HA, got you there! All that stuff and MORE, has already been done to the engine. It runs great! I just want it to look pretty like it did when I built it.

 

Per Murc's request. Pardon the dust and grit... I had left the hood cracked and then it rained like a horse pissin' on a flat rock. :

 

damn that's purdy

 

One thing that I did to make the engine compartment look better (IMO) was to get the battery out from under the hood. The newer AGM batteries do not vent caustic gas like wet batteries do, which eventually eats under-hood paint, and even though I have an AGM battery, I thought the engine compartment would look better without the battery. I used the original battery location to mount my MSD box.

 

Thanks! Even the text printed on the hoses read left to right. Meaning, the printing can be read from the around the engine bay... well, except for the upper radiator hose but it's still in good condition so I let it be. Hose clamp positions, heater hose striping, and zip-tie directions are all consistent.

I got kinda **** about it all.

 

Got tired of the open paper filter getting water soaked and distorted look.
Picked up one of these instead. Edelbrock 14" Pro Flo filter element.



That Merc looks great!!!

 

Yep.. that's a vintage filter slated to get replaced too.

 

Christmas party last night.......real big head this morning.

Thanks for the pictures, they're perfect. Very nice engine bay!

I noticed you have your brake distribution block on a bracket at the brake booster. I wanted to do exactly that. Where did you get that bracket and distribution block?

 

I'm on the fence with which colour to paint my engine. I'd like to paint the whole thing aluminum (silver), so then the engine would be silver with a little chrome and black. Or, I'd also like to paint the whole thing old Ford blue. Then I'd have a bit of a sleeper effect for the 460.

 

Painted mine with 2 coats duplicolor Ford Blue as a basecoat then 3 coats of Duplicolor metalcast blue.

 

Thanks.. I swapped to '78 front discs and ditched the troublesome proportioning valve/dist. block from the donor and went with an adjustable Wilwood unit (about $80). I fabricated that bracket last year and Wilwood has since come out with their own bracket for about $35.... great timing Wilwood! However, my MC outputs on the engine-side... the Wilwood bracket put it outboard so I don't think it would have worked out for me anyway. Btw, it has its own brake switch so I'll be running a pigtail from under the dash to the switch.

And as far as the battery, yeah it would clean up the engine bay if it were relocated. Mostly following the K.I.S.S. principle, it's staying right where it is.

CarCraft mag a few years ago did an article on engine compartment design/detailing. They mentioned in that particular article sticking to four colors... engine color, black, silver, and polished bits. The focus is the engine so things like the booster and MC should take a back seat to everything else. Some guys will shoot them blue or have them chromed.... personally, I'd rather not call attention to those things. Same goes for wiring looms and wraps.. keep'em black. Ever see an engine use colored wraps? It is really distracting. Oh well.. to each their own.

 

The braided wire loom cover is another simple but effective way to clean up wiring. IMO it looks better than the older plastic wire loom covers. Just another option to look at.

 

I 100% agree. At minimum at least use zip ties every three or so inches, but cut them with flush cutters, not side cutters, or you'll be cutting yourself later on when you're wrenching in the bay.

If anyone is interested in looking at how the people who make careers out of cable management in computer server rooms do their work, check out reddit.com/r/cableporn.

 

'Til it melts cuz of a small fire!

 

If you get the stuff that has been dipped in unicorn tears its fireproof, that's always an option but its spendy. Let me know if you need a bottle