ENG: Sleeper engine bay

[VRDrvr]

Well as I was looking at my engine bay I noticed a lot of "chrome" or polished accents. I didn't like it at all.

So the first thing I did was remove my intake and grab some low grit (380ish) to rough up the polished finish.

After I made sure everything was nice and roughed up I painted it using a high temp semi gloss black. Also did the same to the filter ( taped up and made sure not to paint the filter :P ).

Here are some after pictures...




I think overall I am happy with it, it almost looks factory.

My next "painting" will be during my h22 swap and paint the strut bar black. Overall I like the somewhat sleep look...although I don't like when it looks like your engine bay got in a fight with a rattle can. I will probably move the battery to the trunk and am doing the auto<>manny conversion. Which should clean up the engine bay a little more.

I also noticed with painting the intake it felt cooler after a nice running (touching the actual piping) the high temp paint might keep out some of the heat.

Comments?

[92accordf20a]

what year is ur cord?? cause it looks like u have an internal coil...

[xScott]

Intake looks hot. I like it.

[VRDrvr]

Originally posted by 92accordf20a
what year is ur cord?? cause it looks like u have an internal coil...

I do...its a 90. I actually just recently had to replace my ignition coil. Also replaced my cap and rotor while I was at it only cost me 100 bucks and about an hour of my time.

[cp[mike]]

looks great, i got a can of high temp "cast iron" color, i did my valve cover (h22) with it, and i liked the look, i was gonna go thru and paint all of the chrome too, been considering painting my black-chrome short ram... now that ive seen yours, i think im gonna go right ahead and do it, it looks great. strut bar definately should come next, im gonna do mine too.

[92accordf20a]

would the high temp bbq paint hold up to the heat of the header cover??? i would likke to paint mine but im not sure how hot it can get.. Paint says it can withstand 1200*f for a few seconds, 600*f for a few minutes, and 400*f all day and all night...

[Slateboy]

I don't get it. Did the chrome make it faster looking, so now it's sleeper looking? Is that a complete n/a buildup, or is the entire car sleeping including the engine? It's clean...I like that...I don't know about the word "sleeper." I think the word you're looking for is subtle.

[TMaxxTim]

Originally posted by 92accordf20a
would the high temp bbq paint hold up to the heat of the header cover??? i would likke to paint mine but im not sure how hot it can get.. Paint says it can withstand 1200*f for a few seconds, 600*f for a few minutes, and 400*f all day and all night...

Go to wal-mart and look in automotive, they have engine enamal paint. made for engines lol, good stuff

[Jay187]

lookzs nice but ya i hear from alot of ppl dat painted intakes wit high heat paint are wayyyyy cooler then the norm metal or polished ones dat there very cool to the touch after a long run while the others would be much hotter

[VRDrvr]

Originally posted by Slateboy
I don't get it. Did the chrome make it faster looking, so now it's sleeper looking? Is that a complete n/a buildup, or is the entire car sleeping including the engine? It's clean...I like that...I don't know about the word "sleeper." I think the word you're looking for is subtle.

Sleeper in the sense of "stock" looking ....mine is not fast YET . I liked the OEM clean look thus I opted to paint it instead of having a chrome blingy bling intake.

Yea once I do my h22 swap I will paint my strut bar semi gloss black and no heat shield (getting header). I know most auto stores have a 1100 degree paint that should work on your heat shield

[Slateboy]

Sorry, I was having a bad day. I like it...looks like a DSM intake now, with a stock cone.

[gutterslide]

part of the reason that aftermarket intake pipes are chromed is that it reflects heat. sure it looks all blingy and i'm sure that's a big fat ricey selling point, but it's not the initial reason for it. flat and even gloss black paint will absorb engine bay heat and just warm the air on it's way through the pipe.

if you want to dull down the shiny chrome finish, and keep, or perhaps improve, the cooling characteristics of your intake, use a light grey or silver ceramic enamel that will insulate the intake from the engine heat, instead of acting like a heat magnet, which the black paint will do.

while i agree it looks sleeper, and rather slick, it possibly detracts from performance and thus negates any coolness (no pun intended).

[Slateboy]

Actually, black discipates heat much quicker than silver. Black only absorbs light radiation quicker, but out-of-visible radiation, such as engine heat, reacts differently. I think that's HP tip #8.

[VRDrvr]

Like slateboy said

After a 2 hour drive in 80 degree weather I could hold my hand on the intake and it was about warm whereas before it would be EXTREMELY hot.

[gutterslide]

Originally posted by VRDrvr
Like slateboy said

After a 2 hour drive in 80 degree weather I could hold my hand on the intake and it was about warm whereas before it would be EXTREMELY hot.

very good to hear. i'm happy to be proven wrong, because it looks great in there.

also, i like how you camoflauged your turbo setup inside that camera bag. very sleeper. no one will ever suspect a thing.