i just painted my tranny black...man it hides so much and looks so clean =) i might do my timing cover next(and yes i do this with everything still bolted on the car...takes time and some different sized brushes lol)

 

Thanks, I'm getting more used to it and rather like it as well. If the stock silver/gray paint on my engine cover had been in good shape, I would have left it alone but still added the red; would have looked a lot like the GT-R engine cover. BUt it had spots chipped off and the black was showing through, so I just sprayed it with black engine enamel.

Maxima dude, you gotta show us photos of the black trans. You brushed it instead of spraying?

 

You know, I've been thinking about redoing mine as well. I plan on powder coating my FSTB and brackets along with my torque link. I think it's an awesome idea Rochester!!!

 

Thanks, Roy.

I was also planning on powdercoating the two radiator hold-down brackets on the front cross-member. I seem to have to repaint these damn things every year, so maybe powdercoat would hold up better.

Did you know these little brackets are only $4.44/each at Courtesy Parts?

http://www.courtesyparts.com/21546p-...3-p-45190.html

For all the talk about how rusty they get, you think people would just buy new ones.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Do you think the 2 wrap-around water-pipes in the front of the engine can be powdercoated, or do they get too hot? I know that knight_yyz painted his new pipes a few pages back with some fancy, space-age material he found... but I'm kind of fond of that black-chrome powdercoat.

Either way, that's another winter-prep project, is to get those two pipes and prep them for spring.

 

The powder coat should hold up just fine.

I was thinking about powder coating the link. Do you think the powder coat would get fukced-up when using a wrench to tighten it?

 

the front pipes shouldn't get much hotter than about 200F or whatever the coolant temperature boils at. If you are worried they do have high temp powder coat products

 

On a side note about engine bay cleaning, what do you guys have in your arsenal for cleaning / restoring dirty and rusty parts/nuts/bolts etc...?

 

The center piece can easily be hand-tightened in either direction.

Use a wrench only to tighten the lock-nuts, not the main piece.

 

Rusty brackets can be restored, painted, powder-coated, chromed, what-have-you.

But buts & bolts...? Replace them.

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...uts-bolts.html

 

Really . I will have to check that out. I've always used a wrench to spin the sob.

 

So here are some newer shots of my engine bay...

 

So here are some newer shots of my engine bay...

 

 

Anyway, I am still waiting for some new fender bolts. I may end up powder coating my torque link as well. But for the most part, the engine bay project has come to a halt.

 

^^ not yet lol you can do a lil cleanup on wires like ur 02 sensor wires make them neater...and in the 5th pik wuts that bracket for? looks like nothing so take it off... take off you stock intake brackets to...i drilld the spot welds out and got matching paint and it looks great...lil **** makes a difference

also how did u get your fuse boxes all black? u paint over it?

 

also can u post what size the lil hole plugs u used ? where did you get them home depot?

 

I just noticed that bracket too. How worthless. It's coming off tomorrow. The O2 wires are loomed so I don't know how to make them neater. I guess I could somehow paint the connectors. What I really want to do is tuck them so I can't see them at all. I will work on that.

Do you have pics of where you removed your stock intake brackets?

Yes I painted over my fuse box covers in order match my engine cover.

 

I got them at Lowes. All different sizes. Hard to remember what I used. What I did was buy a bunch of different sizes and tried out each one in the parking lot of Lowes until I found the ones that worked.

 

Me too! Exactly that. Oh, that's funny.

Roy, you've done a fantastic job on your engine bay this year. I would have to seriously reach to make any kind of constructive comment... so please consider it a compliment that I have no suggestions this morning. Your bay looks awesome.

And purely for image appeal, there's something way-cool about this photo:



Oh crap... there's one. Get yourself a new oil cap.

But seriously, top of the world, buddy.

 

I just realized you've got hole plugs along the front cross-member.

Of course, there's no function value here, but they do have a nice, finished look.

Thinking...

 

I love that picture. It really shows the intricate detail Nick Lee did on that cover. Man, that guy does awesome work

I wonder if a new cap from the dealer will look newer. I will check into it.

 

They have as much value and purpose as the holes themselves

 

Touché, Mr. Roderiques.

Guess I'll be running down to LOWES. It seems I need more hole plugs.

BTW, I'm pretty sure you can find those JDM oil caps in anodized black. Just saying...

 

I knew those pictures would inspire you somehow.

What do you think about tucking the the o2 connectors under the engine cover somewhere? I also eventually would like to powder coat that coolant pipe as well. Man, it never ends does it.

 

The right-most, outgoing O2 wire can easily tuck under the cover. I tossed out that little (rusty) bracket and simply zip-tied the wire to the rest of the harness, under the cover. The other two sensor wires already tuck directly up and under the cover.

Or are you talking about the actual connectors themselves, lifting them off the pipe brackets? That's an interesting idea. If you do that, then you can cut those brackets right off the pipes. It would certainly look cleaner. I don't know if we have enough slack for that, though... but it's an interesting idea.

Those 2 water pipes are a winter project for me. Going to buy them new (about $50 each) and have them powdercoated in Black Chrome. Ditto for the Torque Link Connector and a couple of new Radiator hold-down brackets.

 

i u look close on the drivers strut tower i removed the stock intake brackets...the one ontop of the strut tower and the one coming from the side of the fender... looks much neater...also since this pik my trnny is now painted black(oh man wut a difference it makes) and i touched up alot more with black paint...also the yellow stickers are gone lol and took off the stock sticker off the radiator cap ... looks alot better lol

 

Can't make it out. Let's see a picture of this bracket-less driver side strut tower. I can't delete the top one because I'm using it for SRI support. But I'd like to see what you did.

 

I am not worried about the slack. The wires can easily be extended.

 

Here are my next plans for the engine bay. Hell no I'm not done yet:

Hide all O2 connectors.
Powder coat timing cover to match UIM (stainless look) and use gold hardware.
Powder coat engine torque link (not sure what color yet).
Powder coat front water pipes (probably metallic black).
Paint connectors at throttle body & front cam timing acuators (black).
Remove gray connector on top of alternator.
Hide two connectors near rear cam timing actuator.
Remove factory intake brackets.
Stainless brake master cylinder reservoir (this will have to be custom made).
Paint hood hinge (black).
Paint gray connector at rear valve cover (black).
Paint red connector at ABS module (black).
Powder coat brass brake booster hard line underneath windshield cowl (alluminum).
Remove factory tag on firewall.
Paint clutch bleeder (metallic black).

Wow!! That's an extensive list. I think that's it for now.

 

I'm sure I could.

Dont forget the hole plugs at your firewall.

 

The originals are still there. No reason to remove them.

 

What's there originally?

 

The hole plugs on the firewall.

 

LOL!!!

 

Nice to see another 2-toned engine cover!

Awesome detail in the engine bay...

 

Hey man, your car look sick... I see you have put some Cool flex hoses, those really look good.

I just got the hood hinge, door hinges and the lock or whatever it's called show chromed, I will pick the last few parts over the week-end and post some pics. Where did you bought the P/S oil container and the over flow tank ? Those look really nice. BTW I never received a reply from that UK company wtf...

 

All over the engine bay, there are wiring harness connectors, like this one at the throttle body, where the individual wires are exposed. Now some of them, like the ABS connector, are coincidentally round, where wire-loom cleanly wraps around the end of the plastic. But most are like the throttle body here.

Has anyone thought about a way to make that cleaner looking? Electrical tape just seems to unwrap over time and look sloppy.

 

They make shrink wrap in some pretty big diameters, and fancy colors so that may be an option for you John.

 

Shrink wrap... I hadn't thought of that. The kind of thing that you apply a hair dryer to, is that what you're thinking?

The three connectors who's exposed wiring gets under my skin are the TB, the MAF and the PS Pressure Sensor. The O2 wires seem kind of naked, too.

Researching...

 

What I want to do is remove the connectors from the wires and paint them. When I put them back, I will then apply the shrink tube close to the connector so the wires are not exposed.