• Mustang Forums
  • 1979 - 1995 (Fox, SN95.0, & 2.3L) -General/Talk-

any links, pics, or tips?

  • Thread starter Thread starter wrblue87
  • Start date Start date Apr 17, 2007

wrblue87

New Member
Apr 15, 2007
0
0
0
New Oxford, PA
Apr 17, 2007
#1
  • Apr 17, 2007
  • #1
hello, im shaving, smoothing, (or what ever you want to call it) my engine bay. just started on it. i know alot of vw guys do this, i have a few friends into v dubs. anyone else do this to their mustang? (its an 87' btw) Any links, tips, or pics you guys can give me? im not to far along yet, just have a few un used holes welded shut so far. from what i have seen on the gettas and golfs they go all out, butchering their wiring harnesses to make them longer so you cant see them and what not, eliminate the power steering, a/c, and emissions. I LOVE THE LOOK OF IT but on a mustang? do i keep going or stop where im at? if you guys like the idea i can put pics of mine and the prosses i took, tools i used, time involved and what ever on here? thanks a million!!!
 

grey5.0beast

Cookies should never be DUNKED!!!
Aug 3, 2004
0
1
0
atl ga
Apr 17, 2007
#2
  • Apr 17, 2007
  • #2
Checkout soniccherry.com for a badass car thats all done up, mansonozz on here. Also bottlefed is another one, he has a thread going now something bout his winter pojects, both VERY nice cars.

edit:
here ya go
http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=691274
 

wrblue87

New Member
Apr 15, 2007
0
0
0
New Oxford, PA
Apr 17, 2007
#3
  • Apr 17, 2007
  • #3
thanks alot, and that soniccherry.com wow i hate red interior but man he pulled that off with a wow. i just seen that car in a recent 5.0 magazine! thanks for the post! hope to here from alot more stangnet guys!! this site rocks!! :SNSign:
 

25thmustang

Mustang Master
Sep 5, 2003
2,021
85
99
Montgomery, NY
Apr 17, 2007
#4
  • Apr 17, 2007
  • #4
I did it... if you research it and go about it right its a good thing, if you dont you will suffer later (which I am doing now)!
 

wrblue87

New Member
Apr 15, 2007
0
0
0
New Oxford, PA
Apr 18, 2007
#5
  • Apr 18, 2007
  • #5
sweet! what did you do with the washer fluid tank?
 

25thmustang

Mustang Master
Sep 5, 2003
2,021
85
99
Montgomery, NY
Apr 18, 2007
#6
  • Apr 18, 2007
  • #6
Gone, car wont even get the windshield wipers used... no need for it!
 

Ozz

I think I have a problem here.
Founding Member
Jul 27, 2001
3,514
66
109
Canton, MI
Apr 18, 2007
#7
  • Apr 18, 2007
  • #7
Thanks man I got strategies from ALMOST STOCK, a member here. He's the one thanked in my article for showing me how to polish things, too.

Stang22 has another sick engine bay, all shaved smooth and blinged out. And of course, Bottlfed did an awesome job as well.

Here's mine, the rest will follow I'm sure



And http://www.soniccherry.com/enginebay.html has pics and steps of what I did, although I'm sorry that I don't have much writeup.
 

LS-what?

Founding Member
Jan 12, 2002
133
0
0
indiana
Apr 18, 2007
#8
  • Apr 18, 2007
  • #8
Oh what the hell here we go and dont ask me how its done cause its TOP SECRET j/k no really I dont know whats all involved other than sanding, welding , cursing, primer, cursing, sealer, cursing....etc. Buddy of mine did it for cheap without my permission the nerve of that bastard... He just started a new business and needed a rolling advertisement











 

Ozz

I think I have a problem here.
Founding Member
Jul 27, 2001
3,514
66
109
Canton, MI
Apr 18, 2007
#9
  • Apr 18, 2007
  • #9
Believe it or not I think I swore less w/this project than anything else I've ever done to the car It was just a lot of repeating steps (sanding, laying filler) and nothing to really go wrong.
 

stang22

Active Member
Jan 29, 2003
1,318
7
38
Washington, D.C.
Apr 19, 2007
#10
  • Apr 19, 2007
  • #10
Doing another e-bay project would be pretty simple, knowing what I know now of course. My project lasted me about 11 months and was some of the hardest work I have ever done to any car. The welding, patching, smoothing etc. was the easy part. Fitting your hands in small places, grinding, cutting your hands on everything in sight, bleeding, tasting metal in your mouth for days and sweating like crazy was the hard part and the mental challenge that comes along with it. Here are some tips that were passed down to me (from ALMOST STOCK) and some lessons learned that will hopefully help you in the long run. Again, these are the things that helped me and may not apply to all situations and may not be the rigth way, but it worked for me.

1. Have a game plan outlined with some goals of what you want to accomplish and how you want to your e-bay to look. Don't be afraid to ask questions of people on this board, as well as other boards. It will help you out tremendously. At some point through the project you are going to get frustrated, its going to happen and you will need some encouragement (unless you know everything) and pointers from others. Again, don't be afraid to ask. I spent countless hours on the phone with Paul (Almost Stock) as well as hundreds of emails.

2. Remove everything from the engine bay. Wires, brake lines, hood, fenders, steering rack, you name it. Have your work space as clear as possible. Label every single connector and wire that you pull out and take lots of pics of all of the connections from different angles to help you remember where things go. You can never take too many pics, trust me. Here are some progression pics.

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3. IMO and this is just my opinion if you are going to hide any wires... If you are going to do it, do it right the first time. This is taking it to the extremes, but trust me, it is worth it. PULL THE DASH!!! Pull it and pull all of the wiring harness through the the firewall and completely hide all of those nasty wires. Even if you don't polish everything in site like a few of us did, not having any wires (as well as brake lines) in the e-bay makes a huge difference. It's cleaner looking and much easier to work with when they don't get in your way. Use some ingenuity when doing it and don't be afraid to try something new. There is no right or wrong way to hide wires, but take good notes.

4. Measure twice and cut once. Measure twice and weld once. Welding is just something that you have to get used to and need some time under your belt in order to get better. The metal in the engine bay is very thin and when extreme heat is applied to it, it becomes very temperamental. Welding up the small holes is generally pretty easy because they are so small. On all of the larger size holes, I tacked up a piece of metal being where I was welding to help not burn through everytime I started welding and it helped as well as strengthened the e-bay up a little.

5. As Dave stated earlier, the layering, filling and sanding process can go on for days. When I did mine, I did the passenger side first and then went over and did the drivers side. The passenger side took me about 2 months to complete and the drivers side took about 4 weeks to complete. I wasn't working on it everyday, just kind of here and there and polishing stuff up as I went, plus 2 hurricanes while I was in Florida, etc... You will learn things as you go that will help you in the long run and speed up the project. You can only work as fast as your skills will let you. But as I said before, do it right the first time and don't cut any corners.

Most of my comments are just pointers and tips and not geared toward the technical side of smoothing the bay, hiding wires or polishing. There are several resources on this board that can help you out in your project.

http://www.leemotorsports.com/almoststock This site has wire hiding and polishing tips. USE THEM!!! As I mentioned before, don't be afraid to ask questions. There are numerous people that will help you out and they are more than willing to help out. If you have any questions, let me know. I will help you out in any way shape or form. I hope this helps.

Tim

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MAC'n89Blckstng

Active Member
Jun 11, 2003
1,012
4
36
NJ
Apr 19, 2007
#11
  • Apr 19, 2007
  • #11
I did my buddies for him. Took us the better half of last summer going over his house a couple nights a week to work on it. You will be very happy with the results (if your good at body work). And a new tip for protecting the metal from corrosion. After you have all the metal work done and your ready for body filler, get the metal clean and sanded nice with like 80-180 grit and then EPOXY prime the surfaces. After the primer is dry, sand it with 220-320 and they lay your body filler on it. This allows the metal to be 99% protected from corrosion and your body filler will still be able to adhere to the surfaces. EPOXY PRIMER is the ONLY primer that body filler will stick too!!!!! Although body men have been sticking body filler to bare metal for years, putting filler over Epoxy primer is the latest recommendation for working with body filler.






im sorry if the swastica is offending.
 

wrblue87

New Member
Apr 15, 2007
0
0
0
New Oxford, PA
Apr 19, 2007
#12
  • Apr 19, 2007
  • #12
WOW! very very helpful! THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE TIPS, LINKS, AND PICS! thats alot of sexy engine e bays!! and yes i will probably have a few more questions along the way LOL! everythings out of the e bay!!! even the dash and dash harness!! i have a few holes done so far! tom. i will try to get some pics up here for ya guys, and keep you posted with the progress. After sitting on the computer for a few counless hours i think i know how envoled and what route i would like to take. Hopefully you wont see a single wire!!! welp i told you i would have more questions, just thought of one! where to put the starter solenoid? let me know, and thanks alot! :SNSign:
 
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