Engine Bay Project

[Prozon]

Kris is planning a wire tuck?!?!
Well yes kids, I am considering it.

The engine is out.. the transmission is coming out on Thursday.. and lately I've been hearing a lot of talk about wire tucks. My engine bay is not clean, it is not pretty. But I have some idea's, and I have some questions. Now as you may or may not be aware, when I acquired the car it was in a.. less than perfect condition.. There was some front end damage which I have fixed up, and intend to completely fix when the engine bay project is going on. That being said.. because I have damage to weld on anyways, I figured this would turn into a full scale "shave" ? I believe thats the word.. welding up holes... all that non sense.. As always I will be doing all of my own work, hopefully with the help of a good friend.


You see kids, this is what happens when you take on a previously totaled car. You get to do all sorts of fun work dealing with the frame that has literally compressed into itself! As you can see the original fender bolt hole is quite a bit off. The whole section is actually kind of misshaped and, well obviously it compressed. The front half actually had to be cut out completely lol. I will get it perfect one day though.

Now i'm not into that whole relocating the battery to my trunk, and fuse box under the dash and blah blah blah. I don't know about the rest of you, but I DRIVE my car, and I USE my trunk, I don't want an effin battery in it. :roll: I had another solution however. Instead of relocating these ugly looking parts in the engine bay, why not hide them? I think I will build a few "boxes" to cover up some of these uglier area's. Master Cylinder, Brake Booster, ect.. I was thinking something that I could attach with three or four bolts. (So I can remove them if I ever need to replace or work on the things they cover.)

The first area I was thinking of building a box to cover up most of this garbage, relocating the wiring into it. I've drawn a very crude picture in paint of my idea. I was also planning to put the fuse box on top of the box, mainly because the box would interfere with it's current mounting place. Just so you know, I used the spray feature so you could get an idea of what's behind it. Sadly MSpaint has no transparency features.

The second area I figured should have the box is around the master cylinder, maybe leaving a nice little access hole for the cap, I could route the wiring into/under the box and keep it hidden, as well as mount the vacuum related sensors on it. This box would be a little trickier, because it is much much closer to the engine itself and would require a little tighter fitment.

Are you all with me so far? :shock:

Now I had a question about the piping running along the front. I'm fairly certain that there is some kind of power steering line in this, perhaps a cooler? Another line is for the air conditioning, which was removed. Could I remove these lines and just loop it around somewhere else? If they are cooler lines, which I suspect they may be, could I hurt anything by removing them. (While keeping the power steering system.)

I was also wondering what this little canister is for? Do I need to keep it or can I toss it out? What's it's purpose? Something to do with vacuum lines, but I really don't know what else..

Just a few thoughts I had. I also want to get a few things powder coated to make it all look pretty. The Motor Mounts, Valve Cover, Oil Pan and possibly Intercooler Piping will all be powder coated blue to match the car. An oil filter relocation kit is also on my list of things to do.

So let me know what you all think. My idea's good? Bad? Should I do it, should I throw the car away and drive a hummer? I want opinions people!!

 

[Integraguy04]

that little canister is for emission controls...you can take it out it doesnt do anything

 

[nathan_carmona]

I say go for it :thumbs up: I like your idea about those boxes, thatll be pretty cool. If you going to be welding a lot in there anyway, you could use some sheet metal and "reshape" the bay and have all the hoses and wires tucked under that. Just set your engine in, see how much room you got and weld the sheet metal together and attach using the fender bolts at the top and make some brackets at the bottom. just my opinion but you said you wanted it

 

[mirrorimg]

that little canister is for emission controls...you can take it out it doesnt do anything

Except ruin your gas mileage on cruises.

Its an evaporator canister. It helps with highway MPG by cycling some fuel vapors back to the motor. I believe your car will also smell like fuel if you remove it and dont somehow plug the lines.

If I were you, I would delete the ABS and install an RS proportioning valve, and RS (or custom bent) brake lines to get rid of that horrendous ABS unit. I would probably retain the PS but get some custom lines (possible from another vehicle so you dont have to pay a lot) to run more "out of sight" than the current line. And most certainly get a battery relocation box to move the battery to the trunk.

Those are just things I would do if I had a separate car to get around in. I wouldnt do this if it was my only vehicle, and needed it back on the road soon.

 

[Prozon]

It does not need to be on the road anytime soon, however I do WANT it to be.
I don't really like the idea of relocating the battery. Maybe somewhere else in the bay, but the trunk seems a little ridiculous in my opinion. It's not a show car by any means, I just wanted something to clean it up a little.

 

[Prozon]

I might skip the second boxed area around the master cylinder. But the whole ABS unit could benefit from it, and I could tuck the wiring under/behind/inside of it. I think I will keep the canister if it has anything at all to do with fuel mileage. However, I think some new lines would benefit. Maybe I can go buy some blue vacuum lines to match the car.