Ugly engine peeve

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

I once saw this BEAUTIFUL RPUP, for sale on Hemmings, WHY, OH WHY, didn't he take a measly 15 minutes to shine up the engine & the engine room???---Bill W.

[mshmodela]

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

[huddy]

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.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by huddy

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.

Minnesota has lot of temp changes and most of the time pretty high humidity. I also don't have insulation and heat in my garage. I put two layers of thick clear plastic over the floor, then covered it with free used carpet. This really helps the car plus it protects everything that touches the floor from years of raod salt soaked into the concrete.

Even if you just have a plastic Round Top garage, I'd still lay down plastic and cover it with free used carpet.

Last summer I looked at a 1950 Studebaker in northern Minnesota. It was parked in a tin shed with no vents in the middle of the woods for 10 years. He also covered the car with plastic. The complete interior was so moldy and rotten you needed a gas mask to stick your head inside. The engine was locked up and the complete bottom of the car and frame was rusted away. It still sold for $1000 because it had some nice chrome parts.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Delete double post.

[1crosscut]

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I prefer to leave my hood closed. I like to let kids or anyone else that wants to sit in my truck to go ahead and do so. As long as they don't have an ice cream cone or a screw driver sticking out of their back pocket they can climb on in. People really enjoy taking pictures of their kids in my truck so having the hood down makes better pictures. The engine is one of the nicer looking parts of my truck. If people want to look under the hood I'll open it up.

[denis4x4]

All my A's have hood tops and no sides. Best of both worlds! Engine is painted genuine ford blue instead of green.

[wensum]

Observing many cars on Ebay, I too have been struck by many with poor engine bay presentation but also what often looks like amateurish upholstery jobs, often with little reference to the original materials or the original pattern.
Is that due to a lack of knowledgable upholsterers or tight budget restorations?
Keith

[Roadster62]

My Pet Peeve is OPEN HOODS! The last thing I want to look at is what is under your hood, that goes for Hot Rods and Customs as well. Last thing I'd spend money on in a full restoration will be the engine. Cars are to be looked at for their good looks and flowing lines, nothings ruins that look more than an open hood. Bob

[fredski]

my pet peeve is closed hoods.

always was more interested in the engine than all else

old engines that have that old gassy oil smell are the best

that's me fredski

[montanafordman]

Originally Posted by Roadster62

My Pet Peeve is OPEN HOODS! The last thing I want to look at is what is under your hood, that goes for Hot Rods and Customs as well. Last thing I'd spend money on in a full restoration will be the engine. Cars are to be looked at for their good looks and flowing lines, nothings ruins that look more than an open hood. Bob

Depends on the car. I like seeing the engine on antique cars because I've always liked the look of a flathead motor, no matter what the make or number of cylinders but I get your point.

At the Lemay America's Car Museum they had a Ferrari exhibit that included a Ferrari F40. I was a kid in the 80's and every 8 year old (myself included) had a Ferrari F40 poster in their room. I've always loved the look of that car and the lines on it. The example in the museum had the rear engine cover (back end) raised up and it COMPLETELY spoiled the look of the car. You could see the engine and twin turbos beneath the louvered rear window anyway and had a better view of the painted valve covers and more attractive parts of the engine rather than the uglier intakes and exposed exhaust. Seeing the car that way made me mad every time I walked past it and they kept it that way for months!

[SeaSlugs]

Originally Posted by montanafordman

Depends on the car. I like seeing the engine on antique cars because I've always liked the look of a flathead motor, no matter what the make or number of cylinders but I get your point.

yes i agree, some cars its best to leave the hood down to get the whole theme. others i like to see open especially the oddities or the really old. Something about a straight 8 is just boggiling to me, but i dont need to see every chevy 350 or 427 out there with the same polished this or chrome that.

I open the hood of my chevette at shows mostly because A the hood paint is cracking and awful looking and B 90% of the people out there never knew they were rwd so when they look and its setup like a truck or big body car it throws em for a loop.

gotta admit about model A's im on the fence about if i like it open or not. Right now i like em closed at shows just because my engines been on a stand in the garage for years now so i know what it looks like left right upside-down inside out lol i just recently bought a hood and cab so i can see the picture coming together now. and realizing its gonna have a hard time fitting in the garage...

[mhsprecher]

When I looked at the 28 roadster I bought a few weeks ago, it had not been washed, the right front shock link was not attached to the axle and the brakes were so far out of adjustment the car would barely stop. The guy was selling his house and everything and moving back overseas to the country of his birth, so he had lots of other things on his mind besides selling his Model A. It may be a reason I got it so reasonably. Sometimes you can't do it all. Lucky for me, in this case.

[Napa Skip]

I have two car shows in the next few weeks (4th Annual Shearer Charter School Auto Show in Napa tomorrow and the 24th Annual Father's Day Invitational Auto Show in Yountville).

After reading some of the responses above, I thought I might split the difference and leave one side of the hood open and the other closed...

Then what passes out here for sanity returned and I recalled the words of Ricky Nelson:

"But it's all right now, I've learned my lesson well.
You see, you can't please everyone, so you've got to please yourself."

The hood will remain fully open. If anyone doesn't like it and says anything about some of the modifications I've made (see another recent thread on running without an oil return pipe) I'll have only two words for them.

And they won't be "Happy Birthday"...