Underhood "Cleanup"

[gedmeyer]

Does anybody have some nice pics of what they did for underhood cleanup? Specifically, I want to eliminate the rats nest of wire on my 81. I was thinking of using that plastic convoluted tubing. Any suggestions?

 

[ruby76]

I don't have any pics as I haven't done it myself. But saw a yellow 74 that had that yellow tubing stuff under the hood. Kind of a neat look. For a clean, less eye popping look you could use the black color instead.

 

[81 Corvette]

you don't wanna see mine then lol

 

[celeryman22]

I just routed all my wires with black split loom. They look ok, the problem is there are so many connections that come out of the split loom and go to different locations, that what makes it look bad, especially when they are 20+ year old wires.

Mike

 

[mike weyman]

checked at the speed shop today, he can order tee's and such for the split loom, but one connection is worth 5 bucks .not expensive, but i'm near the end now and money is low.

 

[srs244]

one of the friday night cuisin's i go to has all types of vendors. one guy always has various diameter ribbed split looms in sections that are about 3 or 4 feet long. i used some on the underhood of my 454 el camino and it does "neaten" it all up. it's simple to use, cuts with a razor knife or any other sharp pocket knife, blends together really easy and is cheap. down here they get about $3.00 or so for each section. it may look like you need a lot, but you really don't once you get started. i don't think i spend $12.00 for all i needed on the elky (454, factory air, ps, pb, etc). worth looking at in my opinion.

 

[Andy]

For about $50.00 you can geet enough of the plastic split loom to do the entire job. I did both my Vettes in Chrome. Looks good. It takes about 2 hours, the jobs done and it improves the appearance dramatically...You can even use the wires where the front headlights are.....Mine work fine on my '76, but the '79 is too tight a fit for some reason. Good Luck...Andy

 

[Jack]

Standard Ignition (an old line, mainstay auto parts manufacturer) offers just about any kind of split loom / tee you could need. Just about every town has at least one parts store that sells Standard ... loom-tee probably a lot cheaper there than speedshops' repackaged stuff. BTW ... Standard also offers a complete line of GM Weatherpack connectors/terminals/seals ... just like OE on some cars and same as used throughout most cup/busch/truck.
JACK:gap

 

[SmartI]

I checked your website out. People have told me I should drop a crate engine in to erase the sins of the ealy 80's (190hp! Come on!) I'm getting 10mpg on premium and all I'm getting less than 200 hp. I like your fix much better. Can you give us a before and after description of the performance? Thanks in advance.

John Smart

 

[gedmeyer]

I checked your website out. People have told me I should drop a crate engine in to erase the sins of the ealy 80's (190hp! Come on!) I'm getting 10mpg on premium and all I'm getting less than 200 hp. I like your fix much better. Can you give us a before and after description of the performance? Thanks in advance.

John Smart

Well, it's tough to remember what the performance was before the upgrade, since I had only owned it for a year before the rebuild. It does run smoother and I can testify that it will now run a low 14's in the quarter (w/ stock gears and a rookie driver). I think that is atleast a second faster than stock. I also increased gas mileage to almost 15mpg, whereas it was around 12 before. If I really get on her, I can chirp third gear.

The reason I went with the rebuild was b/c I didn't want to have an extra engine laying around the house. As many people will tell you, the crates are attractive b/c of their warranties. I guess it depends on how far you want to go with the rebuild. I still am running the stock intake, heads and carb. If you wanted to build up a high hp motor, I'd get away from the 2-bolt mains of the L81 block. One other decision you need to make is whether you want to keep the computer or smog equipment. I ditched the smog stuff.

So I guess you need to decide how far you want to go w/ an engine project and what your budget is. Machine shop work can get pricey in a hurry. A cam alone could do a lot for you. Also make sure your carb is in good shape. I got mine rebuilt by national carburetors and it looks/runs like new.

let me know if you have any other questions. I've got TONS of pics of the whole project. I'm in the middle of putting hooker side pipes on, which should allow me to reclaim some HP!

-gedmeyer

 

[Wolverine]

I checked your website out. People have told me I should drop a crate engine in to erase the sins of the ealy 80's (190hp! Come on!) I'm getting 10mpg on premium and all I'm getting less than 200 hp. I like your fix much better. Can you give us a before and after description of the performance? Thanks in advance.

John Smart

John,

You may want to check your timing. I was getting 10 mpg before I discovered that the mechanical advance on my HEI distributor was frozen. By fixing the distributor (and recurving it) my mileage jumped to 14 MPG - city driving and the power increase was off the charts. A frozen mechanical advance is a pretty common problem. Its a cheap fix.

Brian

 

[gedmeyer]

John,

You may want to check your timing. I was getting 10 mpg before I discovered that the mechanical advance on my HEI distributor was frozen. By fixing the distributor (and recurving it) my mileage jumped to 14 MPG - city driving and the power increase was off the charts. A frozen mechanical advance is a pretty common problem. Its a cheap fix.

Brian

If he has as stock distributor in his '81, there is no mechanical advance. The advance is controlled by the computer. He should check his timing though.

-gedmeyer

 

[Wolverine]

Oops - I should have noted that it was an '81. :duh

 

[gedmeyer]

no biggie. I just don't get the opportunity to be "right" on the forums that often! I'm usually the one asking the questions!

-gedmeyer

 

[ruby76]

For the non-81 folks, Gedmeyer is right, I haven't checked mpg yet, but performance is off the charts now that I un-seized the mech advance onmy 76.

 

[Glensgages]

..... I have a Cross-Fire:
who'd WANT to look under the hood?????
:L ad :confused :ugh :cry