Shaved, Tucked, Customized Engine Bays - Pics, Theory, Discussion

[RabbitsKin]

Some of the things I've done to clean up the bay:

Relocate battery to rear
remove N249 mess, relocating some hoses to fender well
re-routing hoses along firewall to inside rain tray
relocate overflow tank to driver's side to shorten hoses
remove vacuum reservoir
remove and block-off combi valve
remove air pump
remove all plastic covers and unused metal brackets
remove washer bottle
remove A/C compressor and hoses
re-route brake booster hose

Despite all that work, no one even notices when I pop the hood. The trouble is, there is still a lot of extra stuff under there. Word to the wise, if you're gonna do it, go ALL THE WAY.

[GREASE-MONKEY]

question to those who have not retained the stock ecu and shaved everything. what are you doing for an alarm system?

[skatingzooyork]

Quote, originally posted by RabbitsKin »

Some of the things I've done to clean up the bay: Relocate battery to rear remove N249 mess, relocating some hoses to fender well re-routing hoses along firewall to inside rain tray relocate overflow tank to driver's side to shorten hoses remove vacuum reservoir remove and block-off combi valve remove air pump remove all plastic covers and unused metal brackets remove washer bottle remove A/C compressor and hoses re-route brake booster hose Despite all that work, no one even notices when I pop the hood. The trouble is, there is still a lot of extra stuff under there. Word to the wise, if you're gonna do it, go ALL THE WAY.

Do you have any pictures of your bay? Your list is exactly what I am planning to do this winter.

[RabbitsKin]

Never been much of a picture taker on my own rides, unfortunately.

[j. Kush]

Well it doesn't have to be a fantastic, bordered and watermarked pic. Just point and shoot so we can get the idea.


Modified by j. Kush at 4:45 PM 10-7-2007

[ex-vtak]

to OP: thanks for starting this thread. we honda people love this stuff, sometimes my buddies ditch AC/PS, and remove ABS in pursuit of this look.

[j. Kush]

Quote, originally posted by ex-vtak »

to OP: thanks for starting this thread. we honda people love this stuff, sometimes my buddies ditch AC/PS, and remove ABS in pursuit of this look.

haha. i'm not sure if you are being sarcastic, but on a daily driver it is a pretty pointless mod to do. and i think most people realize this which is why its a relatively rare mod, not because it is so hard to pull off.

i can maybe see rerouting the battery to the trunk, removing some of the unncessary vac. hosing, and relocating some other stuff to clean things up a bit, but people should be cautious not to go over the top with it on a daily driver...

i do think it looks good though, and i'd personally like to see somebody do it on a Jetta.

ventodan's VRT:

Modified by j. Kush at 4:49 PM 10-7-2007

[The Prime Ministah]

HEY this is a TON of work. It shouldnt be alowed for there to be a walk through on how to do it! then all us that did the research and fingered out how to do it on our own are all for naught.

[dragon813gt]

Quote, originally posted by The Prime Ministah »

HEY this is a TON of work. It shouldnt be alowed for there to be a walk through on how to do it! then all us that did the research and fingered out how to do it on our own are all for naught.

You fingered it out
I udnerstand where you're coming from Drew. But did you figure out everything by yourself? Or did you have some help along the way. If you did everythng by yourself then you can say whatever you want. But if just one thing that you did was suggested by someone else then you have no case to want to keep it private.

This isn't something that's going to be done by everyone. It's beyond the capability of most people. Both mechanically and financially. It's a lot easier on VR6s. This has been proven time and time again. There is just less to remove.

And IMO, the slew of MKIIs that redid their firewalls did it the correct way. Make the bay as simple as possible. I don't even know if this is possible on a MKIV. But the rain tray should definelty be removed like Lag did. When you do this you should extend your hood up so you don't have a huge gap where the tray used to be. I added something to this thread that I shouldn't have done. I'm wondering how many people had even though of doing this to make it look correct. This is the only idea I'm sharing

[vdubtornado]

after looking at those i was wondering what people did about the huge gap that would be left once the rain gutter is removed.

[dragon813gt]

Gap

Easily fixed and it's one of those details that is overlooked.

[vdubtornado]

wat do they do just move up the hood a little bit? and doing that is one of those that just shouldnt be done to a car thats daily driven, i personally would only do that to my car if i knew that i would no longer be my only source of transportation. but thats just me i guess. lol

[ftratrny]

Quote, originally posted by dragon813gt »

You fingered it out I udnerstand where you're coming from Drew. But did you figure out everything by yourself? Or did you have some help along the way. If you did everythng by yourself then you can say whatever you want. But if just one thing that you did was suggested by someone else then you have no case to want to keep it private. This isn't something that's going to be done by everyone. It's beyond the capability of most people. Both mechanically and financially. It's a lot easier on VR6s. This has been proven time and time again. There is just less to remove. And IMO, the slew of MKIIs that redid their firewalls did it the correct way. Make the bay as simple as possible. I don't even know if this is possible on a MKIV. But the rain tray should definelty be removed like Lag did. When you do this you should extend your hood up so you don't have a huge gap where the tray used to be. I added something to this thread that I shouldn't have done. I'm wondering how many people had even though of doing this to make it look correct. This is the only idea I'm sharing

Nuff said, A DIY or Even a walk through will not hurt anything... It’s not like everyone is going to run out and attempt this...

[dragon813gt]

Quote, originally posted by vdubtornado »

wat do they do just move up the hood a little bit?

The hood has just been left the same. That's why there is the large gap. You need to weld on an extension at the top of the hood. It's no exactly easy but it's not the end of the world. Especially if you just removed the firewall

Quote, originally posted by ftratrny »

Nuff said, A DIY or Even a walk through will not hurt anything... It’s not like everyone is going to run out and attempt this...

You won't ever have either. A DIY is out of the question. And a walkthrough is just to much. There are to many steps and custom bit of fabrication that need to be done. Every car is going to be done diffrently. This is definetly the case w/ a 1.8T where there are so many diffrent levels of tune due to turbos and the such.

[ftratrny]

Quote, originally posted by dragon813gt »

You won't ever have either. A DIY is out of the question. And a walkthrough is just to much. There are to many steps and custom bit of fabrication that need to be done. Every car is going to be done diffrently. This is definetly the case w/ a 1.8T where there are so many diffrent levels of tune due to turbos and the such.

Let me rephrase, tips will not hurt anything as this is not something that everyone can or will attempt. :

[Dubnstein]

Quote, originally posted by Elvir »

i love this engine bay

[The Prime Ministah]

why not just remove the Vac Res?

And is appears like Joosey kept his Evap system.... so I dono to what extent he went with is...

[dub-Nation]

Great Idea!

[dragon813gt]

Quote, originally posted by dub-Nation »

Great Idea!

So that's what's taking so long

[ducatipaso]

what is a tucked engine bay?

[dub-Nation]

Quote, originally posted by dragon813gt »

So that's what's taking so long

I wish.

Quote, originally posted by ducatipaso »

what is a tucked engine bay?

The wires are tucked/hidden.

[ducatipaso]

wow talk about random use of a term thats thrown all over the place

[Raek]

i'd like to see pictures of where things are relocated to.

i mean...we always get to see the bays and such...but, never any pics of "behind the scenes"

[hockeyizlife94]

Quote, originally posted by ftratrny »

Let me rephrase, tips will not hurt anything as this is not something that everyone can or will attempt. :

i agree, no one is going to be trying this that isn't prepared for what they are starting, this is one of the hardest things you can do on new cars, and a few tips to someone doing it would be great. it think its ridiculous that people who have done this hide there information like its a secret.

[j. Kush]

Quote, originally posted by Raek »

i'd like to see pictures of where things are relocated to. i mean...we always get to see the bays and such...but, never any pics of "behind the scenes"

x2, but I think the majority of the things aren't relocated, but completely removed...

[dragon813gt]

Quote, originally posted by j. Kush »

x2, but I think the majority of the things aren't relocated, but completely removed...

On a 1.8t this is definely the case. The few things your relocate are behind the dash or in the trunk(battery). Pictres of the wires tucked up in the frame rail won't show you much. It's esy to understand when you physically see the bay w/ nothing in it.

[gENERIX_]

This looks like it should be a real useful thread.. nice going Elvir

This bay is one of my favourite out there:

[Raek]

Quote, originally posted by dragon813gt »

On a 1.8t this is definely the case. The few things your relocate are behind the dash or in the trunk(battery). Pictres of the wires tucked up in the frame rail won't show you much. It's esy to understand when you physically see the bay w/ nothing in it.

yeah, i noticed that with savwko's SAI removal thread...i was just wondering like...on these COMPLETELY shaved bays, things such as washer fluid, go.

but, i'm guessing since these aren't daily drivers, most of this stuff is totally unused...

[tchristemac]

I am really thinking of undertaking this, I am really looking for a LONG winter project and take my time doing it!

[thelmuffinman]

Weird that this thread just showed up after this topic being the only thing that wouldn't leave my head for about the past two weeks.

[FAIL]

Sav,

Paint the caps of the coolant and washer fluid resoviors gloss black.

KTHX!

but seriously, very small detail, but I think it would look much better

[TickTack]

Quote, originally posted by gENERIX_ »

This looks like it should be a real useful thread.. nice going Elvir This bay is one of my favourite out there:

It's posted earlier too, post turbo build.

[movement]

[/QUOTE]
How much Hp does this have????

[TickTack]

Quote, originally posted by movement »

How much Hp does this have????

Enough to put a smile on your face. How much more do you need?

I haven't seen it since CVO Treffen 2006. Amazing car.

[rice X eater]

Quote, originally posted by skatingzooyork »

Do you have any pictures of your bay? Your list is exactly what I am planning to do this winter.

i have a similar bay... battery is still in stock location and ac still intact..

not a smooth bay at all. i would say clean up a bit. im gonna take it into the "smooth" realm this winter hopefully



Modified by rice X eater at 1:51 PM 10-10-2007