TheSamba.com :: View topic - Show off your engine bay!

Tue Jul 21, 2009 9:45 am

Ok, this is a bit self serving, but I am about to do an engine swap on my 71 super and I want to detail the engine bay and I am looking for ideas. The engine going in has dual Kads and is very clean. It is newly built, but from existing parts. I am going to paint the fan housing to match the body and the rest of the motor is going to be cleaned and brushed or painted black.

Soooo... let's see what you've got! Post your best engine bay picture! And if you have any hints or tips, I could use 'em.

Here is my 'before' picture, I'll post an after when it's done:

Tue Jul 21, 2009 11:08 am

That said..........

Go ahead and bash me about the coil cover, and potential overheating. If I keep it, I'm going to run the unused emissions tap on my doghouse to blow some air in there, and drill out holes along the bottom. If I fry my coil, I have been warned (and I do carry a spare).

I'm going to put the oil bath back, as well. Need to strip and paint it. I just ran out of the grey. BTW, it's supposed to be Hammertone finish by rustoleum, but kind of looks more like orange peel. Oh well, better than what I started with.

Tue Jul 21, 2009 11:17 am

Tue Jul 21, 2009 11:24 am

I think that bottle over the coil looks silly, sorry...
It also lets the fuzz know that your a drinker...
Just add a Zig Zag Man license plate frame, and you'll be all set :D

Tue Jul 21, 2009 11:33 am

I see you have your fuel pump disconnected and plugged. Im gravity fed, so I had a bud make me a stainless steel plate, and I removed the pump. It cleaned up the engines appearance a bit, and made more working room.

Tue Jul 21, 2009 11:52 am

freeonthree wrote: I think that bottle over the coil looks silly, sorry...
It also lets the fuzz know that your a drinker...

How many cops pop open the engine lid? :roll:

Tue Jul 21, 2009 11:55 am

Quote: Here is my 'before' picture, I'll post an after when it's done:
I just edited my pictures, but here's my before and after, I'm pleased with how much better its gotten.

Back when my dad drove it daily, about 5-6 years ago.

When I got it running again, back in late April of this year.

And today, after doing alot of work, here it is now.

Just got done cleaning it this morning.

Tue Jul 21, 2009 11:56 am

If he has the lid on, then why bother anyway... If it's aluminum, it probably acts as a heat sink though... Now he needs some cooling fins around the neck. lol

Tue Jul 21, 2009 11:59 am

The blue one needs an SVDA. 009's were designed for sawmills and other fixed rpm equipt. They were never intended for street use. If you go to an SVDA, you can jet down, and still have more grunt off the line, and also get better mileage. I throw 009's away, I won't even sell em...

Tue Jul 21, 2009 12:06 pm

I was feeling silly when I did it. Truth be told, my motivation was more to hide the crustyness of the coil than anything else. I hate the stupid chrome covers, so I threw that out, and just used the clamp. I didn't have any paint even close to that color, so after drinking a few michelob's, I put one on there. Somehow it never occured to me to simply paint it satin black. I have since replaced the high tension leads with black, so I'll still match :lol:

The fuel pump is disconnected because that pic was shot minutes after getting the engine back in there.

BTW, for anyone wondering, my carb hardware is that strange orange because I had the eastwood fake cadmium plating kit (four cans of different colored spray paint), and I didn't realize some were dead until I was half way through. You paint the base silver, then there is orange, green, maybe yellow? I forget. I had the paint for probably 13 years, and stored it in an unheated garage. Yeah, I should have stripped them down, and done in black or silver, but I get lazy sometimes.

Tue Jul 21, 2009 12:10 pm

1835 DP engine with single Weber 40DCNF in my '71 Convertible, runs 1000 times better than it looks !!! "Tin" hasn't been painted in 30 years.

Tue Jul 21, 2009 12:18 pm

Im with you... I don't like the chrome covers either. Chrome retains heat, and being a trained professional, retaining heat is not my hobby...
I don't care what it looks like if its clean and works properly. I love that Colorplace brand gloss black from Walmart for 97 cents a can :D

Tue Jul 21, 2009 12:21 pm

By the way, black draws heat to the surface, and thats why all the tin was origionally black.

Tue Jul 21, 2009 12:56 pm

Tue Jul 21, 2009 12:57 pm

what do ya think?

Tue Jul 21, 2009 12:59 pm

I bet you had to jet up a bit for that exhaust...

Tue Jul 21, 2009 1:04 pm

1600dp,w-100cam,weber ICT's,SVDA..250 miles a week like ringing a bell...

Tue Jul 21, 2009 1:06 pm

With the dual cannons on my trike, I had to step up from a 127.5 to a 145 before it ran good. I wanna get a real quiet exhaust that has alot of backpressure, so I can go back to the 127.5, and get 32 mpg instead of 27. I got 28 to 32 with a 140, but it still ran awful above 1/2 throttle, and it didnt accellerate very well, had flat spots. Jetting is everything, and backpressure will help you jet smaller and get better mileage... Thats just for the folks that havn't messed with jetting yet. Also, the 34 pict 4 is more sensitive to exhaust and air filter changes than all of the other Solex's. It was a one year only (1974) low emmission California carb.

Tue Jul 21, 2009 1:06 pm

I'm a big fan of the flat black and the raw aluminium of the case and carbs.

P.S. I've never had a problem with my coil cover, in fact at the car shows people actually ask how to make one.

Tue Jul 21, 2009 1:12 pm

Wow! look at that thing thats sick