Engine bay dress up....

[timmy318]

New to the forum, just finished building a '33 with my dad and now waiting for the 818 to be released. Already signed up with 818donors.com for a '07 wrx donor but I have a question. Anyone know where I could find an package or something along that line for a chrome or polished aluminum?

[Mechie3]

for a chrome or polished aluminum?

Chrome or polished aluminum what?

Subaru's weren't ever really into bling. The best you can do is change hoses to colored silicone, polish the intake manifold (very very very time consuming), swap out the coolant header tank for a polished version, billet oil cap, and an aftermarket turbo heatshield. Other than that, you'll have to DIY if you want all the brackets to be shiny.

[LCA1443]

Chrome is heavy, kind of goes against the spirit of the 818. Also as mechie said not a whole lot in the subaru market to choose from.

[RM1SepEx]

powder coat as desired...

[Niburu]

the thing I've seen most Subie engines coated with is dirt
Wallace 18 has a nice build going take a look at some of his engine pics
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?6540-Working-on-the-donor

[GS guy]

Plenty of the off-road buggy places offer chromed and polished bits. A good start is Outfront Motorsports.

[tirod]

Chrome isn't a very EPA compliant process in America anymore. Major hazmat costs and documentation. Look very closely, the major makers Don't Do Chrome any more. It's actually vapor deposited aluminum. Most chromed items also have mechanical problems - they retain heat, don't hold gasketing well at all, and are really all show, no go parts.

Polished aluminum? Intensely labor oriented and expensive. There's a reason those parts cost significantly higher - mess one up in the process, and you lose the entire part, labor up to that point, material costs, machining, etc. And the same mechanical problems, they retain a lot more heat, at least the gaskets stick a bit better. You don't polish that surface.

Most people live on a realistic budget, and if something costs 25% more polished, with a guarantee it can't perform as well as the plain version, they don't bother. Nonetheless the stuff sells. What's happening is more a contest on who has credit and can afford it. It's the disposable income pecking order.

That won't stop someone from tricking out a Sube engine with all the bling, and that will likely get the photo spreads when it hits the mainstream, because the mags and e-zines sell imagery - pretty pictures of shiney stuff that attracts the 18-30 crowd. You've got to have a lot of experience and been there, done that to appreciate Industrial Art - paint and black rubber.

The old saying "race on Sunday, sell on Monday," has changed, it's more like "Bling the thing, and they will come."

I, for one, see it as separating the sheep from the goats.

[NicksPapaw]

Interesting coment Tirod. I agree with the chrome stuff, but, I didn't realize polished aluminum stuff retained more heat than regular aluminum stuff. Just curious where you found the information. Not calling you out, just trying to learn. Oh, about the shiny stuff attracting the 18-30 crowd, THANKS! I guess that makes me young at heart. :) Of course, there is classy shiny and there is over the top, what the heck are you thinking shiny. I hope the 18-30 crowd is attracted to the classy stuff, otherwise I am doomed to be old. lol

[PhyrraM]

My take is that's the 818 is going to be a full bodied car. The motor will sit 'deeper' in the engine bay than it does in the front of a Subaru. There is a big honkin' intercooler covering the back half of the motor. The front half is covered with 3 belt driven devices (as OEM you will see the plain cat aluminum block if 2 are removed), and the short, wide, spidery looking cast aluminum manifold sits in the middle.
n
Everything else is pretty much obscured. Because of the boxer configuration Subarus tend to have more, and longer, hoses and tubes then most other modern motors.

[PhyrraM]

Interesting coment ......I didn't realize polished aluminum stuff retained more heat than regular aluminum stuff. ......

Reduced surface area to dissapate heat. Depending on how 'rough' the original casting was it could be as much as 3x less surface area.

[skullandbones]

n
Everything else is pretty much obscured. Because of the boxer configuration Subarus tend to have more, and longer, hoses and tubes then most other modern motors.

Exactly. I think you should concentrate on the engine bay panels and other components surrounding the engine. There are beautiful dress up hoses and small details like AN ends and braided hose covers. I think treatment of the aluminum panels in the bay would really cause whatever details you did to pop. There are a number of threads about powdercoating and other ways to embellish the aluminum. I also saw a roadster that had some custom side panels to take the focus off the unfinished undersides of the fenders. It really brought your focus into the area that counts. One cool thing would be to clean up the intake and have it ceramic coated inside and out. That would compensate for any lose of surface area. A nicer looking intercooler would probably be the most obvious large dressup feature. I'm sure builder's imagination will be the only limiting factor. WEK.

[timmy318]

Thanks, y'all gave me a bunch of insight on this!!!! Thanks to all!

[JeromeS13]

Here's D Money's old car:

11088

[NicksPapaw]

Reduced surface area to dissapate heat. Depending on how 'rough' the original casting was it could be as much as 3x less surface area.

Makes sense. Glad I asked. I am a little smarter tonight due to the forum. :)

[07FIREBLADE]

The only thing you need is a big *** turbo that is shiny and ur good to go....
Lol just had to say it. I was at HIN in LA the other day and you would be amazed at some of the things people do to dress up the engine bay. Talk about disposable income. I wish I had some of their cheese right now. Bu I'm still stuck in college. So I will get there soon enough.

[AJW Performance]

the thing I've seen most Subie engines coated with is dirt
Wallace 18 has a nice build going take a look at some of his engine pics
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?6540-Working-on-the-donor

For your reference Timmy (colored silicone components paired with some paint and other aftermarket upgrades like headers/intercooler/turbo/etc)

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u160/awalla5150/twallace2.jpg

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u160/awalla5150/twallace1.jpg

Tom's build is very impressive thus far!

[Niburu]

Reduced surface area to dissapate heat. Depending on how 'rough' the original casting was it could be as much as 3x less surface area.


Makes sense. Glad I asked. I am a little smarter tonight due to the forum. :)
same here, had never thought of it like that