It used to make me cringe every time I opened the hood of my SS, and Since I am going on the 2003 Hot Rod Power Tour next month I was inspired to add a little BLING to the engine compartment (along with the rest of the car). I know I have been teasing everyone with posts on my little projects and people are starting to demand pics of the finished project. Well I finally got everything installed yesterday and snapped a few pics. But as I was assembling all the pieces the ideas just keep coming so now I have some more projects for the future to add to what you see. (When will it end!?!?)

I can’t list all the little details I did but the major ones are the painted intake and custom FRC’s, polished stainless steel FIPK heat shield, battery cover, fuse box covers (not yet installed), polished TB, MAF ends, and fuel rails, painted front bumper and headlight braces, and of course the ! Wire mod and all of the grounds have been hidden. I also stripped the front end and both inner fenders so I could paint them gloss black along with the frame to get rid of that nasty factory primered look. Items I didn’t make, polish or paint were the Hotchkis aluminum STB, and the MBA billet cap covers.

My camera is on the crappy side so every time the reflection of the sun hits one of the shiny parts it made a vertical streak in the photo, but you get the idea. The intake and FRC’s are painted the same color as the front bumper brace but they appear gold like in the photos for some reason, but they are definitely pewter in person.

Sorry for so many pics but remember you guys asked for them! Enough chit chat onto the pics, Enjoy.

Greg

 

Looks really good. Where did you get the blue washers? They really add a nice touch.

 

Very nice.

How much would you charge me for an FIPK tray??

 

Sweet pics

 

Whoa, very nice work!

 

Very nice!! good job with the mods

 

WOW! Quite a response from you guys! Thanks for the compliments. Not sure why the intake looks so gold though. The color is the same as the front bumper brace which looks more like the actual pewter color.

I have been thinking about removing the heat tape from the fuel lines, but it also matches the polished aluminum and stainless steel under the hood. What to do?? What does everyone else think? Thanks for the input.


The stainles steel cap screws and blue washers are from MBA. They come in polished, red, or blue I believe. But they are $7 each! So far I have 21 so that is about $150......OUCH!

Stay tuned as I have a few more tricks up my sleeve for the detailing project both under the hood and on the exterior.

As far as the FIPK shield goes I took measurements from the stock black one and drew up the flat profile in our CAD system at work. Then I programmed our Trumpf CNC punch press to punch out the profile of the part and had a a friend of mine, who operates the machine, run my program during his lunch hour. Then I used a Fasti hydraulic folding machine to make the bends. Stainless can be a pain to work with w/o machinery at your disposal.

I originally thought about making one from polished T-6061 aluminum but it must be fairly rigid to support the radiator and A/C condenser. So I chose the stainless steel for both strength and corrosion resistance. Only problem is that the sainless is much harder to polish by hand than the aluminum would be.

I actually punched out 2 pieces in the begining and thought I might be able to sell the other one but it was sacrificed while making test bends before bending the final product for myself. There is still a lot of time involved after bending to make the finished product. I had to hand fabricate the "well" that sits under the FIPK filter, weld it in, and acid clean the welds to remove the head discoloration from the welding operation. Not to mention the time it takes to polish stainless steel by hand.

I am really busy right now getting the SS ready for the Power Tour to make any more to sell. Plus I am going to OHIO this weekend to race Radio Controlled Monster Trucks as I am currently the 2002 and 2003 Super Stock Truck National and World Champion in the NRCTPA. (National Radio Controlled Truck Pulling Association) We race head to head with Monster Trucks just like GraveDigger and BigFoot do on TNN..........just with 1/10th scale trucks.

Maybe later this summer (if I get some free time) I can make some more to sell. Thanks for the offer.


Seriously, you guys and the posts with pics of your sweet cars is what motivated me to work on my engine compartment. Of course I still have a few more ideas up my sleeve that will come later.

Thanks for looking, Greg

 

Man, that is so sweet! You could eat off your engine! Keep the mods coming, I love new ideas!