jimlab

I'd take that one step further. Having two mismatched colors on a car goes beyond cheap and tacky (my opinion)... it makes me wonder what happened to the car that caused or required it to be repainted. Most people don't paint a car just because they're tired of the original color.

On seeing a different color engine bay, the first step most people who weren't immediately turned off by it are going to take is running a Carfax report to try to find out what happened to the car in the past. Even if they find nothing, they're going to suspect that it was wrecked and simply not reported. Good luck convincing them otherwise.

Then they're going to wonder about the quality of the paint job, as Mahjik mentioned. Are they going to have to worry that the prep work was done correctly? Was it an Earl Scheib "$99.95" paint job? Is the paint going to flake or peel? Is there overspray on weather seals and other trim pieces? No one wants a tacky or cheap looking car.

You may not care about the paint in the engine bay, and that's fine as long as the car is yours, but the fact that you don't says a lot to any potential buyer. Color is probably a close second to model in the impulse to look at or buy a specific car. Someone looking specifically for a Silver FD doesn't expect to open the hood to a red engine bay. As Mahjik said, they're also going to wonder what other corners you might have cut.

Go ahead and leave your engine bay red or blue or whatever and paint the car any color you want. It's your car, do whatever you want with it. However, if you ever do have to sell it, don't be surprised if you have a hard time moving a two-tone car that was supposed to have been single-tone from the factory. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the sale price wasn't impacted by the decision not to paint the engine bay, unless it's a reasonably tasteful combination that didn't diverge far from the original color, as I stated above.

NoRice

A couple of things.

1. Someone mentioned $300 extra to have the engine bay painted! I'd love that, I've been quoted $400 just to fix the oil pan gasket leak. If I could get the engine pulled and replaced for $300 I'd be a happy camper. A lot of people pay nearly that much just to have a Down pipe installed!

2. Most of these cars are only worth $14,000 to $18,000, there are some that are getting over $20,000 but those are not common.

Now, considering these points, how much sense does it make to spend let's say an extra $1,000 (labor to pull the engine, towing, and painting) to paint the engine bay on a $14k to $18k car? We are talking about 6 to 8% of the car's value.

As far as not getting as much when you sell it, you don't have to you saved $1,000! Not to mention these people seem to think you are going to get LESS for a freshly painted car, versus leaving it with cracking/chipping or fading paint? If you are truly worried about the value of your car, WHY are you Driving it!

Again, most of these cars are NOT Show or Collector cars. Maybe in 10 years, but up to this point there isn't much of a collector's market for Jap cars.

It seems many people are saying "If you can't paint the engine bay, don't paint it at all." Or at least you are stuck with the same old color.

In my almost 35 years now, when someone I know has had a car Re-Painted the SAME color, you know what I always here the ladies say? "What's the point, that's stupid, why would you paint it the same color?"

I kind of liked the MBM, but it's been 3.5 years now and I have come to find that there are a LOT of MBM FD's out there. I wanted something different, MBM just doesn't make the car JUMP out at you like an FD should! The Yellow is the ONLY factory color that does it IMHO!

Before this discussion came up, I thought about what Jim said about sticking with a Blue or Green that would go better with the engine bay. I was thinking about a Viper blue, but it just didn't look right. They had a nice Teal, but I'd get bored with that. They also had a darker metallic teal that matched the MBM in the sunlight, but looked different than the MBM in the shade.

I also thought about what would look good with the interior. Well, I have the leather Tan/Black interior, so I really couldn't think of any color that wouldn't look Ok with those colors. Now, if you had a Red or Blue interior, you maybe limited in color choices. I believe that would look much worse than having an engine bay that didn't match.

After a lot of thought, I narrowed it down to the Viper Blue or the Ruby Red Metallic. I showed the samples to my wife/kids, I was already leaning towards the Red. My wife and kids all said Red! The kids were excited and said shouted in excitement, "Red" it wasn't even a close call.

I didn't get a Bright/Pale/Orange Red like the VR, I got more of a Dark Burgundy/Maroon red that seems to go better with the Dark MBM, it's not as much of a contrast from a light color to a dark color anyway.

The hood has the insulation on it and is therefore mostly covered. Only the sides, mainly the passengers side are really visible. I really don't see how you can paint just part of the engine bay without pulling the engine and expect it to look better. I only believe that would look worse. There are going be areas you could still see the MBM and it would REALLY look Ghetto then!
That would really be Half Assing it!

Jim's car is great it is going to be MUCH nicer than the day it rolled off the factory line when he is done. Although, as far as your question Jim, I'd take the one with the Yellow engine bay, it runs! I'd rather have my car to drive, I have enough home repairs, yard work, and general auto maintenance/cleaning to keep me busy.

My car doesn't look perfect, but I'd rather have a color on the OUTSIDE that I really like versus sticking with the So So MBM again, or just leaving it with the clearcoat peeling as it has been.

I am MUCH happier with the car now.

The day AFTER I picked the car up from the paint shop, I was sitting at a light to make a left and saw a guy in a Honda S2000 Seriously checking my CAR out! That wouldn't happened with the clearcoat peeling and probably not even IF I had painted it MBM again.

Then the next day I saw more people taking double takes of the car as I left work downtown. Also, a guy at Firestone (tire remounted it was leaking around the bead) asked how long ago I had it painted, he knew it wasn't a stock color and said how nice it looked!

Much better, and guess what? Not one of these people yelled at me and said "Does the engine bay match too?"

Here is a picture of the engine bay. FYI: I did have the door jambs and even the entire hatch area painted to match, those are area that are seen a lot.

NoRice

I don't know what the problem is. I Re-tried to upload the picture twice now. The last time I got an error message "Please don't upload the same files" Yet, I don't see the file attached in the previous post!

Oh, well, here is a picture of the rear hatch, let's see IF this works!

curlybillbrosie

groovy

NoRice

Still having problems with the engine bay picture. I changed the file size and renamed it.

Fingers crossed!

curlybillbrosie

I think it looks nice.

AMRAAM4

NoRice...I think the car looks good and I agree with everything you said!! On top of that, it isn't like you are making it a damn show car. You had 99% of what everyone sees on a daily basis painted!

What "Ruby Red" is that and do you have any side shots of it?

Fd3BOOST

iTrader: (7)

Jim, Is the color IBM? Looks damn close if not, and if it is not then what color is it?

NoRice

Thanks,

It's just Ruby Red Metallic, not a specific number or anything.

I posted more shots on my web page. There is 1 at the top of the page, scroll down to see more. Then under the pictures is a link to a page with 6 more.

http://www.wideopenwest.com/~swoodso...azda%20RX7.htm

Now, I've gotta update my sig! Doh!

AMRAAM4

FD3, I am 99% sure the color of JimLab's car is Corvette Blue (one on new C5's)

NoRice

I forgot to mention in this thread, it's slightly off topic. It has to do with the paint job, but not the engine.

Anyway, when having the car painted I wanted a CLEAN look.

All badges were removed, I thought about keeping the RX7 only, but opted to remove it.

I removed the rear wiper arm, washer nozzle, and power antenna. All holes are filled in. I am VERY glad I had this done. I think it especially looks better with the wiper arm removed.

For a week or two before, I drove around with the rear window antenna hooked up. I was surprised that it was actually a little BETTER than the power antenna.

No regrets!

jimlab

Correctamundo. '02+ Corvette "Electron Blue Metallic".



I bought three Lexan R/C bodies and had one painted with EBM, one with IBM, and one with "Santorin Blue Pearl Effect" (Audi S4) for comparison before I made the final decision.

Resource

I painted mine myself and did all the bodywork. I painted mine House of Kolors Kandy Stary Midnite Blue. I painted the engine bay flat black because I wasn't sure I wanted to stay with that particular color.

Resource

You can see that I dissasembled the whole car in order to paint everywhere.

Resource

I set everything together as I got everything painted peice by peice. Yes it all matches.

Resource

Prepping.

Resource

This is what it started out as.

Resource

Here is a recent picture. My RX7 is on the right.

Resource

Pic

enuttage

FWIW, I chose not to have my engine bay painted even with the engine pulled.

Not being particularly electrically (or even mechanically) inclined, my painter's concern was any sort of electrical "gremlins" that might pop up by removing all of the wiring and then reinstalling it (accompanied by a long story about another customer).

He disassembled the entire car though and did a great job, and it certainly wasn't for scrimping that I chose not to paint it. I decided on a DuPont Chromalusion color and the original MB bay isn't a strikingly different color. It's noticeable, but only if you're paying attention.

I will say that a Yellow w/ white bay or the like is pretty distracting .

-E

jdhuegel1

I think the flat black engine bay is acceptable. I've seen it on CYM's, Eric's car, and a red FD or two. I can handle that.

Brad

Good ******* god man. I have a 21" monitor set at 1600x1200 and I have to scroll too see that picture. WTF is that **** man???

Vick

What happened to your sunroof?

enuttage

Ah, you must be an R1 fella.

His sunroof, is...well, it's open.

curlybillbrosie

whats that supposed to mean? looks like it disappeared.