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Black engine bays?


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If some previous owner had the car undercoated, it was common to also apply goopy tar all over the inside of the engine bay. Black tar spray-type undercoating is a fast way to cover the metal patches, the pop-rivets and the rust. The engine compartment should be body colour. Have you ever noticed how many cars at a public car show never open the bonnet for their engine compartment, That's because the outside of their classic looks like a winner, but if they allow people to see how bad the engine bay really is, they would never win. So they keep it closed. I will only vote if the bonnet is open and I can see the engine. For those where it is closed, I will assume that it's bad, so they never get my vote.

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Its an American phenomenom I think it arose as a result of colour changes being a fairly regular feature and its easier to leave the engine bay black than do a colour change under there. A lot of 4/4a/250s have the boot/trunk done like that as well. I must admit Im always disappointed when you see a really nice looking car only to find its black under the bonnet/hood.(unless its a black car!like Dons ;) )

Stuart.

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Plenty of UK vehicles had their engine bays painted with black underseal, as a dealer exercise when new - that was common up to the late 60s at least. Cars and commercial vehicles.

 

Apart from preventing corrosion (bearing in mind that many engine bays were only flashed-over at the factory, not well painted or protected), underbonnet underseal added a significant soundproofing factor. It wasn't unusual to find that relatively luxurious cars had underseal applied internally in the boot area - floors, wheelarches, wings, and sometimes also applied to the inside of doors. Sometimes at the factory, in other cases dealer improvements. 'Drumming', resonance from panels, was a major bugbear for separate chassis cars, and even more prevalent in early unitary construction cars.

 

Why owners nowadays get so uptight about internal underseal I don't know - if it's in good condition, leave it alone. What the heck is wrong with it ? Why on earth does anyone wish to polish underbonnet paintwork ? Bloody barmy, there are better things to do in life. ;)

 

My old Super Snipe still has the underseal that Humber put there in 1958, underbonnet and in the boot, and I'm certainly not intending to scrape the damn stuff off, that's for sure !! :rolleyes:

 

Cheers,

 

Alec

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I've been painting the underbonnet - didn't mean to, it just sort of acquired its own impetus. Yes, it looks nice, but.... everything now takes much longer because I have to be soooo careful not to ding the paint.

 

Previously, if I dropped a spanner I could watch with equanimity as it ricocheted to the bottom of the engine bay. Now, if I drop so much as a washer :o

 

So no more balancing tools on top of the engine, nor working with filthy hands, and as for the MOT chap with his scratchy clipboard :blink:

 

It depends whether it's a car or a shiny thing. Bit of both I guess, but on balance I'm with Alec.

 

Ivor

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The painted black interior of the engine bay in my black 1958 TR3A was nice and shiny when I finished the restoration 18 years ago. When it's done correctly and you are careful as noted above with tools etc. it's not very hard to keep it clean. I have used silicone brake fluid all these years so one less problem with the interior paint. About 3 to 5 times a summer, I get out my high pressure spray washer and soap it all over, then turn on the pressure and the water blasts off all the dirt. It stays very clean and it only takes about 5 minutes. It also removes any grime from the fuel pump and oil filter body and mounting adaptor. I have never worried about water getting on the coil, the cables, the distributor etc. I never bag them. It has always started right up again. BTW, I've driven over 100,000 miles since then.

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To hide dirt and grime, perhaps? As far as I know should all engine bays be painted the same colour as the rest of the car.

 

Menno

 

 

1. I believe the simplest answer is that these owners followed the practice of the home auto industry. Although there are exceptions, most American made cars had semigloss black engine bays.

 

2. What what I remember and have read, most British sports cars had engine bays painted the same as the exterior colour. InAmericanBritish the case of the Triumph sidescreen cars this made the job of the body shell shop (initially Mulliners) quite easy, since they had but one colourside screen to spray.

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Plenty of UK vehicles had their engine bays painted with black underseal, as a dealer exercise when new - that was common up to the late 60s at least. Cars and commercial vehicles.

This is a photo of TRK’s engine bay in the mid 60s and was bought like this by Fred (friend and previous owner) and he thinks that this is how TRK was supplied from new - just as well I'm not a concours nut otherwise I'd have to underseal the engine bay! :wacko:

 

 

 

Cheers

Andrew

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Additional pics (I hope). Was thinking of adding a Lucas decal to the front of the WalMart marine battery box, but decided that I didn't want to be responsible for the demise of those who died laughing.

post-4439-1237660636_thumb.jpg

post-4439-1237660636_thumb.jpg

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This is a photo of TRK’s engine bay in the mid 60s and was bought like this by Fred (friend and previous owner) and he thinks that this is how TRK was supplied from new - just as well I'm not a concours nut otherwise I'd have to underseal the engine bay! :wacko:

 

 

 

Cheers

Andrew

 

Andrew: That undercoat is applied rather thick. has it done the job over the years?

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Andrew only you could have bespoke air filters like that! (disgraceful)

 

What an underbonnet spectacular, you must have been standing on that bumper all this time polishing! Marvelous job.

 

Why did it have stromberg carbs? thats unusual for a 3 or was it a 4A engine swop.

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Andrew only you could have bespoke air filters like that! (disgraceful) What an underbonnet spectacular, you must have been standing on that bumper all this time polishing! Marvelous job. Why did it have stromberg carbs? thats unusual for a 3 or was it a 4A engine swop.

Hi Peter, yes I like to twiddle with the ends of the filters and give certain bits a rub from time to time.........

 

That photo was taken in 2003 when I put TRK back on the road after some 12 years of sitting in a garage unloved and dismantled following an engine failure. The engine bay is still clean but not that clean.

 

The previous owner and friend (Fred Johnson - one of the original members of the Register) scraped all the underseal off and changed Stromberg for the SUs in the 70s. The engine at that time was the original which is now sitting in a corner of my garage with a cracked block alongside the original non-overdrive gearbox - one day I'll rebuild it.

 

Cheers

Andrew

Edited by Andrew Smith
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