engine dress up
Registered User
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 862
From: Columbus, IN
Re: engine dress up
IMHO, if your goal is to dress up the engine bay of a 4th gen, before you can begin to add anything you must subtract a great deal first. I see alot of engine bays where it looks like the owner took "the easy way out," and instead of removing or relocating a part that would be classified as "clutter", they instead bought some cheap $5 aftermarket cap or cover for it. Colored wire looms are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of this.
Here are some things I'd R&R from an LS1 engine bay:
-Wire mod. (I don't mean just the wires on the passenger side fender, more like lengthening and tucking any and all wires that are showing on top of the motor.
-ABS module. There's a kit from SJM manufacturing that will allow you to completely delete this, and the trick part is that it includes a line lock which will help with performance later on.
-Battery. Relocate it to the trunk. It's one less thing that will detract attention from the engine itself.
-Coils. Get some aftermarket and/or homemade brackets and mount them up underneath the cowl panel. This will also allow you to run some polished or chrome valve covers and not have 75% of them covered.
This is a getting pretty involved, but something I plan on doing myself and have only seen done on ONE 4th gen so far is to cut the radiator mount bracket and reweld it so that the radiator is mounted at a straight up 90* angle. This allows people standing in front of the car to see more of the front of your motor instead of having to look over and down at it from an angle while standing on the side of the car. Really does alot to open things up.
That's all I can think of for now. Hope that helps.
Here are some things I'd R&R from an LS1 engine bay:
-Wire mod. (I don't mean just the wires on the passenger side fender, more like lengthening and tucking any and all wires that are showing on top of the motor.
-ABS module. There's a kit from SJM manufacturing that will allow you to completely delete this, and the trick part is that it includes a line lock which will help with performance later on.
-Battery. Relocate it to the trunk. It's one less thing that will detract attention from the engine itself.
-Coils. Get some aftermarket and/or homemade brackets and mount them up underneath the cowl panel. This will also allow you to run some polished or chrome valve covers and not have 75% of them covered.
This is a getting pretty involved, but something I plan on doing myself and have only seen done on ONE 4th gen so far is to cut the radiator mount bracket and reweld it so that the radiator is mounted at a straight up 90* angle. This allows people standing in front of the car to see more of the front of your motor instead of having to look over and down at it from an angle while standing on the side of the car. Really does alot to open things up.
That's all I can think of for now. Hope that helps.
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 1,059
From: NJ
Re: engine dress up
i could see this for a show car...but this is not for me.
my goal is to relocate the wires on the passanger side, and ground wire. polish everything i can. fuel rail covers will take care of the wires there, and i like the way they look. then some polished caps for radiator, clutch, brake, wiper fluid, etc. then to cap it all off with a stb from hotchis, which is also a performance mod.
as for the abs, i dont want to delete that, this is also a daily driver.
as for the battery, well i am undecided. pretty much, i would like my car to look like stephen rupp's. his is perfect IMO.
btw, if anyone knows where he got his caps and covers for the bay, please let me know. Thanks!
my goal is to relocate the wires on the passanger side, and ground wire. polish everything i can. fuel rail covers will take care of the wires there, and i like the way they look. then some polished caps for radiator, clutch, brake, wiper fluid, etc. then to cap it all off with a stb from hotchis, which is also a performance mod.
as for the abs, i dont want to delete that, this is also a daily driver.
as for the battery, well i am undecided. pretty much, i would like my car to look like stephen rupp's. his is perfect IMO.
btw, if anyone knows where he got his caps and covers for the bay, please let me know. Thanks!
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 1,059
From: NJ
Re: engine dress up
i could see this for a show car...but this is not for me.
my goal is to relocate the wires on the passanger side, and ground wire. polish everything i can. fuel rail covers will take care of the wires there, and i like the way they look. then some polished caps for radiator, clutch, brake, wiper fluid, etc. then to cap it all off with a stb from hotchis, which is also a performance mod.
as for the abs, i dont want to delete that, this is also a daily driver.
as for the battery, well i am undecided. pretty much, i would like my car to look like stephen rupp's. his is perfect IMO.
btw, if anyone knows where he got his caps and covers for the bay, please let me know. Thanks!
my goal is to relocate the wires on the passanger side, and ground wire. polish everything i can. fuel rail covers will take care of the wires there, and i like the way they look. then some polished caps for radiator, clutch, brake, wiper fluid, etc. then to cap it all off with a stb from hotchis, which is also a performance mod.
as for the abs, i dont want to delete that, this is also a daily driver.
as for the battery, well i am undecided. pretty much, i would like my car to look like stephen rupp's. his is perfect IMO.
btw, if anyone knows where he got his caps and covers for the bay, please let me know. Thanks!
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 1,059
From: NJ
Re: engine dress up
i could see this for a show car...but this is not for me.
my goal is to relocate the wires on the passanger side, and ground wire. polish everything i can. fuel rail covers will take care of the wires there, and i like the way they look. then some polished caps for radiator, clutch, brake, wiper fluid, etc. then to cap it all off with a stb from hotchis, which is also a performance mod.
as for the abs, i dont want to delete that, this is also a daily driver.
as for the battery, well i am undecided. pretty much, i would like my car to look like stephen rupp's. his is perfect IMO.
btw, if anyone knows where he got his caps and covers for the bay, please let me know. Thanks!
my goal is to relocate the wires on the passanger side, and ground wire. polish everything i can. fuel rail covers will take care of the wires there, and i like the way they look. then some polished caps for radiator, clutch, brake, wiper fluid, etc. then to cap it all off with a stb from hotchis, which is also a performance mod.
as for the abs, i dont want to delete that, this is also a daily driver.
as for the battery, well i am undecided. pretty much, i would like my car to look like stephen rupp's. his is perfect IMO.
btw, if anyone knows where he got his caps and covers for the bay, please let me know. Thanks!
Registered User
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 640
From: Midwest
Re: engine dress up
sounds like you dont want to relocate the battery....I bought a cool customized plate for like 25 bucks, not perfect but looks good and was WAY easier....
still confused that people think wire looms are cheesy....
still confused that people think wire looms are cheesy....
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