I say down for two reasons. First, I hate detailing an engine. I like to drive my vehicles and I'm lucky if I have my vehicle washed. Second, when I got to shows I like to take pictures of vehicle that interest me and a car with the hood up take terrible pictures.
I was at a small show and the vehicle next to me had a open light hood. Well the wind came up and broke his hinges, and tore up his hood, and proceeded to hang his hood on my side mirror for a brief instant until the mirror gave way. It was a hell of a mess. So I think hood down until some one ask to see what ya got...John
With the hood down people tell me "thats a nice lookin truck". If they ask me to open the hood I hear "uh huh" and they walk off.
Yeah, that's how I feel. I'm always amazed at the engines that have spark plug wires too long and criss-crossed all over the place. We spent alot of time getting my spark plug wires just right and making it look neat. Spent time re-running some wires and making sure things looked nice. So yeah, I usually leave the hood up at the cruise ins. I'm proud of the fact me and my brother built the engine in our shop and we did all the under hood detailing and work. I'll usually leave it half close/half open, so if you're really interested in it, you have to kinda crouch down and peak in. I'm also proud of the fact I kept the original 352FE and didn't just drop a 302/351W/460 or *gag* SBC in it. I take pride in the whole truck and not just the shiny paint and wheels.
Up. The engine compartment is the only finished thing on my ride. Priorities and all, you know... dka
The Jalopy Journal
