Trick ways to spruce up an engine bay

Run the HEI. Just clean things up a bit. I found a new HEI for cheap and couldn't pass it up. My engine was already red so the cap matches. Might try that.

 

Varying opinions as usual (H.E.I.). I will add cast iron paint for the exhaust manifolds..it's cheap goes a long way and gets rid of that ugly rusted look, they typically end up looking like.

 

Depending on how much effort and time you are willing to spend I ran all the wires under the front fenders. Where the factory wiring block goes through the firewall I just moved it over about 8" (IIRC) then I brought them back in right at the front under the lip where the radiator mounts (can't remember the correct name for thing that holds all the lights, radiator etc). For wires going to the motor (ie temp, coil, choke) it ran through the firewall either centered behind the motor or right under the throttle cable hole lined up looking down the side of the intake manifold. Use the smallest wire possible with black non split wire loom and it will not stand out as much. I have a bunch of fibre loom not the cheap plastic stuff. On my Vic jr intake I went in the center of the firewall and route the wires through the intake air space and you really can't see them.


Here is the loom I am talking about.
http://compare.ebay.com/like/130391...ffe337d&itemid=130391259158&ff4=263602_304662

A nice neat way of dealing with the heater hoses is to you a latemodel tubular one that runs down the passenger side of the intake then just a short run over to the heater inlet. I think it gets rid of that ugly rubber hoses hanging all over.

P.s I think that big distributor is ugly as well.

You can just barely see where the wires come back in the engine compartment here.






I also mounted any relays etc on the front instead of the fender well so they are out of side when you are standing in front of the car. To me this is still messy so I am looking at ways to clean this up even more.



Hope this helps some.

 

One other thing I forgot to mention is that you really need to get rid of that single pot m/c. I know they look old but I have had two cars where the brakes went out and you do not want to be in that situation.

 

sorry, didn't mean to light the HEI fuse and highjack your thread.....

Later model Mustangs -90's- had hard lines for the heater hoses that go along the intake manifold on the right side. Take a look at them (may interfere with the choke on the carb for space, not sure)

Other than that, lots of elbow grease, and some paint go a long long way. Keep it simple.

 

I know precisely dick about engines, and am not really interested in them either (Kustom fan) but I do know from personal experience that keeping the hood down is easy on both the eyeball and the wallet
good luck
Paul

 

It's not your fault, I didn't exactly expect a bashing for the dizzy,but I opened myself up for it. I do agree that the red cap and wires are a little much. I just dont have the extra $250+ to dump on a distributor that is going to perform the same but look nicer. It just doesnt make fiscal sense to me. I was more looking for ways to hide/reroute hoses and wiring, etc. I'll look into the heater hose thing next time im out at the junkyard.

 

Made some progress, more to come, gonna get rid of the red wire convolute tubing in favor of black, still gotta get around to touching up the paint on the firewall and inner fenders and paint the dist cap






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There is a nice alternative to the HEI. My donor 327 came with a transplanted HEI in it which I didn't care for the looks of. I pulled it and put a stock points dist. in with a Pertronix kit inside. Got the performance of an HEI with the look of a stock dizzy.

 

I agree with a lot of the above. In addition, I think that multiple textures can really add a level of sophistication to an engine bay - shows that you know that you don't have to stand out to look good. I also like the use of consistent fastener styles (I'm partial to stainless button head or socket head cap screws myself). I agree on plain smooth black rubber hoses as well.

Oh, and if want to replace you distributor, a Vertex or Hunt mag would look awesome!

Steve

 

I think you're moving on the right track. Looks pretty good (Wish mine was half as clean Lol).
I have to weigh in on the Dizzy issue though. You said you got it cheap...from where? What brand is it? I don't ask to bash, but maybe to warn you. If it's a PROCOMP, you need to ditch it asap. My 65 F100 was running a 460, and I went through 2 of em. Shaft snapped right above the gear. Got to talking with some other Ford guys that had done the swap, and they had similar problems. Guy I traded my truck to had put one in his 318 and it had done the exact same thing. The construction of the shaft is poor, and they're made from pot metal with very little strength. PROCOMP replaced the first one, but then wouldn't answer my emails on calls when the second one snapped.
Just FYI.

 

i don't like flat black on car parts i allways use semi gloss or trim black. i went into napa the other day to buy a spray bomb of semi gloss all they had was semi flat.

 

I've got a can of rustoleum oil based semigloss, I wonder how that would hold up?

And yep, the dizzy is a procomp. Maybe I should look out for something different. Any one got a stocker for cheap? I let mine go when I replaced it. Should have just gone the Pentronix route.


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I dumped the HEI and made a nice shiney plate to cover the hole it left.
Looks good.

Course it won't stat or run now but looks real peachy clean.

 

This is the engine bay of my 1963 1/2 Falcon Ranchero. Heater hoses routed over to far left side. Wires run in typical Ford fashion. Original Cobra, not repops, Valve covers.

 

Here's my attempt. Engine bay will be black and the rest of the 50 pickup will be this color.

Before


After

 

That HEI covers up half the engine, and that wire carb. cleaner looks cheap, pitch it thats my .02 worth.

 

The air filter is gone now, but will be updating the small circle filter with a finned oval one soon, I'm looking for a new distributor now. Does Pentronix make a kit for a Mallory dual point?


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Design and make your own dress up parts like these. They are cheaper and you get to say "I made Those" !!!!!!!!

 

Awwww, my eyes!!

 

That was exactly what I said too. I will never deal with PROCRAP again. I still have yet to have anyone tell me what happened. It remains a mystery, but the guy I sold the truck to tore down the engine, and couldn't find any reason for the dizzy to snap. It wasn't binding on anything, they just gave out.
I'm not a big fan of points, but I'm not a fan of those cheap as HEI's at all after that mess.
If you insist on running one though, there is another company that makes a similar style, but the quality is 100% better. My only issue is that when I bought mine they only sold em that lame ass clear cap version.

 

This is my two cents. Think of what looks the best under the hood (ie: intake,carb,valve covers and air filter ) then try to hide the rest ! This will clean up the look of every thing . Also get rid of stuff that highlights the ugly stuff like wires and hoses example: faux junk like nylabrade and convalooted tubing.

 

Some elbow grease,engine shampoo,carb cleaner,spray nine,dawn dish detergent, laundry soap gets rid of the oil and grime-don't be afraid to take the rad out,pulleys off-give yourself a little room to work.
Rattle can detail the small parts-the rest can be done with a small brush-don't use high temp brake caliper paint for your exhaust maniufold-it don't work-use the Eastwood manifold coating.Some chrome stuff is cheap(Valve cover,air cleaner lid) clean up the fuel and vac tubes with a little steel wool,armorall will make the hoses look dark.I sprayed the inner fenders/rad core support with satin black-got rid of anything that looked scuzzy. spend a little on a chrome alternator and wha-la.

 

all i saw was a big red HEI

 

Ouch, I'm working on the HEI, just can't afford anything else at the moment.




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I would think a bit of rattle can semi gloss black on the cap & coil cover would take the HEI drama down by 50%.
Looks good to me.

 

That's the plan for now, in the meantime I'll keep my eyes peeled for a deal on an old dual point and put pertronix kit in it.


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here my set up