Why did I clean my engine?

[ilikeching]

That's superb....great work..... I will order....

[particlewave]

It's too bad that it won't show with the top down
Maybe do the front cover, too?

Great work!

[Shehadehd]

Originally Posted by particlewave

It's too bad that it won't show with the top down
Maybe do the front cover, too?

Great work!

I was joking about doing the front cover earlier, but since it's only the timing belt, I don't know if you'll get more than an annoying belt whine all the time.

With the top down, you can see still see a fair amount, but only if you are in the car or if you have the engine lit up with some lights.

[particlewave]

Lights?! Now you're speaking my language!

[rp17]

This has got to be one of the top three home mods to date. Edged only by the guys doing there own ixx versions. Can you can make one for the 987 box also? Great job by the way.

[BruceH]

Originally Posted by particlewave

Lights?! Now you're speaking my language!

Ok, now that would be very cool to do! The only problem with this mod is losing the shelf with the speakers, which I do enjoy. I love the look though and I really look forward to what particleweave is now going to do with the lights

[Shehadehd]

Originally Posted by particlewave

Lights?! Now you're speaking my language!

Haha, i already have them in there waiting to be wired up. I'll take some pictures tonight with them. I've just been waiting for the dash footwell light switch to control them.

Trust me, at night they make the car look insane!

[Shehadehd]

Thought I'd give you guys an extremely raw picture if what I'm adding to the cover as an option

[eicheldp]

Wicked !!!

[Mark_T]

All it needs now is a flux capacitor! Definitely one of the coolest mods yet. I think I like the blue light the best.

[Shehadehd]

Here's a video to give you an idea of what it's like. My rear window has a substantial rip in it so I get a lot of wind noise at high speeds. I'll take another one with the hard top on to give you a better idea. I also have a friend with a decibel meter so if he lets me borrow it, I'll be able to do an object test that can actually be quantified.

Let me supplement that video by saying that this is under hard acceleration.... Like flooring it to 6k through 1st and 2nd, then into third.

http://youtu.be/E5LlE-M0MXI

[linderpat]

love it. How long does it stay clean? Do you have to clean the dirt out every year? Not sure if the dust and dirt gets sucked up into the engine bay and all over everything.

[Mark_T]

Unfortunately, keeping the engine clean is going to be a major time suck. It will only take a few days to get all dusty again. But at least it is easier to get to!

Is that stock exhaust?

[Shehadehd]

Originally Posted by linderpat

love it. How long does it stay clean? Do you have to clean the dirt out every year? Not sure if the dust and dirt gets sucked up into the engine bay and all over everything.

So I've been using it for almost two weeks now and is say I collect more dirt from cabin side of the screen rather than the engine side. When you're driving all of the dirt from the engine side get blown away. And anything left is few and far in between that it doesn't detract from the engine cover.

I haven't ran with the cleaned engine yet but I imagine you might want to just give it a once over every oil change to keep it's shine. Unless you have a leak, moisture should evaporate with engine heat and so dirt should just blow off. But, of course, I don't know yet.

The main concern here is that plexiglass and lexan aren't hard surfaces like glass. They are scratch prone. I'm currently looking for somewhere to buy a clear plastic cover (like what you put on your phone and tablet screen) to protect it. This way, wiping off the dust won't cause small scratches in the cover.

FOR EVERYONE: since there is an appreciable interest in the cover, I'm going to try and get things together to offer some for sale. I want to tweak it some such that installation and maintenance will be straight forward and to refine some points like seals, mounting hardware, etc...

Once again, thank you to everyone for the compliments and positive remarks

[Shehadehd]

Originally Posted by Mark_T

Unfortunately, keeping the engine clean is going to be a major time suck. It will only take a few days to get all dusty again. But at least it is easier to get to!

Is that stock exhaust?

Stock exhaust but with the drill hole.

[jb92563]

Very cool and the lights are absolutely necessary otherwise its not showing near as interesting.

1 question though about the heat in the engine bay and the plexi. Will the plexi reach the temperature at which it becomes flexible, will it sag?

Living in the hotter climates, this could be an issue?

I also had an idea about using grey tinted plexi so that the engine is fairly invisible UNTIL you turn the lights on.

That way if the bay is dirty it wont be noticed until you turn on the lights

[Shehadehd]

Originally Posted by jb92563

Very cool and the lights are absolutely necessary otherwise its not showing near as interesting.

1 question though about the heat in the engine bay and the plexi. Will the plexi reach the temperature at which it becomes flexible, will it sag?

Living in the hotter climates, this could be an issue?

I also had an idea about using grey tinted plexi so that the engine is fairly invisible UNTIL you turn the lights on.

That way if the bay is dirty it wont be noticed until you turn on the lights

I haven't noticed any problem with heat for the duration I've used it. I've driven with it in traffic on a ~75 degree day with the hard top on for about a half hour. The engine fan came on during this trip which indicates engine temps did get up to 180 ferenheit. With all this, the cover never got more than warm to touch. It's pretty thick and with the engine fan on, it stays pretty cool. I think temperatures need to be north of 200 degrees before any forming takes place.

I just bought some stick on thermometers that I'm gonna attach to both sides of the cover to see what the temperatures get to and if heat will be an issue. So in short, I haven't had that issue and I've put around 800 miles so far.

The gray tinted idea sounds pretty cool, like using really light window tint.

[Perfectlap]

Very cool. I saw this on a Cayman (black/tan). The owner did some nice engine painting.

[driftguy]

This thread is filled with so much win, it's practically earned a trophy. Really good work Shehadehd!

[dghii]

Very cool but 200 lbs? How? Isn't there just a carpet pad and aluminum cover? It's been a while but what am I missing.

BTW, not dissing your cover or estimate pricing...just thinking about the weight and can't remember any items adding to ~200 lbs.