Hey guys I just picked up a Black 1997 Trans Am and I was wondering what you guys thought would look better as far as engine schemes go. I was either thinking of doing red accents like the lt4 intake with red wires and other stuff here and there or going with the chrome pieces. If anyone has pictures of either of these setups please post and give me your opinions on what you think would look better. Thanks

 

i think all chrome with a black intake would look best

 

Personally, I hate chrome. It gets so damn hot, and just isn't good for anything under the engine bay as it makes everything else hot and stay hot longer. Also, if by wires, you mean the plastic wire loom, that I think makes it look too riceresque, but again that's my personal opinion.

Now, painting some stuff to accent the motor and the like, I think looks good. As long as you don't go overboard heh.

If it's a garage/car show baby, then by all means paint, chrome and accent the hell out of it lol Judges like all that crap for some reason.

Sorry for the negativity, but you asked for opinions lol

 

TTT guys add your opinions. I was also thinking of just a black engine bay

 

that is the perfect word to describe that. and i have to agree with you on that.

 

TTT i need your guys opinions

 

Im all for polishing parts. One of my summer projects is going to be to polish all my accessory brackets and valve colors.

 

My 94 Formula is Black, and I'm working towards Chrome, Red, and Black under the hood. Looks pretty sick IMO. But, these cars are as individual as their owners. Do your own thing, just remember, adding stickers doesn't add HP! :p

 

Why does everyone try to turn there engine bay into a new Martha Stuart or Mexican Chrome Affair? Some clean up sure, corvette covers nice... but all this with painting and everything else.... *shrugs* Black has always looked good in an engine bay to me, clean motor I can see and work on, some headers and black and its just right.

As soon as it shines means I have to spend more time cleaning them then working on it.... just not me.

 

So true. A clean engine bay, that is pretty much stock, looks much nicer than one MADE to look nice.

 

I really like mine the way it is. All I really want to do now is get a black intake manifold with polished fins. Although the wires look ugly no wire mod for me since I don't want to cut all the harness up and solder it back together. As mentioned no chrome covers or caps unless you attend a lot of car shows to make up for the $300 you would spend on the kit.

 

IMO going the extra mil base/clearing everything and gettin polished nuts and bolts speaks wonders for a car and the owner. esp if it sees a lot of car show action. believe me....a repainted a cleared engine bay is WAY easier to keep clean than the shitty paintjob it recieves from the factory. an engine bay is just avg if you only have the vette enginer covers and a polished shroud. if you wanna be avg then stick with that, if you wanna turn heads and make it a real winner then go all out, replace all visible nuts and bolts with polished or stainless pieces, hide the wiring under the fenders, repaint the fenders and make it match the exterior, etc.

and by red wires...im sure he meant just that....red WIRES not covers. the covers are very ricey but colored sparkk plug wires can look nice if it matches your them.

just my .02 but all the time and effort put into mine was waaaay worth it.

 

You really think so?....

 

QFT....all of us when we pull our engines out do the base and clear coat, much easier to clean, maintain, and looks 100x better, i've yet to talk to someone who has regretted it.

 

When I installed my new cam I did a lot of cleaning and polishing. I fixed all of the oil leaks too. To me, having a clean engine says alot about the owner and it makes it much nicer to work on.

 

I don't go to car shows looking for cute I go to car shows and I will say hey they did a good job like your WS6 but what I really want to see is what new idea's they had in terms of say different Intake Manifolds, different SC Idea's, Turbo Setups.

Yay I popped my hood, added things that did not make me faster and can say my Engine bay looks great... but that Mustang Just passed me because I spent the money on looks instead of power... Sorry when I finally reach the point where I have all the power I want and its to the ground the way I want and there is nothing more I can buy... maybe I will change my mind about under my hood... the only thing I guess I could say I am OCD about is keeping the underside of my car clean and having a clean and neat interior. But again nothing flashy. I just pref to not attract any atten and look nice and clean.

When I pop my hood for someone they see a clean engine bay but they can tell I work on it. I am not all about polishing esp every time I work on the car and I then get to go back and re-polish everything... very annoying. Some ppl make some great looking engine bays with nice power but for me I just want to work on new performance idea's and fabrication... making it pretty would just make me feel back when i nicked it or dropped a wrench on it... or got it oily... and the list goes on.

 

You'll be amazed how much easier it is to work on like that, not to mention its a LT4 headed 383 with full suspension and 12 bolt...so its got a bit of go to go with the show

 

LOL I know eventually you reach the point where you have the go and you put money else where... and I do know at heart my color schemes are always dark and clean... I love Black, always have I like making people really look.

For now mine is the color the dealer made it with the LT4 and the Polo Green plus anything else I picked up along the way. But I could never take it to fair... I am not sure what it is about me but I did it to one car and I just did not like it after that... just did not make me feel like I needed to do it again.

Although I must say that silver one you showed has no PS, no harness and no Alt... wonder how he drives it or is the alter where the AC was since that was removed and he just moved the harness to hide it?

 

Harness is hidden, still has PS, and Alternator. I do understand what you mean though, it does get tiresome continuously keeping a car detailed and clean, i wish sometimes i could just have a track car that i didn't car about looks all that much. My engine bay is cleaned up but no where to the extent erik took his (the silver car)

 

And the majority of it is labor, very little money aside from the body work under the hood