What to do about the engine bay?

-
mayhem

mayhem

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2010
Messages
198
Reaction score
170
Location
Pacific NW
Many years ago I was on a long stretch of straight road when I saw this 'glow' in a parking lot in the distance. I had to stop. It was a Dave Smith dealership promotional Ram pickup painted sterling silver wrapped in neon pink. If you've seen their license placards you'll know what I mean. It was eyeball searing. I considered doing a car (would have to be one from the high impact era & not a high valued vehicle) like that but wondered what you would do about the engine bay? Leave it silver? Spray it Panther Pink/Moulin Rouge? Take a piece of wrap to the paint store & have them custom blend a quart? Single stage or base coat/clear coat? @str12-340 turned me onto a business that will make up rattle cans in factory colors. He did his engine compartment that way and you can't tell the difference from the job the body shop did on the exterior. And he saved some money by doing the engine compartment himself. This is especially good for guys like me who don't paint. Anyway, I'm open to hearing how you'd approach this. Maybe there is something else I haven't considered? Thanks.
 
You could always black out the engine bay. I'm not a fan of that option myself. Personally I would match it to the exterior. You can go to paint suppliers and they can mix bc/cc or single stage aerosol cans. Ive been doing bodywork and paint work for 23 years. I have used quite a bit of aerosol for things like hinges etc
 
lenky1 said:
You could always black out the engine bay. I'm not a fan of that option myself. Personally I would match it to the exterior. You can go to paint suppliers and they can mix bc/cc or single stage aerosol cans. Ive been doing bodywork and paint work for 23 years. I have used quite a bit of aerosol for things like hinges etc
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. Only way I'd black out the engine bay was if the entire car was black. I'm willing to color outside the lines (no pun intended) but that's going too far. Exterior matching (or as close as possible) was where I ended up too.
 
lenky1 said:
You could always black out the engine bay. I'm not a fan of that option myself. Personally I would match it to the exterior. You can go to paint suppliers and they can mix bc/cc or single stage aerosol cans. Ive been doing bodywork and paint work for 23 years. I have used quite a bit of aerosol for things like hinges etc
Click to expand...
I did that with my 66 when I was ready to set the new engine in it. At the last minute I couldn't set the newly rebuilt and painted engine in the old crusty engine compartment. I scuffed it, primed it, and painted it gloss black. It looks pretty good but I will never do that again. For almost 15 years now I have taken grief from many Mopar owners. I know, my car but you really get tired hearing about the Chevy look.

nov 04006.jpg


engine 296.jpg
 
toolmanmike said:
I did that with my 66 when I was ready to set the new engine in it. At the last minute I couldn't set the newly rebuilt and painted engine in the old crusty engine compartment. I scuffed it, primed it, and painted it gloss black. It looks pretty good but I will never do that again. For almost 15 years now I have taken grief from many Mopar owners. I know, my car but you really get tired hearing about the Chevy look.

View attachment 1716388284

View attachment 1716388285
Click to expand...

At least the black sets off the red nicely! I've been in the Mopar world too long to black out an engine bay.
 
toolmanmike said:
I did that with my 66 when I was ready to set the new engine in it. At the last minute I couldn't set the newly rebuilt and painted engine in the old crusty engine compartment. I scuffed it, primed it, and painted it gloss black. It looks pretty good but I will never do that again. For almost 15 years now I have taken grief from many Mopar owners. I know, my car but you really get tired hearing about the Chevy look.

View attachment 1716388284

View attachment 1716388285
Click to expand...
I really like it on yours, Mike. Piss on them guys. lol. I love how the red pops against the black. I think it looks great.
 
toolmanmike said:
I did that with my 66 when I was ready to set the new engine in it. At the last minute I couldn't set the newly rebuilt and painted engine in the old crusty engine compartment. I scuffed it, primed it, and painted it gloss black. It looks pretty good but I will never do that again. For almost 15 years now I have taken grief from many Mopar owners. I know, my car but you really get tired hearing about the Chevy look.

View attachment 1716388284

View attachment 1716388285
Click to expand...
I didn't know you did that......

giphy.gif
 
Actually i'm surprised you didn't get more crap for the single pot master cyl... i never had a problem with them myself but guys go nuts bout it
 
Hard to believe this is the same woman :)... ok back to engine bays.. make it the same color as the body. Mopars have the best looking bays of any cars and it feels good when they are done right .

1743813982425.jpeg
 
Icetech said:
Actually i'm surprised you didn't get more crap for the single pot master cyl... i never had a problem with them myself but guys go nuts bout it
Click to expand...
Yep. So far, the brakes were flawless. I have locked them a couple times with no issues.
 
I personally don't have an issue with a black engine bay. I just think a clean painted bay looks more refined
 
mayhem said:
Many years ago I was on a long stretch of straight road when I saw this 'glow' in a parking lot in the distance. I had to stop. It was a Dave Smith dealership promotional Ram pickup painted sterling silver wrapped in neon pink. If you've seen their license placards you'll know what I mean. It was eyeball searing. I considered doing a car (would have to be one from the high impact era & not a high valued vehicle) like that but wondered what you would do about the engine bay? Leave it silver? Spray it Panther Pink/Moulin Rouge? Take a piece of wrap to the paint store & have them custom blend a quart? Single stage or base coat/clear coat? @str12-340 turned me onto a business that will make up rattle cans in factory colors. He did his engine compartment that way and you can't tell the difference from the job the body shop did on the exterior. And he saved some money by doing the engine compartment himself. This is especially good for guys like me who don't paint. Anyway, I'm open to hearing how you'd approach this. Maybe there is something else I haven't considered? Thanks.
Click to expand...
I prefer it match the rest of the car but do it how you like it.
 
Mopar cars need to have body colored engine bays. I see far to many people just paint them black and call it good.

Tom
 
One thing to consider, You say you are going to wrap your Car? Thats fine but what if you get tired of your wrap and want to change to a different colour or No wrap. Then what do you do with your wrap colour engine bay? I'm not a fan of Black engine bays myself but that would be the best way for you if you ever changed wrap colour
 
hemifiedbird said:
One thing to consider, You say you are going to wrap your Car? Thats fine but what if you get tired of your wrap and want to change to a different colour or No wrap. Then what do you do with your wrap colour engine bay? I'm not a fan of Black engine bays myself but that would be the best way for you if you ever changed wrap colour
Click to expand...

I hear what you're saying about black being a one size fits all kind of solution but changing the wrap color or repainting the car would require (in my mind) changing the engine bay color to match just as one would with any other car. While possible, it's not likely I'll change the color once it is on.
 
toolmanmike said:
I did that with my 66 when I was ready to set the new engine in it. At the last minute I couldn't set the newly rebuilt and painted engine in the old crusty engine compartment. I scuffed it, primed it, and painted it gloss black. It looks pretty good but I will never do that again. For almost 15 years now I have taken grief from many Mopar owners. I know, my car but you really get tired hearing about the Chevy look.

View attachment 1716388284

View attachment 1716388285
Click to expand...
Your not the only one! I'm guilty of doing my engine bay the same. I used vht semi gloss black epoxy spray bomb. Has held up well. But I wish I had done it a stock color. Oh well it is what it is.
 
OK, at the risk of being called a hypocrite, here is the engine compartment of a car that I just made mine today. And before you get all ooey and aaey, the engine was sold to someone else. Not to worry, @MOPARMAGA is working on mine.

former Hemi.jpeg
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top