Hey Nicky thanks for letting me learn from your mistakes Man. Much appreciated.

I'll def use engine paint for the job. Did you use any plastic adhesion promotor? Also did you use clear coat and how much wet sanding (if any) did you have to do?

I'm trying to get results like this:
https://www.myg37.com/forums/d-i-y-i...ine-cover.html

 

Well I got all the supplies needed to start the engine bay project. Gonna try n get maybe half of it done tonight and finish the rest whenever I have time.



Pulled the engine cover and the smaller plastic pieces out. Then I did my first ever engine bay cleaning! I think it came out nicely.



I need some opinions guys. I love both ways so it's really just whatever makes the most sense. Should I go with an all gloss black engine bay with nickel accents like a strut bar, oil catch can, long tube CAI's....or should I go with anodized red engine cover to match my caliper accent color and throw some gloss black on the sides??

 

Call me crazy, but looking at that Motordyne intake, I would replace those four big flange-bolts with polished titanium racing bolts, keep the gloss black clean (easier said than done), and just go commando.



But if that's not where your heart is, then I strongly vote for the heavy gloss red and gloss black pic you found there. That's pretty.

Wait, why is there a giant VMS sticker on the overflow bin? What's VMS besides the rad cap cover and maybe some fender washers?

 

Those polished titanium racing bolts are gorgeous. Who has them FS at a decent price??

I completed all the sanding and degreasing this evening. I'm going to tackle the next couple steps tom. Haven't decided if I'm going with the full black or the red&black just yet.

The VMS sticker is just somethin I put on there for ***** and giggles a while back. I have a large stockpile of quality stickers....I'm just waiting to finish the bay up before deciding which ones make the cut.

 

That particular bolt is from ProBolt-USA.com. That place asks a premium price for their hardware. Great selection and website, but man are they expensive.

So, Red... looking at your big VMS sticker made me think about my VMS radiator cap cover. I have the same one as you, but in gun-metal. Anyway, this came off my last car, so I've actually owned it now for about 6 or 7 years. And all that time, whenever I look at it I can't help but think how lame it is to see the printed text, "High Performance Aluminum Radiator Protection Cover". That wording falls into the categories of both Duh and WTF. I suppose I could give a pass to the VMS logo, and the "HOT" symbol... but not that ridiculously phrased text.

Some years ago, I tried putting a gray vinyl sticker over the center area, cut to fit. It was OK, but all that print isn't just paint... it's laser etched into the aluminum. The uneven surface, combined with the heat, caused the sticker to fail after a while.

So this morning I started working on it with various levels of high-grit sandpaper, 000 and 0000 steel wool, metal polish and a patient amount of elbow grease. The paint comes right off, but the laser etching is a whole different matter. I really had to work at that. The result was a smooth, mirror-like finish in the middle, which works because the rest of the item is anodized gun-metal silver. I have another circle of vinyl available in a kind of CF cross-hatch. It's a little thicker material, and looks quite good. Figure to give that a run and see how it goes.

I also reached out to VMS and inquired about buying one of the covers without any text, or at least just their logo and HOT symbol. See how that goes, too, although I'm not expecting much.

I know yours is Amber, but, well anyway... there it is. FYI.

 

I sanded it a bit for the the smooth sections and used an adhesion promotion primer, and used a clear coat, all duplicolor spray can from AutoStoreUSA (Advanced or AutoZone, cant remember which). I do not recall doing any wet sanding after the fact because I liked the finish of it without the sanding.

 

Rochester I still admire the hell out of your attention to detail. It's impressive to say the least. I'd love to see a pic of the work you've done to your cap. I'm assuming I'll find it on your BT when I go there here in 10 seconds.

 

Yeah I'm noticing the texture of the plastic is actually pretty nice n smooth after I sanded and hit it with 3 coats each of adhesion promoter and automotive filler. So I'm starting to wonder if wet sanding will be necessary. But I know one thing, I won't stop working on it until all 6 pieces have the same stylish appearance that JPSBLACK has on his work. Even if it takes me 4 times if redoing it all from scratch I'm gonna get my desired look.

Oh and I've made a decision on the color scheme.

I'm gonna with straight gloss black everywhere with the anodized red accent pieces in small amounts.

 

At the moment, it has this old circle of vinyl on it, the one I mentioned. I didn't take a picture of it polished clean, but I have this one:

 

Wow that looks nice. Really sexy.

Here's what I'm 80% on doing.







Ok so this is what I'm leaning towards. But I'm going with anodized red instead of the beautiful blue. Man if I could go back in time I woulda picked this gorgeous blue or a version of blue to paint my calipers. Now I feel chained to the Ann red. But it should look fine in the small doses.

Thoughts?

 

How bout now? How bout now? How bout now?



LOL. Piano Black, eh? Could be good, Red. That looks like JP's work.

 

Lol. Yes that's JP's stuff. He's my inspiration.

So whadda ya think about the black with the anodized red where the blue in JP's is?

Or should I just gloss black all the parts?? I think all black might help me to keep customers for resale.

 

Piano Black with glossy anodized red accents... that would be amazing.

However, for the sake of argument only, meaning neither right nor wrong, I've always thought that creating a significant visual point of attention to non-functional elements is kind of pretentious. Little dips in a plastic piece, or raised letters that say "Battery".... stuff like that. Note I said "significant", which in turn means that everything is subjective, and I'm simply promoting a point of discussion.

Would it look good? Absolutely. But is it "right" from a design point-of-view? Er-r-r, your call, Red.

If you want my advice, and I guess you do, I'd say don't paint the letters on those two flaps. But everything else is 100.

 

Ok I can see your point. It's sorta a PITA to do that detail painting anyway.

 

Bumping a dead thread! Read all the way through last night. Awesome build. Any updates? I'm doing research for my friends convertible- Basically on the wheel and suspension side(after building wheels with incorrect specs because of the 1" wider rear fenders).