Project Cleaning the Clutter in Our Engine Bay

[Bluffen]

I have a brand new engine stand in the box still from summit racing and a brand new small one on rollers if anyone is interested

[Moreno1]

Originally Posted by pyr0b0y

pics like these make me want to tear everything apart and clean it up! I'm soooo envious of what you are doing! btw, what was the name of the book you're using? I know quite a bit about our engines, but I'm sure I'd learn a lot more!

I will take pictures of all the books and post them.

Do you think I should upgrade my radiator next or valve covers? I can only do one right now.

Valve covers!

Originally Posted by LC

Thanks for the heads up man... I still have to get a jitterbug, never owned one before...

You got LC, it will help tremendously.

Well, another major marker in the project........... everything is painted

This morning at 7 AM.



Paint shop..........






Block painted the base coat but before the flat clear coat.



And finally......... it's been a long road to get to this point!



The contrast between the brackets and engine paint is killer now (pictures don't do it justice). For those of you that have been following from the beginning, I'm finally happy with the colors!

[blackonblacksls]

are those the katech covers?

[Moreno1]

Originally Posted by blackonblacksls

are those the katech covers?

Yes

Better pic

[hatebreedx]

people who have won the ridler award are going to be jealous of your engine!!! Really another level sir

[The_Stache]

Wow, so much still going into your project Nathan... as always wish mine wasn't a daily driver so i could do it without interrupting life...

That said.. i have phase 1 of my setup done (not as dramatic as yours).

Measured and drilled the hinges for the "pin" like the LG race car, then welded a nut on the inside of the hinge (see below) primered and painted white to match the car.



Purchased a set of 5 knurled thumbscrews (only need 2, and cut them down to the right length) in stainless steel to be the "pin".



Here is a side view with the "Pin" installed...



And one from 5 feet away.. they disappear leaving the hood floating. Since the "pin" is inside the body of the hinge there is nothing that muddies up the look, and the knurled head looks like its part of the hinge. This is really dramatic with the hood strut and mount removed. For that I drilled the spot welds and primered over, not painting yet as I still have plans to move the abs tower/mount for stage 2 of my cleanup... Stage 2 will also involve a method of retaining the thumbscrews under-hood.

[pyr0b0y]

Originally Posted by Nathan Moreno

Yes

Better pic

Attachment 424214

Looking awesome as always Nathan! That's the Frozen Grey BMW color right? The theme of the engine bay is starting to come together. now for that intake.....ha

glad everything is starting to get buttoned up. Hopefully I can make a trip down to SoCal soon to check this out in person!

[pyr0b0y]

Originally Posted by The_Stache

Wow, so much still going into your project Nathan... as always wish mine wasn't a daily driver so i could do it without interrupting life...

That said.. i have phase 1 of my setup done (not as dramatic as yours).

Measured and drilled the hinges for the "pin" like the LG race car, then welded a nut on the inside of the hinge (see below) primered and painted white to match the car.



Purchased a set of 5 knurled thumbscrews (only need 2, and cut them down to the right length) in stainless steel to be the "pin".



Here is a side view with the "Pin" installed...



And one from 5 feet away.. they disappear leaving the hood floating. Since the "pin" is inside the body of the hinge there is nothing that muddies up the look, and the knurled head looks like its part of the hinge. This is really dramatic with the hood strut and mount removed. For that I drilled the spot welds and primered over, not painting yet as I still have plans to move the abs tower/mount for stage 2 of my cleanup... Stage 2 will also involve a method of retaining the thumbscrews under-hood.

This might be a stupid question, but you have to pull the pins out when you want the hood closed, and insert the pins when you want to hold the hood open?

[The_Stache]

Originally Posted by pyr0b0y

This might be a stupid question, but you have to pull the pins out when you want the hood closed, and insert the pins when you want to hold the hood open?

Yes sir, pop the latch, lift the hood, insert the thumbscrew. I have 2 options the way I did it, I can slide the screw in and leave it loose, or can tighten it down for a very secure feeling, and they definitely wont be coming out.

The carbon fiber hood I have is light enough that just doing one side would have been sufficient, but only barely (in my mind), and I would not do this with the stock hood even though its very light.

I did both hinges this way so don't have to worry about hood flex or even pin fatigue... also why I got stainless steel thumbscrews with a solid shoulder, they are less likely to shear than harder metals and less likely to deform than standard machine screws.

[MANNYS2SS/RS]

Nathan every time I come back to this thread to read you surprise me with your incredible talent. Amazing work

[Moreno1]

Originally Posted by hatebreedx

people who have won the ridler award are going to be jealous of your engine!!! Really another level sir

Now thats a hell of a compliment, Thanks!

Originally Posted by pyr0b0y

Looking awesome as always Nathan! That's the Frozen Grey BMW color right? The theme of the engine bay is starting to come together. now for that intake.....ha

glad everything is starting to get buttoned up. Hopefully I can make a trip down to SoCal soon to check this out in person!

That's the color. The pics suck in depicting the color. I will take some in the sun later today.

Originally Posted by The_Stache

Yes sir, pop the latch, lift the hood, insert the thumbscrew. I have 2 options the way I did it, I can slide the screw in and leave it loose, or can tighten it down for a very secure feeling, and they definitely wont be coming out.

The carbon fiber hood I have is light enough that just doing one side would have been sufficient, but only barely (in my mind), and I would not do this with the stock hood even though its very light.

I did both hinges this way so don't have to worry about hood flex or even pin fatigue... also why I got stainless steel thumbscrews with a solid shoulder, they are less likely to shear than harder metals and less likely to deform than standard machine screws.

Stache that looks AWESOME! I still need to figure how I'm going to approach mine. Perhaps I will do a stock set like yours and then try to figure something out with my billet.

Originally Posted by MANNYS2SS/RS

Nathan every time I come back to this thread to read you surprise me with your incredible talent. Amazing work

Thanks Manny, I appreciate that. Prior to moving to Cali, I live in South FL, Coral Springs area. What part are you from?

************************************************** ************************************************** ***********************
Here a few pics, some have a little better lighting. Now it's time to start assembling.

Some of you might appreciate this..... the stud for the alternator is 140MM and ARP doesn't make them that long. So I polished the factory one and put and ARP 12 point nut.



The powder coated anthracite make up a really good contrast against the satin gun metal gray. Again pictures suck and are not doing justice.



Comparing both the brush and black anodize and I really like the brush a lot better. It will tie in the Meizeire aluminum pump.



Nobody would ever know there were four bolt whole at one point on the face of the head.



Stay tune for final assembly.

[Moreno1]

A few more.....



This "Turn One High Performance Power Steering Pump" went through a long journey from this......



To this.......



To finally.......



It's seems like everything I've done, I've done at least twice, LOL. A good example is this tank, it will definitively not be going in my bay (Too Bling Bling for me)! I have to rethink that deal.

[Doc]

It's going to be a crime to put this engine into an engine bay; it should be under glass in a museum. This car is going to be unbelievable when you're done. I think you've just slid across the line of being crazy to being a true automotive artist. Grats Nathan; this has turned out to be a true work of art.

[2012InfernoSS]

Nathan.. Ive been popping in and out of here for awhile and thought you was crazy for doing all that.. but I haft to tell ya, after seeing it all painted it looks bad ass man!