engine bay!

[Azza]

ok gettin bored of lookin at a plane engine bay! sooo

strut braces ... good n bad points would be nice if anyone will take the time to inform me!

err dunno what else to make it look better like other than remove that **** 1.4 lump but pfft! simple things lol please! any idea's

im resprayin the hot air feed cover thingy black again will look better than browny black!

would polish up the rocker but there aint really a simple n quick way to do that is there?

1.4sx HGT interior (soon), green cotton airfilter, rage 4" backbox wiv stainless cat back, air freshner , 17" Excite R01's (wolfrace)

 

[marko]

There is only room for one brace in the bay mate. Not a great idea since UK roads are far from race track standard (contrary to popular belief) . Your car will get very twitchy going over any poor surfaces - probable result being a 30 min drive will feel like 3 hours.
Expensive but good option would be to fit braided hoses in place of the standard ones.

 

[Azza]

i only want a strut brace for the handling in all fairness im used to **** ride's ... i owned an AX ffs lol

lowering it 40mm so that all adds to the fun!


1.4sx HGT interior (soon), green cotton airfilter, rage 4" backbox wiv stainless cat back, air freshner , 17" Excite R01's (wolfrace)

 

[marko]

adding a strut brace will probably cancel the effect of the lowering. Your handling will get worse!

I had a C reg 1.0 l polo...is this **** car stand-off?

 

[LightWarrior]

i thought that shortened stiffened suspension reduced body roll..
Isn't that part of what the strut brace does? Apart from stopping chassis flex...

On a bad point, someone earlier pointed out that if your car gets bimped on the front/side, the strut brace will in all likelihood transfer some of the impact energy to the other side, causimng damage where there wouldn't have been without it...

 

[Azza]

hmm so if i just lower it 40mm will that stiffen the suspension enuff to eliminate the little body roll the bravo has?

lol this has turned into a suspension post!

if i lower it it'll only be springs! anyone know if powerflex do bushes for the bravo?

lol trying to sort my bravo for handling as it ent no good at speed! lol 17's dont help that issue lol!

1.4sx HGT interior (soon), green cotton airfilter, rage 4" backbox wiv stainless cat back, air freshner , 17" Excite R01's (wolfrace)

 

[ChrisR]

I'd like to do something with my engine bay too at some point.

For now i've just made it as clean as possible by:-
-Cleaning the rocker cover with engine cleaner and a wire brush.
-Wiping down all the plastic bits like the cambelt cover, screenwash reservoir, sides of battery, etc...
-Cleaned and polished all the bodywork coloured metal around the engine bay. (So that the finish is as good as the exterior bodywork)

I found that doing the above made a big difference.

I'd still like to get the rocker cover polished and perhaps fit some plastic hose covers. (A bit tacky perhaps but I think black ones will look tidy) I was also tempted to make some sort of stainless steel (or carbon-look) cover for the battery. (as often seen in cossie engine bays)

The only problems with cleaning the engine bay is that all your neigbours will think you're a complete geek and say "why are you cleaning your engine?"

They just don't understand....!

 

[Anonymous]

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[marko]

I'm no expert in these matters since all i know i've learnt from this forum. Uprated suspension bushes will stiffen the ride as will improved springs and shocks. I think it's best to do the bushes last as apparently they are a nightmare to change.

 

[Dan]

that doesnt look too bad
I have a 1.2 tho, so I have a big ass plastic cover on mine and when you remove it, the engine is like a friggin' hamster wheel, as everyone thought at the eastern meet when me and Ozric-al compared his HGT bay to my 1.2 bay. you can fit a small family of asylum seekers in front of my engine
I wouldn't mind painting the cover as I'm quite confident painting plastics, but have a hunch that it may look tacky having the whole thing the same colour as my car.
am tempted to highlight the "fiat 16V" in silver or something along those lines aswell as spray the fuse covers
What dya think?

Dan

now sporting my badger badger badger t-shirt

 

[Tom]

Lowering reduces body roll mainly by lowering the centre of gravity of the car, NOT just by stiffening the springs.

A strut brace will not reduce body roll.

 

[Allan Wall]

re

get a better anti roll bar to reduce roll,
I've got a Lancia Dedra turbo anti roll bar on mine, its 2mm thicker than standard antiroll bar

 

[spyder]

Strut brace will improve the handling when combined with lower, stiffend springs. However a stut brace will more often than not find weak points somewhere else on the suspension. Having had one fitted to my Marea for many years I've recently removed it. I would recomend lowered and stiffend suspension, as for bushes I personally wouldn't bother unless the originals are knackered.
If you drive like a complete nutter like I used to, then go for it, theres nothing like chasing big bikes on the twisty stuff and then watching dissappear on the straights.
But remember the roads are alot more congested and busy than they were when I was doing my impression of a mental patient.

 

[marko]

So, strut brace added = twitchy car = more likely to prang = est 50% more damage through crash energy transfer to non impact area = write off Bravo.

 

[LightWarrior]

Yup...


chris said "The only problems with cleaning the engine bay is that all your neigbours will think you're a complete geek and say "why are you cleaning your engine?" "

Imagine what people thought then, when they saw me hoovering all the crap outta the airbox and the drainage bits at the sides of the windshield!

 

[pete.v]

azza,
after cleaning engine bay spray back to black
over all plastic bits take a look at mine in BOO
site pete ellesmere port just had cover powder coated.

 

[ChrisR]

@ Lightwarrior

I don't need to imagine cos I did exactly the same thing a couple of months ago after I fitted my K & N!

It certainly sucked all the dead leaves, etc up a treat!

I think I made sure the car was facing the house though!

 

[LightWarrior]

LOL. When i first bought my bravo it had no road tax, and i was waiting on my insurance docs coming in so i could get some. I had it for two whole days and couldn't drive it. So i spent those 2 whole days detail cleaning it. 1 neighbour in particular passed me at least 6 times in that time while i was out cleaning it, and i could actually see her laughing. "Boys and their toys eh"