Dressing up your engine bay is just as important as modifying the car exterior with sporty body kits and plus-size chrome rims. A true enthusiast would not ignore the little details, and would seize every opportunity to grab the attention of onlookers - popping the hood and showing off a clean engine with brightly colored hoses, polished surfaces and carbon fiber panels. Polishing up your engine requires no hard effort. A simple engine dress up kit can completely transform the engine bay. Even a dull stock engine can be made to look impressive with a few shiny and brightly colored components, or should I say, bling! bling!

 

Keeping an engine clean can be a difficult task because old motors tend to leak oil, not to mention dirt and grime from the road. So first and foremost, rub and scrub your engine clean, or have your car sent to a cleaning specialist for total makeover.

 

Styling Mods - Silicone Hoses

All hoses can be replaced with silicone hoses which have a longer lifespan and are easier to keep clean than rubber ones. Buy an engine dress up set of hoses from the same manufacturer as there can be a lot of variation in color. Remember to keep the theme and color of the engine consistent. Some use red dress up hoses to indicate coolant pipes and blue for air, some prefer to stick with one color for all hoses and some will also paint key engine components like te exhaust, head and cam cover to compliment.

 

Furthermore, braided hoses are more resistant to wear and look great so get braided hoses fitted to your brakes and to any other area of the engine bay. Avoid the clip on hoses which work in a similar way to pipe lagging, these are generally made of cheap plastic and will not last very long, as with all styling mods the more effort you put in the better the end result will be.

 

When fitting new silicone water hoses always flush the engine through and fill it with new coolant afterwards - it is a false economy to put the old stuff back. Check for leaks after you finish, running the engine for 30 seconds and then after a short run. A coolant leak could be fatal for the engine, so don't take chances.

 

Engine Covers

The majority of new engines are fitted with plastic covers. After a while they start to discolor and the dirt and grime become embedded. You can protect the plastic covers with an engine cleaner which dissolves the dirt and oil allowing you to wash this off and then after allowing the engine to dry off a final application of the engine cleaner will add a protective coating. Alternatively look for a polished engine cover or get a chromed plastic one - metal is much easier to keep clean and it looks really shiny.

 

As with all styling modifications keep it to a simple theme and plan first. Things will always look messy when you start slapping on parts at random and turn a potentially stylish car into a cheap and tacky affair. Neon lights can also be fitted to the engine bay and leds or strobes will create a favorable impression. You need to be careful that these lights do not show through the front as you are driving along - the best solution is to fit a kill switch that turns them off when you are not parked up and showing off!