Liner for the engine compartment?

I used rhino liner black, hard as nails, nice satin textured finish...a lot easier if motor is out..

I'd make cardboard templates of the side "firewalls" and then find 1/16" (not sure the actual gauge - but maybe a bit thinner) aluminum sheeting.  A 4x4' sheet should be enough with left over for making bottom sealing tin.  Cut with a saber saw, sand the edges, and polish or apply a turned machine finish to it.  Searching here should reveal some photos (I suspect MangoSmoothies build?).

Or buy the EMPI 3 piece polished Stainless Steel engine compartment covering. There is a smooth no louvered version too.  Both about $50 USD. 

http://chircoestore.com/custom...w-firewall-kits.html 

You know you need to seal the bottom sides of the engine so exhaust gases are not sucked up by engine cooling fan?

I used "engine turned" stainless steel. Make posterboard patterns first then transfer that to some cheape galvanized sheet metal from a hardware store and d add or trim again to get it perfect (sometimes the cardboard pattern goes in because it bends enough but the sheet metal might not)  then trace onto the final metal to be used. here's what mine looks like......Bruce

Bruce that is real shiny, can you look at it in the sunlight   

Blinded by the light Bruce--looks fab!

Don't forget the hole for air intake to the engine.

I used anti-fatigue mat material from Lowes

Heritage 2008 posted:

Blinded by the light Bruce--looks fab!

 

I bet Bruce has to wear sun glasses to work on his car.

Blackrice, be sure to ask your builder/mechanic to move the see-through plastic fuel filter.  Where it's located is a fire hazard.

The VW Thing I just purchased has a fuel filter in the same place.  I'm going to order one of these and move the filter the the side of the transmission.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/cl...etail.php?id=1901747

Will it be a steel filter?

The brightness isn't bad with the engine lid over my head but sunrise and sunset is a problem Ha ha .....Thanks for the nice comments.  AL...I do have that hole in the firewall (just in case I need it)  I tried to match the pattern of the engine turning to "camouflage" it . It worked pretty good huh !.........  Just kidding. ........I do have it but these photos were taken before I cut it in..........Blackrice....Only your imagination limits what you choose to use on your firewall....I've even seen leather upholstery used !!....Bruce

IaM-Ray posted:

Will it be a steel filter?

Nope.  I stick with the plastic ones and change them on a regular basis.

Aircooled - Love the stainless steel but wasn't it hard to cut?  I tried drilling a hole in a stainless steel sink - I killed a few drill bits.  Seems it would take a plasma cutter and HD bending brake?

I've seen diamond pleated leather under the hood of Ferraris!

I finally scrapped all of my plastic fuel filters and now just run a NAPA Gold 3031

It's about the size of the usual medium-sized plastic one and looks like this:

I probably change it every 8-10 years.

Wolfgang......If I recall, it's is 22 ga. stainless. Even so it's a little hard to cut with tin snips. Especially if you have tight curves !  I have a really good pair from Germany.  It is huge, made of aluminum, with carbide inserts for cutting that are replaceable or can be removed for sharpening. Also I have a Milwaukee hand-held band saw.  I made a wood rack/holding fixture to stand it up like a table band saw that works really good for some of the cuts (if they're not too wide or deep). The blade is 22 or 24 teeth/inch to cut thin metal in this case.  Drilling, I like cobalt bits that I resharpen to a to about 50 degrees. (more pointed) This, I find, gets me through thin stainless pretty easy without burning and stalling if I back off on the pressure just before it goes thru.  That Milwaukee hand held band saw in it's holding fixture has turned out to be a really useful tool. I use it all the time for cutting everything. I think my hack saw hanging on the wall has cobwebs on it now!  The band saw stores easily and the blades are a lot easier (and cheaper) to change than my 18" wood cutting band saw.........Bruce

Yeah, you can do anything you want on the firewall, but in a car that gets driven regularly I don't think the best choice is upholstery. That's fine for the custom car crowd, but in a driver you want something that cleans up up easily. And black diamond tufted crushed velvet just looks so....well, wrong on a Speedster! _{(and goofy on anything else that actually gets driven)}

Carbon fiber look great too - Not mine Jogyers

http://dragonplate.com/ecart/categories.asp?cID=12

https://www.speedsterowners.com...artment---a-new-look

I, too, used workshop floor mat from Home Depot.  3M upholstery glue didn't stick well enough, so I added some mushroom fasteners similar to those holding hood blankets to the underside of the hood in American cars.  The cushion material cuts down on engine noise a lot.

Gordon Nichols posted:

I finally scrapped all of my plastic fuel filters and now just run a NAPA Gold 3031

It's about the size of the usual medium-sized plastic one and looks like this:

I probably change it every 8-10 years.

That's a better way to go, but I just ordered 10 of the plastic ones, that were on sale, from Cip1.

aircooled posted:

I used "engine turned" stainless steel. Make posterboard patterns first then transfer that to some cheape galvanized sheet metal from a hardware store and d add or trim again to get it perfect (sometimes the cardboard pattern goes in because it bends enough but the sheet metal might not)  then trace onto the final metal to be used. here's what mine looks like......Bruce

Love this look. Really stands out. I showed this to my VW guy and we were both scratching our heads trying to figure out how exactly you made it. You're saying you used plain old galvanized sheet metal to make the basic shape and then used engine turned stainless?

Hola Blackrice.....It was a three stage process. First, I made a pattern out of poster paper which is just real thick paper. It works way better than corrugated cardboard. This step is just a cut and fit and then tape some poster paper back on your pattern in those areas where you cut off too much. Do this until you have a Perfect fit.

NOW, since the finished product is stainless sheet metal and expensive AND STIFF AS HECK, and the poster paper is real flexible, you need to do a trial fit in some other cheap (and stiff) material to see if you can get it to fit in the engine compartment. Sometimes installing  materials, "wall-to-wall, require bending in two directions simultaneously in order to get enough clearance to slip it in. Bending it to an extreme  may put unwanted kinks in the metal where they will show (and that's where it always happens) while trying to install it ! Hence and Second....Make a second pattern out of some cheap sheet metal so you can do a trial installation. Also you have another chance to EXACTLY trim this pattern to fit even better. Remember, you have to do two bends on the side pieces so they fit around that square tubing at the bottom. If that part isn't right it will not be a good fit against the side wall or the vertical part of that 2 inch frame piece. So practice with the cheap sheet metal.  I actually screwed up on these parts and made two left hand ones because I bent one the wrong way so be careful. Thankfully it was only galvanized sheet metal.

Third, When you install the final material, leave the protective coating on it (assuming it has some) until you are finished then remove it.

You will have to cut some clearance slots for the hood hinges and trim them out like you see in my photos. Also for that hole in the firewall in front of your fan intake if you have one. You don't need to use a lot of sheet metal screws to install this material. It's really stiff and the fewer the screws the better it will look.

Finally, If you use engine turned stainless try to match the "swirls" on the trim pieces for the hinges to be congruous with the swirl pattern on the firewall sheet. It just looks better. Maybe even unnoticeable. If they're not matched, your attention goes right to them. 

Hope this helps. Just take your time, don't drink too much beer until after when there will be plenty of time to admire your work...........Bruce

aircooled posted:

Hola Blackrice.....It was a three stage process. First, I made a pattern out of poster paper which is just real thick paper. It works way better than corrugated cardboard. This step is just a cut and fit and then tape some poster paper back on your pattern in those areas where you cut off too much. Do this until you have a Perfect fit.

NOW, since the finished product is stainless sheet metal and expensive AND STIFF AS HECK, and the poster paper is real flexible, you need to do a trial fit in some other cheap (and stiff) material to see if you can get it to fit in the engine compartment. Sometimes installing  materials, "wall-to-wall, require bending in two directions simultaneously in order to get enough clearance to slip it in. Bending it to an extreme  may put unwanted kinks in the metal where they will show (and that's where it always happens) while trying to install it ! Hence and Second....Make a second pattern out of some cheap sheet metal so you can do a trial installation. Also you have another chance to EXACTLY trim this pattern to fit even better. Remember, you have to do two bends on the side pieces so they fit around that square tubing at the bottom. If that part isn't right it will not be a good fit against the side wall or the vertical part of that 2 inch frame piece. So practice with the cheap sheet metal.  I actually screwed up on these parts and made two left hand ones because I bent one the wrong way so be careful. Thankfully it was only galvanized sheet metal.

Third, When you install the final material, leave the protective coating on it (assuming it has some) until you are finished then remove it.

You will have to cut some clearance slots for the hood hinges and trim them out like you see in my photos. Also for that hole in the firewall in front of your fan intake if you have one. You don't need to use a lot of sheet metal screws to install this material. It's really stiff and the fewer the screws the better it will look.

Finally, If you use engine turned stainless try to match the "swirls" on the trim pieces for the hinges to be congruous with the swirl pattern on the firewall sheet. It just looks better. Maybe even unnoticeable. If they're not matched, your attention goes right to them. 

Hope this helps. Just take your time, don't drink too much beer until after when there will be plenty of time to admire your work...........Bruce

I'm far too old to be doing any of this myself. My job is to find the people that can handle it and (yes) drink the beer while I watch them - while making loud lip smacking sounds so they know how much I'm enjoying my suds.

This was an excellent write-up. Thanks. I've printed it out - now will find the guys to do it. In my neck of the woods that probably either means a tinsmith or the industrious dudes who put together all the trikes.

Sure this will be of use to others as well.

There must be different grades of stainless. I have some stainless that has never rusted, while my expensive (supposed) stainless fridge rusted the second year (had to sand it down and coat it). I have an indoor pool that invariably will rust anything that isn't pure stainless or chrome.

If you decide to do your own engine turning look up Cratex Abrasives. You can buy a 6" long by 5/8 0r 3/4"  cylindrical  abrasive stick to do the swirls. A drill press with a 3/4" chuck works really good for this.....Bruce