BigAlPoulos

I recently purchased my first F-body, a 2002 WS6 transam with 56k miles



My goal is to bring it to car shows... I have planned hood stripes going from the front to back and doing the stock rims in black plasti-dip everything but the lip.

As for the engine bay though, it is stock with the "SLP" cover on the airbox.. is there anything that is cheap and easy I can do to make it pop?

Anything that is DYI for an auto noob...

Ex. Plasti dip something in red/yellow easy to take out and easy to put back in?

Any insight would be appreciated!

Thanks

Al


What really set me off to this is the Engine Bay/Detailing thread.. some of those are stunning but I have no Idea the work necessary

juicestain

Search for the "wire mod" I think there is a good write up on here. It removes that cluster f&$k of wires on the left side. Do a coil pack relocation or get fuel rail covers. Paint your wind shield washer resavoir black (or all the plastic for that matter). Battery relocation. And of course make sure it's clean and free of grease.

BOBS99SS

iTrader: (2)

do a search ,there is alot you can do ,imo i would rethink the stripe idea lol,i like the blackbird stripes but not a fan of just racing stripes. your ride though do as you wish,i just think it looks really clean as is, all you need for a show car is a set of ccdubs lol,some things i did under the hood, polished brake lines,tb,wire mod, coil relocation,hide the comp,polish the maf ends, if you dont drive the car in the rain etc, just take the windshield washer fluid tank out lol,relocate fuses. just do a search man there will be a list and write ups how to do everything. imo though keep in clean and simple, no red wire loom,or a bunch of colors that dont go together,and just know with this crowd less is more. good luck with the car ,looks killer all ready

BOBS99SS

iTrader: (2)

if you do drive alot i would stay away from polished crap, it tends to get dirty and crappy looking fast, and a gloss black fast intake,with silver fast logo would look killer under the hood

djfury05

iTrader: (30)

Where are you located?

theskitztikwon

iTrader: (18)

Paint the coils, brackets, and valve covers. Stainless steal headers, powdercoated T/B, and the wire mod will clean it up nice.

Bird Man

iTrader: (1)

I have under hood pics on my webshots

BigAlPoulos

Thanks all, I am located in CT currently, this is my "sunday driver" It will only be brought out in good weather and car shows.

I am looking into the wire mod now as well as painting the coils, brackets, and valve covers.. Those seem like the easiest for a auto noob.

Is the plasti-dip ok for this? I would rather have something reversible if possible.

again, thanks all for the comments.

ps... whats ccdubs lol




Tried using a sharpie to get the stripes I wanted... They didn't come out great.. just need to wipe down with some rubbing alcohol



































KIDDDING



Here is a photo of the engine bay:

djfury05

iTrader: (30)

Wire mod, traction control relocation, relocate ground wires, remove battery handle, remove battery stickers, remove sticker on air lid base, remove sticker on AC accumulator if there is one, remove stickers on driver side fenderwell, remove foil wrap on fuel/evap lines, paint valve covers, paint coils and brackets.. the list goes on and on lol.. if you have any questions on how to do all of this let us know

BigAlPoulos

I guess the first thing I will do is remove the stickers from the battery/air lid base/ ac accumulator those seem the easiest.

1. Is removing the foil ok? will it not harm anything?
2. what coils and brackets can I paint? and can I use plati-dip or do you recommend something else and do they HAVE to come out of the car to be painted.
3. screws for the air lid are rusted, where would I find a sizing chart to replace them?
4. I don't know If I am comfortable with drilling a hole in the car, would shrink wrap be an ok choice on the wires? I figure shrink wrap + some velcro might do an ok job without drilling.

Thanks in advance,

Al



PS.. anyone in the CT area want to help me for a nominal fee XD

BigAlPoulos

Oh, and whats that bar I see some people have that straddles the entire bay?

djfury05

iTrader: (30)

The bar is called a strut tower brace. It is for looks unless you are a serious Auto X'er. Save your money.

- Removing the foil is fine. I still have no idea why it is there in the first place?
- Removing the coils and coil brackets are very easy to do, and yes you need to remove them to paint them correctly. Use adhesion promoter, plastic primer, and paint for plastic on the coils themselves. The brackets might not even need painting depending on how black and nice they look. It only requires a 10mm socket to remove all of it. Unplugging 10 electrical plugs as well. Very easy to do.
- I painted my air lid screws black. Not sure what size they are but you could take one to a hardware store and match it up pretty easily.
- What makes you uncomfortable with drilling the hole in the fenderwell? All that is required is a 1 3/4" hole to pass all the wires and connectors threw. Plenty of people have done it and I've never heard of anything bad happening. The wires are actually subjected to less water contact being under the fenderwell.

ZexGX

iTrader: (28)

Black/polished/silver would make great complementary "colors" in your engine bay and on your car.

Also, drilling is necessary (not optional) to do the wire mod, and shrink-wrap won't make it look much better.

Also, you do know that Plasti-Dip is not permanent or extremely durable - right?

BigAlPoulos

Yea I realize it is not permanent. and I realize drilling is not optional, I just figured instead of drilling, just cleaning them up with some silver shrink wrap.

I have removed all stickers on the inside today. is it possible to remove this and paint it?

) the thing directly behid the air instake? looks like hills ?

I guess I just don't know where to begin.

Al

ZexGX

iTrader: (28)

The "hills" thing is called the intake manifold. If I were you, I would wait to remove it and paint it until you are more comfortable with the mechanical aspects of working on your car, since you must remove it to paint it, and it takes a good amount of knowledge to remove. There are guides online on how to do this: "LS1 intake manifold removal" or "LS1 knock sensor replacement".

If I were in your shoes, I would begin by replacing the rusty bolts, and using a paint polish and then wax on the engine bay & hood underside paint to remove any grime that's built up over the years. If there is any rust remaining, then take care of that before proceeding with any more engine bay mods.

babbage1109

iTrader: (11)

the intake manifold? no you dont want to remove that. you dont need to remove a bunch of crap. just clean it polish it make it look good

BigAlPoulos

Ok thank you. What would you recommend for my first step. I want to hold off on the wire mod.

Al

babbage1109

iTrader: (11)

just use a cleaner and start getting in the nooks and crannys and cleaning it all up get the gunk off stuff use a shine product on the hoses and intake.

BigAlPoulos

Thanks. Will start there. Have some Armor all cleaner.

djfury05

iTrader: (30)

Once you do the wire mod you will ask yourself why you didn't do it earlier. For cleaning the engine bay I use Simple green diluted about 3:1 with water. Make sure you rinse it off really really well also. Sometimes I even get peppy and use Engine Brite the Foamy kind. It gets in hard to reach places and won't run off like the regular Engine Brite. You can cover the PCM and alternator if you are worried about messing anything up.