red vtec 203 Posted January 20 Report Share Posted January 20 Was mucking about painting some bits up. I have done my plenum as in the picture, what do people think? 1 Quote Amateurs built the Ark Professionals built the Titanic "I haven't ridden in cars pulled by cows before" "Bullocks, Mr.Belcher" "No, I haven't, honestly" Link to post Share on other sites
JonSE 124 Posted January 20 Report Share Posted January 20 I think it looks good. Was the original all red and the highlights sanded back to metal? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fridge 1,026 Posted January 20 Report Share Posted January 20 Paint it, as it'll soon discolour. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TAR 419 Posted January 20 Report Share Posted January 20 I think that looks a bit tatty, as if it's not quite finished. 🙂 1 Quote It's getting there...... Link to post Share on other sites
Bazza 907 1,111 Posted January 20 Report Share Posted January 20 Prefer the original look. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stephenwhyte 2,006 Posted January 20 Report Share Posted January 20 What Bazz said⬆️👍 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
canamfan 21 Posted January 21 Report Share Posted January 21 I would imagine since the surface is rough textured that any oil & grime will adhere to it & be difficult to keep clean more likely than if it was painted/powder coated. Suppose the factory had it smartly due to this alone, just my thoughts Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mark Blanchard 1,678 Posted January 21 Report Share Posted January 21 Yep, keep it standard. Quote Mark www.lotusespritturbo.com Link to post Share on other sites
red vtec 203 Posted January 21 Author Report Share Posted January 21 Thanks for the feed back. 19 hours ago, JonSE said: I think it looks good. Was the original all red and the highlights sanded back to metal? yes thats how they are from factory. I was looking at the plenums on Ferraris for inspiration. Quote Amateurs built the Ark Professionals built the Titanic "I haven't ridden in cars pulled by cows before" "Bullocks, Mr.Belcher" "No, I haven't, honestly" Link to post Share on other sites
red vtec 203 Posted January 21 Author Report Share Posted January 21 18 hours ago, TAR said: I think that looks a bit tatty, as if it's not quite finished. 🙂 In all fairness the photo is not that great. Quote Amateurs built the Ark Professionals built the Titanic "I haven't ridden in cars pulled by cows before" "Bullocks, Mr.Belcher" "No, I haven't, honestly" Link to post Share on other sites
TAR 419 Posted January 21 Report Share Posted January 21 lol, sorry 🙂 1 Quote It's getting there...... Link to post Share on other sites
Chillidoggy 4,466 Posted January 22 Report Share Posted January 22 If you want to keep the bare alloy looking good, then vapour blasting will help a lot. It seems to leave a finish that dirt and oil slide off, at least on my engine, anyway. 1 Quote Margate Exotics. Link to post Share on other sites
Buddsy 1,657 Posted January 22 Report Share Posted January 22 On 21/01/2021 at 14:48, red vtec said: Thanks for the feed back. yes thats how they are from factory. I was looking at the plenums on Ferraris for inspiration. Do they do they have them un-painted? All I could find on google was painted red ones...just like an esprit 🙂 buddsy Quote "Belief is the enemy of knowing" - Crrow777 Link to post Share on other sites
andydclements 814 Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 I looked and immediately thought "That's 80s style" (thinking grey, white and red colour schemes etc), then a few seconds later my mind kicking in and thought, well that's the styling period of the car, so the grey with red and polished highlights looks really more styled than just the red with polished. I would however call out that bare Ali is going to be a PITA to clean/ keep clean, as any oil and dirt can adhere really well to the surface. Not a problem for me as I don't try and have a tidy /clean engine, but if you care about how tidy the engine looks then perhaps go for clear lacquer on the "bare" sections. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
910Esprit 577 Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 I prefer mine in raw aluminium. They have not been blasted, so seem to keep perfectly clean. Plenum & pipe also the same Quote Link to post Share on other sites
drdoom 445 Posted January 23 Report Share Posted January 23 There is something to be said for the raw aluminum look. Not so flash but does invite closer inspection of the intricacies of form, thereby illustrating the engineering behind it all. Form follows function. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
red vtec 203 Posted January 24 Author Report Share Posted January 24 On 23/01/2021 at 07:20, andydclements said: I looked and immediately thought "That's 80s style" (thinking grey, white and red colour schemes etc), then a few seconds later my mind kicking in and thought, well that's the styling period of the car, so the grey with red and polished highlights looks really more styled than just the red with polished. I would however call out that bare Ali is going to be a PITA to clean/ keep clean, as any oil and dirt can adhere really well to the surface. Not a problem for me as I don't try and have a tidy /clean engine, but if you care about how tidy the engine looks then perhaps go for clear lacquer on the "bare" sections. The only bare bit is the lettering, not sure if the photo shows that to well, the rest is a stone effect grey and all of it is clear lacquered. On 22/01/2021 at 21:59, Buddsy said: Do they do they have them un-painted? All I could find on google was painted red ones...just like an esprit 🙂 buddsy some have a red and grey plenum. 1 Quote Amateurs built the Ark Professionals built the Titanic "I haven't ridden in cars pulled by cows before" "Bullocks, Mr.Belcher" "No, I haven't, honestly" Link to post Share on other sites
andydclements 814 Posted January 24 Report Share Posted January 24 Ah, I'd thought that it was media-blasted cast metal showing. In that case, the comments on aesthetics stand (as in I think it's different to original but in style with the period), and the concerns over cleaning etc are now non-existent. If you bore with it you can re-paint, if you don't then you can keep it. It's not as if you are re-shaping part of the car that's a one-way operation or difficult to alter. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.