82' engine back in car

[surfingfreeman]

So my rebuild FI 2000 is back in the engine bay (unfortunately the tubing that replaced the stock intake airflow section is made of some type of plastic which i am not sure will hold up to the temp given off by the header which is in such close proximity, i have seen some interesting heat shield products out there) , now i am trying to figure out how to maximize the cold air intake and change over to a cone filter and also remove the stock air intake hose and replace with perhaps an aluminum tube set-up (mark is putting together a kit for me) part of the motivation is also to eliminate or deal with the higher engine bay temps generated by the snake header, still have to capture more reading at different location in the engine bay and on the header and around the Cat. Converter to make sure that there is no blockage. I plan on running ducted air hoses from the front of the car into the cone area and also somehow insulating/protecting the cone from the engine bay temp as well. Does anyone have pics of their mods that i am trying to do, all advice welcomed. Thanks
MIke

[surfingfreeman]

better image sizing

[surfingfreeman]

struggling

[Weelan]

How has no one commented on this?
That's gorgeous! Look how shiny!!
I would imagine that piece you were worried about is made to be in an engine bay so it should be able to handle the heat. Any issues yet?

[sierraspider]

Engine looks great. Did you do the work? I need an engine for my 82 so I'm researching like crazy to make good decisions.
Any info, tips or general morale boosting would be appreciated.I noticed you're in Burlingame. Have you done any biz with Joe's Fiat in Redwood City. I've talked on the phone with him and he is very knowledgeable and helpful?

Thanks

Dan
sierraspider

[surfingfreeman]

Hi Dan
Yes I had Joe do the rebuild, Joe is a great guy and good mechanic. I'm 45 and my dad had Fiats while I was a kid (and we took them to Joe) so he's worked on Fiats for years. Let me know if I can answer any other questions. Best of luck.
Mike

[nelsonj]

This does looks wonderful. You must be thrilled to have the car back.

[surfingfreeman]

Hi Ryan
Thanks for the comments on the engine. Yes adding the headers to the engine led to some unforeseen modifications. Because much of the "bulk" of the header sits higher in the engine bay there seems to be an accumulation of heat up there. I had to:
- Raise the AFM and add an airfilter
- Mark put together a new aluminum airflow hose to replace the shiny plastic one that is in the image. Again the need for this is that the original rubber "accordian" style airhose sits in such close proximity to one of the uppermost header pipes that it was melting.
-I elected to move the radiator overflow reservoir to the other side of the engine bay, again to relieve heat stress, I have seen that some people have used heat reflective material rather than move it, or buy Marks nice lookin aluminum one!
-I have also cut a hole in the front near the grill to add cool air to the airfilter and engine bay, I have yet to enclose the airfilter in some sort of box to better ensure that it is getting a majority of that cool air
-I received Millers adjustable cam wheels but have yet to put them on and dial everything in.

Overall I am very pleased with the end result, the engine is much more responsive and the torque improvements impressive. The engine has about 1k miles on it since the rebuild. I've only taken it up to about 5k RPMs but it keeps pulling strong and you can tell it has more to give. But bottom line is HP's are not cheap!
Happy 4th of July!

[Kingme2]

I have also purchased Marks sexy headers, as well as the exhaust ...

My engine bay is very hot.

Things I wish I knew...
1) pretty much need to buy the Performance Intake*, the accordion one would find the proximity to heat hard
2) buy an exhaust manifold gasket. Yes.
3) coolant overflow reservoir needs Moved or Replaced... Or both.


I am seeking solutions for the cone air filter issue. It is currently sucking up all this HOT engine bay air. Had thoughts of boxing the cone off,and using the accordion thingy to make some sort of scoop... Anyone have pics of their solutions?

*Mark/someone should offer this kit with a cone, and a BRACKET to support the AFM module.

Surfing" you have a beautiful engine compartment.