Some pics of my painted engine bay *more - 56k stay out!*

[Skinny]

I put down a coat of paint today in the engine bay. I think it came out alright. I have a couple more coats of base to go on, then clearcoats until I run out (I have 2 quarts of clear). There were some rough spots that I wetsanded with some 1500 which worked pretty well. Still have some more sanding to do before I put the next coat on. It was starting to get dark when I took the pics. They don't do it justice, there's actually alot of metal flake in the paint that you can't see in the pics, but here they are:







[ November 21, 2004, 07:29 PM: Message edited by: Skinny ]

[BLLDOGG]

[img]graemlins/barf.gif[/img]

it hurts to look at it!

why is it out?

[3.8 nate]

Looks better than mine did, but I'm still partial to Frost Beige [img]graemlins/stickpoke.gif[/img] ;)

[Skinny]

Originally posted by BLLDOGG:
[img]graemlins/barf.gif[/img]

it hurts to look at it!

why is it out?

Like I said, the pictures don't do it justice. The color is actually an exact match to the interior color but with metal flake in it (same color as my roll bar). The motor and tranny are out because of a broken valvespring :rolleyes: . The valve ended up notching the piston, so I pulled everything out and rebuilt it all with new (forged) pistons and rods, new cam, lifters, pushrods, vavles, double springs, and ARP studs on everything. While I was at it, I got a new built tranny and a new converter. When I was pulling the motor, I found that my AC Delco battery had broken and leaked battery acid all down underneath it. Since I had to paint anyway, I figured I'd just paint the whole thing and clearcoat it. While I was already this deep into it, I decided to go ahead and paint it a different color, to give some "character." My bumper and front fenders were always out of line a little, and now was as good a time as any, so I pulled them off for the paint (bumper had to come off anyway).

Here's a pic of the motor waiting to go in:

[Blackbird3800]

God that is beautiful!!! I want one [img]smile.gif[/img]

[slow]

Travis, Looks awesome [img]smile.gif[/img]

I wish i had the time to do a project like that. Shoot, i've still got a vortech sitting around for like a year waiting to be installed.

Ryan

[Skinny]

Originally posted by slow:
Travis, Looks awesome [img]smile.gif[/img]

I wish i had the time to do a project like that. Shoot, i've still got a vortech sitting around for like a year waiting to be installed.

Ryan

GIT 'ER DONE!!

[blk97maro]

DAMN TRAVIS!!! thats a lot of work!!! how long that take you? looks dam good though, congrats

[Skinny]

Thanks for the compliments, and I'd rather not talk about how much time I've spent [img]redface.gif[/img]

I sprayed 3 more coats of base on today, then got a nearly complete coat of clear before I started running out of light. Here's some pics before the clear.














And here's a little "teaser" after the clear. It was in my garage, so the lighting kinda sucks.

[OneQuickV6]

What kind of valve spring did ya break? Which cam were you running at the time??

Also, why not sell that Holley intake for an LSX that won't get as heat soaked? They can be found slightly used right now for somewhat cheap, and flow better onbviously, particularly after being ported in a couple areas!

Paint looks great!

[Skinny]

I broke a Manley valvespring after running a Thunder cam (230/224) for about a year (19k miles).

As for the Holley intake, I have a couple reasons. For heat soak, I would be more concerned with it if I was running autocross or something. For a quick 1/4 mile sprint, it's not that big of a deal. And besides, a bit of juice can cool her down real quick ;) . Also, no matter how you look at it, the LSX intake is just plain ugly. My polished one goes much better with the fuel rails and valve covers.

[OneQuickV6]

Very true on the looks!

I have heard several people have broken the Manley's lately. Actually one was just a few days ago, when I was at TSP, and it was running a TSP 224R grind. I wouldn't trust those springs further than I could throw one anymore.

[Skinny]

Originally posted by OneQuickV6:
I wouldn't trust those springs further than I could throw one anymore.

Agreed. The box mine came in said they were good to .600 lift. My cam had a max of .575, no where near the "limit" for them.

Thunder now advertises on their site that those springs are only good to .575.

[OneQuickV6]

Yea, even Comp has been rethinking their 918's from what I hear...they may start advertising them good to .575" also. Which in the LS1 market with such aggressive lobes, and higher and higher duration/lift cams, they can't be too careful on what they advertise1