engine compartment delima

[BWDart]

I haven't decided what color the Dart will be and I'll be putting the 360 in soon, it's going to be way in the future before it's painted. What color can I paint the engine compartment that won't look cheap and will go with whatever color I choose. I'm thinking maybe dark silver?

 

[1968FormulaS340]

I would just clean what is there and plan on removing the engine when it's time to get the car painted.

Or make up your mind on the final car color.

 

[ChazRam]

Take a look at the pic of my engine compartment. It aint much but it IS nice. Imagine if I painted it black or something like that prior to installing the motor and then painted the car B5 like it is. Kind of crappy. I think the best thing to do is to determine the final color, paint and detail the crapola of the entire under the hood, drop in a finished and detailed motor,and stick with the game plan on the paint on the rest of the car. Once its done its done. You really dont want to pull a motor out of a finished car risking scratches etc. after the fact. There is one other option but its up to you. I did a Dart back in the day and used that speckled trunk spray on all the under the hood metal except for the underside of the hood itself. You would be surprised what some chrome and a nice motor looks like with this contrast. Its awesome but like eating deer meat it aint for everyone. Good luck!!
Chas.

 

[Blownfish]

I totally agree with the above comments. You need to pick a color or plan on pulling the engine back out. It's a Mopar, not a Ford or Chevy, the engine bay should be to same as the rest of the car.

That being said, back in the early 70's and 80's it was popular to paint the engine bay something that would stand out. I painted my Dart black and ended up painting the engine bay red, it looked cool then but I quickly regretted my decision. It will be correct this time around.

 

[Super T]

I'm still of the opinion that black is always acceptable for a driver. The more "show" you get with the car though, the more appropriate body color gets. Other than black, I've never seen an accent-colored engine bay that I've really liked. The one exception I can think of was a blue engine bay on a white Chevelle - but the block and heads had fresh blue paint, the wires and hoses were blue, etc.