Questions on dressing your engine up

["Chris Pearson" <Chri55@worldnet.att.net>]

Hey Frank,

Well, it's kind of hard to tell you what to do to dress up your engine
compartment.  I am a very picky person and enjoy working on my truck.  If
cleaning or polishing something takes days, then so be it.

The only thing I can tell you is that polishing the aluminum parts is
fairly difficult (the upper manifold and throttlebody, etc, etc. because of
the painted texture.  Regular aluminum is easy.)  It is better than
chroming though because the bare metal transfers the heat much better than
chrome.  The chrome actually holds the heat in, which will seriously
diminish the reliability and performance of your truck and its parts.

You can order chrome valve covers through Jegs.  They are pretty tough to
put on, but look pretty good (actually hard to see and not worth the
headache IMO).  I also put a chrome alternator on from Powermaster.  Just
call your local performance shop for this one.  I also have a chrome brake
reservior cover which I bought from someone on the list.  I had my rims
chromed at a local shop.  Thats it for chrome.  The rest of my stuff is
lots of hours of polishing, detail, painting, wire hiding, and cleaning.  I
wash the underside of my truck while I wear a mask and snorkel ;-)  The
back half of my exhaust is polished, and my fenderwells are cleaner than
the paint on the truck.

If you want to chrome alot of stuff, my advice to you would be to get a
copy of Hemmings Motor News at the local bookstore.  It looks like a phone
book.  Inside you will find tons of restorers.  Among them, you will find a
large selection of shops that do chrome work.  Find someone you trust, and
send them your parts.  Remember, replacements cost bundles, so make sure
they do good work.  And you want a triple plating process.

Eastwood companies has lots and lots of neat stuff to use while you work on
"restoring" your engine compartment.  You can get a catalogue from them by
calling 800-345-1178.  They have videos on polishing and the tools you will
need to do it.

Like I said, other than that, your mind and your wallet are your only
limits.  My mind is definately not hindering me, its the wallet part that's
hard to wrestle with.......... Good luck.

Chris Pearson
Ty #0366
Sy #0950
KC EVENT ORGANIZER

> HELLO CHRIS,
> 
> MY NAME IS FRANK AND I OWN A 93 WHITE /GRAY TY.  I AM LOOKING TO DRESS UP
MY
> TY (PREFERABLY ENGINE) FOR
> SHOWS.  I DON'T WANT TO GO TOO RADICAL AND START PAINTING FIREWALLS, ETC.
> (MY TY HAS 31K ON IT AND ALREADY IS EXTREMELY CLEAN INCLUDING THE
ENGINE).
> WHAT I COULD DO (IN TERMS OF CHROME) TO THE ENGINE.
> 
> IF YOU COULD SEND ME PART NAMES, PART NUMBERS, PLACES WHERE I COULD
ORDER,
> I'D REALLY APPRECIATE IT!!!!
> 
> THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!
> 
> FRANK
> 93 TY #1375
>