvered plate. Jnaki We have used all of the above to replace ones that need replacing. But, the one thing they all had in common was that there was no such thing as sealing fumes in a hole. Unless, one drilled a hole and put in a grommet with a hose. The motor compartment was totally sealed from the interior and these were the vents that were in place to allow those fumes to escape outside of the hull. They all were used as engine fumes outlet to the outside of the hull facing downward to not let water from rain or hosing it off to clean after sailing for a day. If one uses a wires or hose to go inside one of the triangle caps, the hole in the firewall has to have a sealed grommet or else you will get fumes coming into the interior from the motor compartment. So, beware of the additional safety issues. YRMV
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