Ugly engine peeve
 

A pet peeve. Before buying our '31 roadster last year, I looked at 100 or so photos of A's for sale and still enjoy looking. So many of these cars have beautiful exteriors and interiors which obviously required a lot of time and money to restore. However, many had engines looking like they were never touched....rust all over them, wires hanging, faded paint and just plain unkept in general. Also, many of the photos of these beautiful cars had no pics of the engine compartments at all, which is telling in itself.
Why do people spend so much attention to the exterior and not seem to care about the heart of the machine? It doesn't take much time, money or expertise to get an engine looking pretty.
Perhaps the photos I looked at were from non A owners or dealers with little pride in their cars, just wanting them to look nice for sale.
Aside from owners of survivor cars or restos in progress, do Ford Barn A guys and gals generally keep their engines looking nice or are under hood cosmetics not a concern to most? Am I being overly picky in liking a nice looking engine and not caring as much about the exterior?

Thanks for listening to my ranting...........Glen

Re: Ugly engine peeve
 

Agree with you completely.

Had the same impressions when shopping for a car a couple years ago.

I keep the engine bay on my car just as beautiful as it's interior and exterior. Why? Just plain out of respect. The chassis and undercarriage is also just as cleaned and waxed. Same reason.

Re: Ugly engine peeve
 

And, on a related matter, I wish more owners would open the hoods of their Model A's at car shows.

In fairness, I suppose the general viewing public has little interest in what's under the hood, but I suspect many - especially those of us who work on our engines - are as interested in what the engine compartment looks like as what the passenger compartment does. This interest is frustrated by owners frequently not being near their cars (to ask to open the hood). They're probably off looking at other's cars (if not other's engines...).

And this tendency to keep the hood closed on Model A's (which may just be my perception) apparently does not extend to the 50's/60's/70's owners, who are usually only too happy to throw open their hoods and showcase all the painted, chromed and polished attributes of their engine.

Maybe it's power-plant envy...

Re: Ugly engine peeve
 

Unbelievable!!! I had no idea anybody but me thought this way. :)

I had always wanted to post this exact rant, but thought I was the only geek that noticed. Thank you for posting!

But... I asked one geeky dude if he ever cleaned up the chassis. I expected an odd look. But he said oh, yeah! So they are out there...

Re: Ugly engine peeve
 

I sometimes keep the hood closed, sometimes open. It all depends on the venue. I never hesitate to open it when asked.

Whenever I do leave it open, I can always depend on getting some negative remarks about the "non original" status of some items on my engine. It always seems to come from the same guys that Oooo & Aaaa over the totally rodded specimens in the next row. Go figure!

Re: Ugly engine peeve
 

i very seldom open mine as it is not politically correct . just my car so i did as i thought was good for an every day driver . (365 days)

Re: Ugly engine peeve
 

My engines need attention. It is just a matter of time. I will get to it, but I want them operating properly and reliably first, cosmetics later.

Re: Ugly engine peeve
 

I don't worry about pretty paint, but it is nice to keep the mechanicals fairly free from a lot of dirt and old grease build up. I used WD-40, diesel, gas, and a soft paint brush to clean the engine and firewall on my 28. They're much nicer to work on when they are clean, and the engine can cool better if it's clean. The carb is still the same PACTRA Aero Gloss Jet Black that I put on 15 years ago when I restored the carb. It's held up well.:)

I wipe the engine and firewall with a bit of oil from time to time to keep the rust away. Once cleaned, the engine compartment is easy to keep clean.

The firewall is the original gunmetal blue paint and the engine is a well worn temporary while I rebuild the original in my basement. Everything will get new paint when I restore the car. My first car engine overhaul was the 6 cylinder in my 1955 Chevrolet and after I painted the engine I used to wax it. It was a nice clean engine until my neighbor thought it would be funny to switch the plug wires around, which took out some rod bearings.:mad:

Re: Ugly engine peeve
 

On my cars the engine is clean no grease or oil or rubber bands, wire or ty-raps.
The paint maybe missing or old. Now if I rebuild a part it does get painted.

Amen....
 

Not only dirty engines on a car for sale, but how about when they fill the back seat with dirty cardboard, big fluffy pillows, dolls... or they've taken the pictures without enough light to see anything clearly.

Re: Ugly engine peeve
 

Maybe we should consider a less than pristine engine compartment the sign of a well used Model A and not a trailer queen.....

Re: Ugly engine peeve
 

I always leave the hood open on my roadster at car shows. It may not be politically correct but more people seem to be more interested in my dual updraft setup than the model A's that are politically correct.The exhaust manifold shows some character with a few pits but its level and that is what counts most to me.

http://rs193.pbsrc.com/albums/z59/Ti...am784.jpg~c200

Re: Ugly engine peeve
 

Hi Glen,

FWIW:

Maybe one reason that engines & undercarriages get overlooked is because nobody does this for a living like that of paint & body work where one can get this done in shops in almost all neighborhoods.

Over 97% of the work involved with painting undercarriages & engine compartment items etc. is the time & effort spent to properly degrease, remove rust, kill rust, & prepare metal surfaces of the engine, transmission, torque tube, differential, axle housings, chassis, springs, & all under carriage. Indeed a very time consuming task not tackled by every Model A owner.

Applying final coatings after preparation is only about 3% or even sometimes far less of the time involved. The final coating product chosen is always the most important decision when one wants to consider durability & longevity, especially in high humidity areas.

If anyone in a high humidity area has little or no time to tinker with touch-up painting, or repeating the most time consuming cleaning, de-rusting, preparing surfaces, & repainting task after 20 or so years, one may want to consider reading & following "all" recommended instructions to the letter for POR 15 Coating Products.

Whether one is applying coatings on wood, steel, plastic, or any other surface, the first coat is "always" the first coat to lift off & fail in most cases because of moisture penetration, again in high humidity areas; however, this is where POR 15 Coatings has the leading edge in coatings technology.

Once POR products are applied by following strict manufacturer's instructions to the letter, any type of flat, egg shell, or glossy coatings may be applied on top to match original Model A sheen. POR 15 Tie Coat Primer is formulated for this task.

If one applies the initial POR 15 coating followed by POR 15 engine enamel, even the head/engine joint at the head gasket will not rust as it does with other engine enamels.

If one lives in a coastal region, or a high humidity area, POR 15 coatings are excellent.

If one lives in a more arid region, POR 15 may never be required.

Just hope this helps a Model A owner if one lives in a humid area where one has limited time to try to prepare rusted surfaces & repaint later.

Do it once & the next generation will not have to repeat the process.

According to POR technical experts, the people who have the most problems with POR 15 products are professional painters who ignore strict instructions & try to apply POR 15 coatings in the same manner that they use to apply paint.

Re: Ugly engine peeve
 

I am going to eventually repaint my engine & accessories. Right now it's acceptable but not pristine. I appreciate H.L.'s suggestions about POR-15 as I live in upstate NY where there's high humidity all the time.

I agree about cars for sale, though. The seller could at least run a bristle brush over the engine after spraying with any one of the numerous cleaners available at auto parts stores. There's no excuse for an oil and dirt encrusted engine - a couple hours and elbow grease takes care of that.

A related pet peeve is sellers that post photos of their car outside with weeds growing up through it. I've even seen one rusted hulk for sale for multiple thousands with a bush growing up through the trunk. Ten minutes with a weed wacker and a rag & soapy water bucket would make a great difference in visual appeal. Applicable to both outside and inside, a bit of a clean up makes it much easier to evaluate what is there and what is missing, and how much work needs to be done to it.

Re: Ugly engine peeve
 

Hi Huddy,

Again FWIW:

What we experience in high humidity coastal areas is not just that the water table is only 12 inches below grade; but, that condensation occurs mostly in the fall & spring even with a Model A that is parked on a concrete slab in an enclosed garage.

Cool fall & spring nights cools off the Model A engine in an engine compartment, & undercarriage metal, where next day moist warm air is somewhat trapped where it is trying to rise "upwards".

The following day, later higher temperatures with warm humid air condenses on these cool metal surfaces -- similar to walking to a warm outside area with a glass of ice water which immediately gets wet on the "out-side"; however, warm moist air will never cause condensation on the "out-side" of a warm coffee cup; hence, no metal condensation problems in summer where Model A metal does not get cool enough at night.

Many days one could easily use up a whole roll of paper towels or two wiping off moisture from inside the somewhat unvented engine compartment, undercarriage areas, & drive train -- this type of constant accumulated dripping moisture mixed with road dust will gradually & eventually find its way through Rustoleum & similar coating products with much different perm penetration ratings & mechanical adhesion ratings than that of POR 15 Coatings.

Tops of hoods, fenders, & sheet metal sides do not trap next day "rising" moist warm air; hence, far less moisture accumulation which never appears to cause too much of a "wet" inside of a garage problem & rust problem on exposed tops of sheet metal.

Hope this helps a little.

Re: Ugly engine peeve
 

I totally agree, few cars i looked at before buying my model a 3 months ago had engines that were neglected.... my model A included but the best i could find for my budget.

Re: Ugly engine peeve
 

Other then cleaning thick grease off the engine i see no point in doing much, If the engine is not removed for repairs why would you even try painting it? In the past i have seen people paint engines covered in thick dirt silver with spraycans, now that looks terrible.

Re: Ugly engine peeve
 

Re: Ugly engine peeve
 

I've seen plastic bags with canisters that pull the moisture out... for the whole car.

Re: Ugly engine peeve
 

My garage isn't heated or insulated (TBD someday - I have heat but it's pretty much useless without insulation). What I've noticed is that the concrete pad actually gets quite moist in the spring and after extremely heavy rains (like right now). This can't be a good thing. I can't afford temperature and humidity control. The poor car has had to adapt to the change from extremely dry (Mojave desert) to high humidity. I will have to keep a close eye on things. Right now it doesn't have a speck of rust, and I'd like to keep it that way.