Customs opinion on dressing up the engine

Ive been trying to add a little something to the engine on my 51 plym custom.

I know, its a custom just leave the hood closed like its supposed to be. But last yr (first season done), a lot of people wanted to see "whats under the hood".
The worst was when a Mag did a feature shoot on it and I was embarrassed when they wanted an engine pic. Not that its ratty under the hood, but its just so basic (which was all I planned for while building)
Now ive been playing around w/ some stainless I have kicking around and came up w/ some pcs.

First was the exhaust cover (covering crusty stock manifolds).
This I liked
Then I did a "quilted" battery lid
This was looking good too
Now I tried doing the same quilted look for valve cover trim pcs.........................
All of a sudden Im not sure about the look....
I hate aluminum diamond plate.... and I gotta ask.......

does this look like cheesy JC Whitney trim parts?


jeff

 

who cares?

if YOU like it, that is all that matters

 

An extra set of "eyes" never hurt just to see if something looks "right"

jeff

 

Sometimes less is more..there seems to be too much going on.

JMO,which is worth much but if you could paint your air cleaner & fan shroud the same color as your valve covers,loose the diamond plate look and tone down the red wires would be a huge visual improvement.

One more thing that would be a quick fix,paint or replace that rusty return spring.

Again,I'm not throwing off on your work but offering a different set of eyes. HRP

 

im hearing you,
and yes, the spring is already recognized as an eye sore, but it only 20 degrees in the garage so there wont be any painting for a little while

jeff

 

chrome won't get you home, and sometimes the most basic engine bay will draw my attn. I like what you have done, Looks good.

 

I like what you've done so far. Are those painted parts body color? I'm just not a fan of grey, although, let loose a pinstriper in there and I think you would really dig it. JMHO

 

battery cover looks good, exhaust cover same.
now the valve covers?? there less is more, can you just re paint them?

 

Ive been thinking about having some things stripped so maybe that's not a bad idea.
as for the body color, yes and no.
heres the car, (Link to the build is at the bottom of my posts)


jeff

 

nice looking car!!

 

For an engine compartmentry on a custom I like to see smooth - hidden components, painted, clean, detailed nicely. The rest of the car is smooth, carry it thru to the engine. Chrome, stainless, polished etc makes it stand out and just doesn't do it for me on a custom engine compartment. Just sharing my opinion. On that car I'd stick to 2 colors, maybe nonmetallic gray similar to aluminum color or a little darker, and chassis black, lose the green rad overflow hose, go to black wires, the exhaust covers are great but make them disappear. All mechanicals grey, all the chassis, black.
that's a beautiful car, love the paint color.

 

VERRRRRRY NICE!!!!

 

Love the car,I love customs! HRP

 

looks good, nothing you have done is irreversible. change it again next winter. or if you find something else you like.

 

I ve been starring at that engine pic all evening and im just lost :-(
as much as I liked the battery cover when I made it, Im just not feeling it all of a sudden.
I may just make a new one , that's not as flashy (simple bead rolling instead of the quilting), and paint it black to make it "disappear".
After that , Ill see what the eyes get drawn too.

I spend a lot of time just looking at the things I build just to see what dosent look right. If it sticks out like a sore thumb, it gotta be reworked.

jeff

 

Remember you asked for opinions, that quilted stuff reminds me of all the catering trucks that you see delivering coffee and donuts and bad sandwiches to work places.

 

its a gorgeous car... is the interior quilted? if so good job.. if not..it still looks cool.. being a 50's custom..let a pinstriper in there..it only takes a few lines to make it pop! good luck

 

heres the interior.



And slopok, that's funny, I never even thought about those food trucks................................
Now I want to build one !!!


jeff

 

I agree on the food truck look. Less is more, get rid of the red wires, paint everything the same color under there, and let a pin striper at it.

 

Wow, Cool ride - since too cold to paint replace parts like top of air cleaner with chrome. replace spark plug wires with black.

 

I like your bead roll idea, maybe some engine turning?

 

That is a great custom, very nice work!!

 

What he said

 

You should see it in person!

 

thanks guys,
heres how the engine got me around last season:

clearly it needed something


jeff

 

The whole car is smooooooooooth. Follow that theme

First thing that stuck out was the battery cover. Too much, maybe just Too big of an area
I really like the vale covers though.

Next thing that jumped was the radiator, may be paint that black or a smooth cover that blends into the fan shroud.

 

That interior is more sterile than the operating room I was in to get a stent installed.

 

you could do finned aluminum valve covers and paint between the fins and maybe an aircleaner like this.....


http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Nostalgia-Spun-Aluminum-Air-Cleaner,34533.html

 

Not crazy about the diamond plate, do like the exhaust manifold covers. Fan shroud, top radiator tank and air cleaner maybe painted the body color. Sure like the car, especially the interior, well done.