Ugly engine peeve

[wensum]

Observing many cars on Ebay, I too have been struck by many with poor engine bay presentation but also what often looks like amateurish upholstery jobs, often with little reference to the original materials or the original pattern.
Is that due to a lack of knowledgable upholsterers or tight budget restorations?
Keith

 

[Roadster62]

My Pet Peeve is OPEN HOODS! The last thing I want to look at is what is under your hood, that goes for Hot Rods and Customs as well. Last thing I'd spend money on in a full restoration will be the engine. Cars are to be looked at for their good looks and flowing lines, nothings ruins that look more than an open hood. Bob

 

[fredski]

my pet peeve is closed hoods.

always was more interested in the engine than all else

old engines that have that old gassy oil smell are the best

that's me fredski

 

[29ModelA]

And, on a related matter, I wish more owners would open the hoods of their Model A's at car shows.

In fairness, I suppose the general viewing public has little interest in what's under the hood, but I suspect many - especially those of us who work on our engines - are as interested in what the engine compartment looks like as what the passenger compartment does. This interest is frustrated by owners frequently not being near their cars (to ask to open the hood). They're probably off looking at other's cars (if not other's engines...).

And this tendency to keep the hood closed on Model A's (which may just be my perception) apparently does not extend to the 50's/60's/70's owners, who are usually only too happy to throw open their hoods and showcase all the painted, chromed and polished attributes of their engine.

Maybe it's power-plant envy...

Anymore I rarely open my hood, too many people want trophies, and there are too many parts that can easily walk off.

 

[Purdy Swoft]

Other then cleaning thick grease off the engine i see no point in doing much, If the engine is not removed for repairs why would you even try painting it? In the past i have seen people paint engines covered in thick dirt silver with spraycans, now that looks terrible.

Here is my spray can silver motor. It was cleaned and took apart before painted. It looked purty good untill I used WD 40 to check for a vacume leak. It didn't have one but the WD run down the side and made an ugly. If it had been green it probably wouldn't have shown

 

[montanafordman]

My Pet Peeve is OPEN HOODS! The last thing I want to look at is what is under your hood, that goes for Hot Rods and Customs as well. Last thing I'd spend money on in a full restoration will be the engine. Cars are to be looked at for their good looks and flowing lines, nothings ruins that look more than an open hood. Bob

Depends on the car. I like seeing the engine on antique cars because I've always liked the look of a flathead motor, no matter what the make or number of cylinders but I get your point.

At the Lemay America's Car Museum they had a Ferrari exhibit that included a Ferrari F40. I was a kid in the 80's and every 8 year old (myself included) had a Ferrari F40 poster in their room. I've always loved the look of that car and the lines on it. The example in the museum had the rear engine cover (back end) raised up and it COMPLETELY spoiled the look of the car. You could see the engine and twin turbos beneath the louvered rear window anyway and had a better view of the painted valve covers and more attractive parts of the engine rather than the uglier intakes and exposed exhaust. Seeing the car that way made me mad every time I walked past it and they kept it that way for months!

 

[mhsprecher]

When I looked at the 28 roadster I bought a few weeks ago, it had not been washed, the right front shock link was not attached to the axle and the brakes were so far out of adjustment the car would barely stop. The guy was selling his house and everything and moving back overseas to the country of his birth, so he had lots of other things on his mind besides selling his Model A. It may be a reason I got it so reasonably. Sometimes you can't do it all. Lucky for me, in this case.

 

[SeaSlugs]

Depends on the car. I like seeing the engine on antique cars because I've always liked the look of a flathead motor, no matter what the make or number of cylinders but I get your point.

yes i agree, some cars its best to leave the hood down to get the whole theme. others i like to see open especially the oddities or the really old. Something about a straight 8 is just boggiling to me, but i dont need to see every chevy 350 or 427 out there with the same polished this or chrome that.

I open the hood of my chevette at shows mostly because A the hood paint is cracking and awful looking and B 90% of the people out there never knew they were rwd so when they look and its setup like a truck or big body car it throws em for a loop.

gotta admit about model A's im on the fence about if i like it open or not. Right now i like em closed at shows just because my engines been on a stand in the garage for years now so i know what it looks like left right upside-down inside out lol i just recently bought a hood and cab so i can see the picture coming together now. and realizing its gonna have a hard time fitting in the garage...

 

[Napa Skip]

I have two car shows in the next few weeks (4th Annual Shearer Charter School Auto Show in Napa tomorrow and the 24th Annual Father's Day Invitational Auto Show in Yountville).

After reading some of the responses above, I thought I might split the difference and leave one side of the hood open and the other closed...

Then what passes out here for sanity returned and I recalled the words of Ricky Nelson:

"But it's all right now, I've learned my lesson well.
You see, you can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself."

The hood will remain fully open. If anyone doesn't like it and says anything about some of the modifications I've made (see another recent thread on running without an oil return pipe) I'll have only two words for them.

And they won't be "Happy Birthday"...

 

[Tom Wesenberg]

My garage isn't heated or insulated (TBD someday - I have heat but it's pretty much useless without insulation). What I've noticed is that the concrete pad actually gets quite moist in the spring and after extremely heavy rains (like right now). This can't be a good thing. I can't afford temperature and humidity control. The poor car has had to adapt to the change from extremely dry (Mojave desert) to high humidity. I will have to keep a close eye on things. Right now it doesn't have a speck of rust, and I'd like to keep it that way.

Minnesota has lot of temp changes and most of the time pretty high humidity. I also don't have insulation and heat in my garage. I put two layers of thick clear plastic over the floor, then covered it with free used carpet. This really helps the car plus it protects everything that touches the floor from years of raod salt soaked into the concrete.

Even if you just have a plastic Round Top garage, I'd still lay down plastic and cover it with free used carpet.

Last summer I looked at a 1950 Studebaker in northern Minnesota. It was parked in a tin shed with no vents in the middle of the woods for 10 years. He also covered the car with plastic. The complete interior was so moldy and rotten you needed a gas mask to stick your head inside. The engine was locked up and the complete bottom of the car and frame was rusted away. It still sold for $1000 because it had some nice chrome parts.

 

[Tom Wesenberg]

Delete double post.

 

[1crosscut]

I prefer to leave my hood closed. I like to let kids or anyone else that wants to sit in my truck to go ahead and do so. As long as they don't have an ice cream cone or a screw driver sticking out of their back pocket they can climb on in. People really enjoy taking pictures of their kids in my truck so having the hood down makes better pictures. The engine is one of the nicer looking parts of my truck. If people want to look under the hood I'll open it up.

 

[denis4x4]

All my A's have hood tops and no sides. Best of both worlds! Engine is painted genuine ford blue instead of green.

 

[dumb person]

Here is my spray can silver motor. It was cleaned and took apart before painted. It looked purty good untill I used WD 40 to check for a vacume leak. It didn't have one but the WD run down the side and made an ugly. If it had been green it probably wouldn't have shown

At least you took it apart and cleaned it before painting, i never understood why some people leave an inch thick crust of dirt on the outside and have tons of silicon sealer (like 2 tubes worth) smeared over an engine and then spray bomb it silver and think it looks any better.

Now if you mask the rest of the engine and spray that whole valve cover with WD40 it will be a uniform colour?