engine bay question

+1 on the duraglass

Dean85GT said:

What about all those dimples on the firewall....the ones that arent actually holes. Would the bondo hold up on those?

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Those are even better to cover than the holes. just grind them down evnly as much as possible then put bondo.

myslo50 said:

o.k. my next question is, if i decide to fill the holes and hide some wiring, what color should i paint my engine bay? white to match the car, or black. while i got the engine out, i was thinking about painting it red to match my interior, or should i paint the motor black too? if anyone has a pic of a engine bay that is black and the car is a different color, please post it

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Personally I would paint it to match the car.

Simple question, one answer......

View attachment 325097

SWEET!!!!!!

Z06killinSBF said:

Simple question, one answer......

View attachment 324811

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Now thats a clean engine bay!!

Use 22 ga. metal

This guy used POR 15 epoxy to fill it. I PM'ed him yesterday and he said it has been 2 and half years since he did it and it's holding up perfectly.

http://www.corral.net/forums/showthread.php?p=6951830&highlight=epoxy#post6951830

I am thinking about going this route because I have no experience whatsoever with welding.

My process was going to be this:

-Por 15 epoxy all the holes
-sand epoxy smooth
-3 coats of all metal filler with sanding in between coats
-1 coat of rage extreme filler and sand w/ 80 grit
-prime then paint

I was also thinking about using the filler on the back sides of the holes also to help with adhesion and keep them from popping out or cracking or anything else.

caseywan said:

This guy used POR 15 epoxy to fill it. I PM'ed him yesterday and he said it has been 2 and half years since he did it and it's holding up perfectly.

http://www.corral.net/forums/showthread.php?p=6951830&highlight=epoxy#post6951830

I am thinking about going this route because I have no experience whatsoever with welding.

My process was going to be this:

-Por 15 epoxy all the holes
-sand epoxy smooth
-3 coats of all metal filler with sanding in between coats
-1 coat of rage extreme filler and sand w/ 80 grit
-prime then paint

I was also thinking about using the filler on the back sides of the holes also to help with adhesion and keep them from popping out or cracking or anything else.

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You could possible get away with ..

Por 15 epoxy all the holes
1 coat of rage extreme filler and sand w/ 80 grit
2 coats of all metal filler with sanding in between coats
prime
1 coat of Ever Coat Finishing putty
Paint

Also

ALMOST STOCK said:

You could possible get away with ..

Por 15 epoxy all the holes
1 coat of rage extreme filler and sand w/ 80 grit
2 coats of all metal filler with sanding in between coats
prime
1 coat of Ever Coat Finishing putty
Paint

Also

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I take it you think that would be a better process? I'm game for suggestions cause I'm totally new to body work.

I don't know if it's a better process or not since you're talking about using Por 15 and I welded all the holes up but it's closer to the process I used 8 yrs ago when I kind of started all this hiding wires and smooth out engine bays.

In my case

Pull the engine.
Clean and degrease the entire engine bay.
Took a wire wheel on an electric drill and clean all the old paint off around near the hole you’re going to weld up.

Bought some 22 ga metal (20 ga metal is easier to find and will work also) to make some patch pieces just slightly smaller as the same diameter of the hole your weld up. Weld the patch piece into place. Weld and fill any hole larger than a dime in that manner (dime size and smaller hole you can weld closed by making a few passes to fill those small holes).

Ground down all the welds then use a body filler (all-metal ) to filled in any low spots in the engine bay due to either warped fenders, welding or grinding, spot welds, or any screw holes. When using any body filler always try keeping it to a minimum thickness by following instruction on the can or label. You’ll need to fill the low and uneven spots probably 2 or 3 times before you have enough buildup to sand the body filler smooth and flat. I used a long board and 4” sanding block to make mine as smooth and flat as I possibly could.
I found that if you buy the sand paper sheets for the body filler from any Auto Supply paint store your time spent sanding will be cut in half versus getting sheets of wet-dri course sand paper from your local hardware store, but that’s just me.
At this time you’ll also need to scuff the entire engine bay with a medium scuffing pad, and then clean the engine bay of any dust by either air or tack cloth.

Next prime:
Once the primer is dry you’ll need to sand the entire engine bay with 360 grit wet-dri sandpaper. After that you’ll need to remove any primer dust by either air or a tack rag.
Next apply finishing putty such as (Evercoat Glaze Coat) to fill in any small pin holes that the body filler or primer did not fill earlier. Sand the finishing putty with 360 or 400 grit wet-dri sandpaper, at this time if you see and small pin holes or recessed areas that you may have missed earlier or that didn’t fill properly fill with the finishing putty one more time.
Remove any finishing putty sanding dust with air and while doing that making sure at this time that you have completely eliminated all dust and any debris that could fly up during painting process.
Last and final time; tack rag the whole engine bay out, and now your ready to paint.


Believe me I'm no body man either!!

Thanks for the tips almost stock.

Does it need to be bare metal anywhere you use the All metal filer?? In that huge engine bay thread on Corral I see a lot guys use the all metal to smooth and fill creases where the sheet metal meets like just in front of the shock towers, and some guys smear the filler all over!

Z06killinSBF said:

Simple question, one answer......

View attachment 324408

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Did puting the tubing in from the strut tower to the frame help any?

caseywan said:

Thanks for the tips almost stock.

Does it need to be bare metal anywhere you use the All metal filer?? In that huge engine bay thread on Corral I see a lot guys use the all metal to smooth and fill creases where the sheet metal meets like just in front of the shock towers, and some guys smear the filler all over!

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This is the instructions from a can of all-metal.
View attachment 324355

I applied the all metal over any area that was low or showed any holes or dimples, which was almost the entire inner fender.

Take a close look at the inner fenders of the guy who used the Por 15 you can still see all the low spots left by the Por 15 and recessed area that didn't get filled and sanded properly, so if you apply all metal to all those areas you'll have almost the entire inner fender covered.

ALMOST STOCK said:

I applied the all metal over any area that was low or showed any holes or dimples, which was almost the entire inner fender.

Take a close look at the inner fenders of the guy who used the Por 15 you can still see all the low spots left by the Por 15 and recessed area that didn't get filled and sanded properly, so if you apply all metal to all those areas you'll have almost the entire inner fender covered.

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Yeah, I did notice the low spots and stuff in that guys pics - I was planning on being a little more thorough and have somebody weld plates over frame wells, the original intake hole, and box in the sway bar brackets.

Did you find a wire wheel on a drill was the best method of stripping all the paint?

I found it to be the best method and also the quickest method when it comes to removing paint in the engine bay.