Build Thread 1978 Fairmont. I bet somebody back home’s thinkin’…I wonder why he don’t write..?

Aluminum foil spray glued to the foam will work well. A little PAM on the foil and the fiberglass won't stick to it. Suran wrap will work too and may conform better to the details. If you made a fiberglass mold of it you could use it as a mold for a plastic epoxy of your choice or carbon fiber. You'd have to use a pretty good mold release for that though.

Imagine all this stuff you could make with this.


View: https://youtu.be/mIaE-qLZfSg


This is a long video but shows how to make the box.


View: https://youtu.be/O790OvRy1rc


If anyone can do it, you can.
 
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Made pretty good inroads towards my “ Barrawannabe” engine cover.

After thinking about the different methods and materials to create this illusion, In the end, I chose steel.
And because I didn’t want it to weigh a freakin‘ ton, and because there are a lot of “compound this” kinda bends, and “ convex that” kinda bends, I decided to use 20 ga. steel.

I hate 20 ga. steel.

It doesn’t hold its shape, warps like a bitch when welding, burns through even easier, and gives me no quarter if I fck up.

And…I :leghump: up frequently.

Nonetheless, I had a buttload of this junk standing in my garage, and I wanted to see if I could make it work.

At the start of this day, Kate asks me what I’m doing now to my “ completed car”. ( Cause Summit boxes are showing up). I tell her that “I’m building a Barra engine cover”.

She says that’s stupid.

“What’s wrong with telling people about the engine that’s actually in the car….Didnt you say that a 2 JZ was……How’d you word it?…..” Legendary?””.

Even when I tell em that they’re looking at a 2jz, There‘s too many bone heads that don’t know that engine from any other I-6. If you’ll recall,…(Setting the legendary thing aside for a minute), How many times did people ask me if this was an inline 6 cylinder?
Not…Is This an Eco-Boost.
Not..Is this the engine that the car came with…
Not is that a 2JZ…..
And certainly….Not is that a Barra.

They couldn’t even tell if the cylinders were in a line, or opposed, in a V shape.

She glazes over, and exits the conversation.

When you look at the online comparisons between a Barra, and a 2JZ,…the 2JZ comes out on top. The Barra has oiling problems, The Barra has a disproportionate bore to stroke ratio, The Barra is gigantic, The aftermarket for a Barra in the US is nonexistent.

The 2JZ on the other hand,…has none of those issues.

But a Barra is made by Ford.

When you lift the hood on your Ford ( That nobody that attends these shows even knows what the car is, cause your’re already claiming it’s a brand and model that hasn’t existed now for over 50 years) but when you lift the hood, there is some reference to Ford on the valve cover..

People wonder... “Is this one of them “ Mad Max“ cars from down under?”
A Barra has the Ford Oval on its cam cover. A Barra came in those cars from down under.

Conversely, The cam cover on a 2 JZ has the Toyota logo on it.

If This engine cover makes it through the “ Do it twice Mike” vetting process,…I’ll probably install it.
And even if I do, Im not gonna say that I have a Barra in the car…I’m not gonna tell these people dick.
Unless they ask…” Is that a Barra?”

Then…..” Why yes it is”……




Behold the mighty Barra
 
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Made pretty good inroads towards my “ Barrawannabe” engine cover.

After thinking about the different methods and materials to create this illusion, In the end, I chose steel.
And because I didn’t want it to weigh a freakin‘ ton, and because there are a lot of “compound this” kinda bends, and “ convex that” kinda bends, I decided to use 20 ga. steel.

I hate 20 ga. steel.

It doesn’t hold its shape, warps like a bitch when welding, burns through even easier, and gives me no quarter if I fck up.

And…I :leghump: up frequently.

Nonetheless, I had a buttload of this junk standing in my garage, and I wanted to see if I could make it work.

At the start of this day, Kate asks me what I’m doing now to my “ completed car”. ( Cause Summit boxes are showing up). I tell her that “I’m building a Barra engine cover”.

She says that’s stupid.

“What’s wrong with telling people about the engine that’s actually in the car….Didnt you say that a 2 JZ was……How’d you word it?…..” Legendary?””.

Even when I tell em that they’re looking at a 2jz, There‘s too many bone heads that don’t know that engine from any other I-6. If you’ll recall,…(Setting the legendary thing aside for a minute), How many times did people ask me if this was an inline 6 cylinder?
Not…Is This an Eco-Boost.
Not..Is this the engine that the car came with…
Not is that a 2JZ…..
And certainly….Not is that a Barra.

They couldn’t even tell if the cylinders were in a line, or opposed, in a V shape.

She glazes over, and exits the conversation.

When you look at the online comparisons between a Barra, and a 2JZ,…the 2JZ comes out on top. The Barra has oiling problems, The Barra has a disproportionate bore to stroke ratio, The Barra is gigantic, The aftermarket for a Barra in the US is nonexistent.

The 2JZ on the other hand,…has none of those issues.

But a Barra is made by Ford.

When you lift the hood on your Ford ( That nobody that attends these shows even knows what the car is, cause your’re already claiming it’s a brand and model that hasn’t existed now for over 50 years) but when you lift the hood, there is some reference to Ford on the valve cover..

People wonder... “Is this one of them “ Mad Max“ cars from down under?”
A Barra has the Ford Oval on its cam cover. A Barra came in those cars from down under.

Conversely, The cam cover on a 2 JZ has the Toyota logo on it.

If This engine cover makes it through the “ Do it twice Mike” vetting process,…I’ll probably install it.
And even if I do, Im not gonna say that I have a Barra in the car…I’m not gonna tell these people dick.
Unless they ask…” Is that a Barra?”

Then…..” Why yes it is”……




Behold the mighty Barra
So you’d tell em it’s a Barra, even though all your hard work has managed to put a TooJZ in there? I’m thinking the Barra story won’t last!
 
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So you’d tell em it’s a Barra, even though all your hard work has managed to put a TooJZ in there? I’m thinking the Barra story won’t last!
To tell the truth I don’t know what I’d say just yet. I worked all day on the front part of the engine cover, and it didn’t turn out looking like a Barra anything. MOF, It looks like a CMA something instead.

In the grand scheme of things, it’ll be an engine cover with a ford logo on it. I actually love the 2jz, I doubt that I’ll not give credit where credits due.
But,…
If you can pay almost 60 grand for a Toyota Supra nowadays that has a BMW engine in it, but has a cover over it with a Toyota emblem on it..
1634298945293.jpeg

What’s the harm in putting a Ford logo on a cover sitting over a Toyota engine?
 
You talk like you don't enjoy all the questions and comments when static with a number of 'cookie cutter' junk in a show setting, if you disliked 'explaining' what engine, model or vehicle origin than you should have compiled a 3 ring binder full of glossy covered pics with captions and post it so show stalkers can flip through it with their greasy fingers while holding a spaghetti taco in one hand precariously close to a very smooth and lint free paint job. And now you're going to further traumatized yourself by more modifications to further confuse people that (basically) only recognize a tri five, camaro, mustang or charger/challenger and wouldn't know what a 78 Fairmont would look like.
I, on the other hand, like the vehicles story along with the build, I've been known to stand next to someone else's ride and make up a 'car' story until I just can't continue with a straight face. But, alas, noone cares about a 68 year old brand X that is stuck in the 1950s.. The truck not it's owner, or as I refer to myself: 'the classic truck owner's chauffeur'
I have a suspicion that deep down inside you really get a kick outta confusing the common man, er, I mean humanoid.
And you're doing a bang-up job. :nice:
 
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You talk like you don't enjoy all the questions and comments when static with a number of 'cookie cutter' junk in a show setting, if you disliked 'explaining' what engine, model or vehicle origin than you should have compiled a 3 ring binder full of glossy covered pics with captions and post it so show stalkers can flip through it with their greasy fingers while holding a spaghetti taco in one hand precariously close to a very smooth and lint free paint job. And now you're going to further traumatized yourself by more modifications to further confuse people that (basically) only recognize a tri five, camaro, mustang or charger/challenger and wouldn't know what a 78 Fairmont would look like.
I, on the other hand, like the vehicles story along with the build, I've been known to stand next to someone else's ride and make up a 'car' story until I just can't continue with a straight face. But, alas, noone cares about a 68 year old brand X that is stuck in the 1950s.. The truck not it's owner, or as I refer to myself: 'the classic truck owner's chauffeur'
I have a suspicion that deep down inside you really get a kick outta confusing the common man, er, I mean humanoid.
And you're doing a bang-up job. :nice:
No,…..you’re obviously not reading all that I write.
RE: the bottom of reply #2529.

I go to these things for one reason:
I never got enough “ show and tell“ time in first grade.
 
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I’ve been looking at Ford valve covers of similar vintage to the emblem you have on the current cover. I like ones that have
big letters stamped in. Powered by Ford, Thunderbird, Ford, or these cast ones have a look that would be good with the Cobrajet logo. How to do it in your new cover without a huge press is the challenge.
If the Cobrajet 428 cast ones were not notched so much, slicing off the top to match the open dpace in the current engine cover could be slick and too easy.
FCB2D575-6961-4A26-A112-DDD6C5C2AAE8.png
FD3747BD-75C4-40A1-B9F6-2AD59AF7C623.png
35DAF00B-8A94-475F-AC13-E2E57F7F6B84.png
 
So,…

*Sigh…..

I’m trying to decide how far I wanna go with this “ engine cover” thing.

Three things have to happen, two of which are kind of a pain in the dick.

1. I have to relocate the upper radiator hose.
It was never really optimal where it was, and in the grand scheme of things, something that I probably would’ve changed…But because it ran in front of the old cam cover, and left zero room for anything else, It had to be moved lower to allow the new cover room ( because a Barra is so much bigger, the faux cover simply has to be “ bigger”. Which leaves no room for the upper radiator hose to cross over.
B024E31C-B281-4D74-825B-76CFF0D0B503.jpeg

So I gotta redo it.
And…..If I’m trying to keep the mind fck thing even remotely close…..
Barras have a t-stat housing on the driver side of the engine up front.
1634426891387.jpeg

Now, I can somewhat pull this look off, but at the same time, ( since the fckin thing isn’t a Barra) I can just build the upper radiator hose so that it’ll clear the front of the cover, and be done.

( Which path do you spose I’ll take?)

Next, Where to put the freakin coil packs?

They were so simple sitting on my homemade coil mount plate on top of the engine…..but now I gotta hide them. And trying to find that hiding place is turning out to be pain in the dick II.

lastly,….

The oil fill.

On a Barra, the oil fill is towards the back, on the passenger side of the engine. A 2 jz is up front, on the driver side.

Should I even care about keeping ANYTHING close when it’s gonna be so far from the real thing here anyway?

Doesn’t “function” trump ( I so hate using that word anymore) form when talking about something that has to be accessed easily to simply add a qt of oil?
 
What you have looks much cooler than the Barra pic. Fix the hose, but forget the rest.
Amen!

Clean up what you want, but don't try to clone anything. Your build is unique and should stay that way. It stands on it's own two feet (or six coils in this case). I've always thought that function was much sexier than form when looking under hoods anyways.
 
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Wtf are you doing. Leave all that sh*t as it is, it looks to damn good now. Take the current "cover" off & have a Ford oval CNC etched into it right in front of that last coil pack. If you want to further perpetuate the whole "Ford" thing have a one off replica tag made that mimics the one on the old Powerdyne "Ford Motorsport" superchargers. Rivet it to the volute on the turbo. Done! Yep, factory inline turbo six "Cyclone Spoiler", only made a handful
 
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Like the title says….
Sometimes you just gotta say what the fck. No matter what I schemed up, this was just gonna be a big jug fck. The simple truth was that anything I did to try and make this engine cover thing work was gonna complicate, rather than streamline the overall theme.

The engine is at a point of “ just right”.
Over the last few days, I’ve come to realize that, and have came right back to the point I started,

because nothing needed changing.

In the end though, I did change three things.

I changed the upper radiator hose.
I tucked the PCV vent hose. It’s no longer this -10 braided line hanging out on top of the engine….,now just a lowly, black 5/8” heater hose with push lock ends, hiding as best I could make them.
I changed the oil.

So,… For better or ( can’t say it’s worse, cause it ain’t)
Here is the single most photographed engine bay on this web site.
6EF7D516-415F-41B7-9EDB-FA11AABA1032.jpeg
 
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How is the torque arm holding up after some road time?
Don’t know what to tell ya.

It hasn’t failed.
It hasn’t broken, dug into the ground and caused a F&F 9 pole vault endo.
It hasn’t popped, pissed, moaned or otherwise complained when I go into angled drive ways.

I’m guessing it’s ok.
 
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