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Model specific boards => Golf mk2 => Topic started by: Sam on 10 January 2011, 00:44

Title: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: Sam on 10 January 2011, 00:44
What to move and to where? Any ideas/inspirational pics you can post??
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: dragonfly on 10 January 2011, 08:37
Move the battery into the boot, get a top fill radiator and the loom can go down the chassis legs.
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: Peej1981 on 10 January 2011, 08:41
Not sure if this will help but follow the link, i have been thinking about the same thing and been reading through this site to get an idea of what else i can do  :grin:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=86
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: Benrevs on 10 January 2011, 19:03
P/S bottler here! Just requires streching the wing support out a little.
(http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh272/benrevs/Image002-3.jpg)
(http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh272/benrevs/Image003-3.jpg)
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: Sam on 10 January 2011, 19:45
Ich habe no power steering so thats that sorted, battery in boot is a little complex non? or is it stupidly easy?
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: cняis on 10 January 2011, 21:06
Ich habe no power steering so thats that sorted, battery in boot is a little complex non? or is it stupidly easy?

PM ben above but IIRC he used a BMW 5 series battery +ve cable and terminal block for in the engine bay. has 4 +ve pickup points and even has a noggin for jump starting.

Cable is fookin chunky.
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: Sam on 10 January 2011, 21:09
Ah ok, so battery in boot and you run a bit cable and splice it to different pick-up points?
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: Wayne on 10 January 2011, 21:16
Ah ok, so battery in boot and you run a bit cable and splice it to different pick-up points?

Needs to be a vented battery with a pipe to the outside world.
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: cняis on 10 January 2011, 21:16
cable block is on my inner strut:

(http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/crevice1984/DSCF1472.jpg)

poor picture but you get the idea.

also cables (in addition to being run through chassis legs) can be protected and tidied with this stuff:
(http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/crevice1984/DSCF1465.jpg)
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: cняis on 10 January 2011, 21:17
Ah ok, so battery in boot and you run a bit cable and splice it to different pick-up points?

Needs to be a vented battery with a pipe to the outside world.

yep  :lipsrsealed:

most batteries will have a vent to which you can slip a breather onto
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: madmanluke on 10 January 2011, 21:56
i like the idea of the power steering bottle there Ben.

Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: cняis on 10 January 2011, 21:59
i like the idea of the power steering bottle there Ben.



funnel required for refilling!  :wink:
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: madmanluke on 10 January 2011, 22:04
i bet :)

Cant help but think of a different bottle that could be used with a filler neck that could come out the side of the wing so you cant see the actual bottle its self
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: tech1889 on 10 January 2011, 22:07
so move battery to boot and leave a bit to jump start hows that work.. im not taking the piss just curious.. and AA van i once saw had a big bullet connector type thing on front of his van and had special jump leads.. can you just do this and hide the jump lead points ??
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: cняis on 10 January 2011, 22:24

so move battery to boot and leave a bit to jump start hows that work.. im not taking the piss just curious.. and AA van i once saw had a big bullet connector type thing on front of his van and had special jump leads.. can you just do this and hide the jump lead points ??

cable block is on my inner strut:

(http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w167/crevice1984/DSCF1472.jpg)



You lift the cap (marked with the big "+" symbol) and there's a big metal jump point under there  :smiley:
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: tech1889 on 10 January 2011, 22:27
ohh sorry missed that.. looks nice..
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: Benrevs on 11 January 2011, 14:49
The majority of BMW's have boot located batteries with a big chunky 20mm thick cable running through the car to the engine bay. Scrapyard is your friend on that. The positive box as in Chris's picture is also from the beemer.  I also put the washer bottle in the boot, it was a small one used for the BMW's headlight washers. The good thing with engine bays is there are no rules so use your imagination!!
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: tech1889 on 11 January 2011, 17:19
So you have positive in the bay.. where do you earth out to ??

And instead of a beemer cable.. cant you just buy a heavy duty cable and make it up yourself ??
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: Sam on 11 January 2011, 17:22
So you have positive in the bay.. where do you earth out to ??

And instead of a beemer cable.. cant you just buy a heavy duty cable and make it up yourself ??

Well surely you just earth out in the boot on a really shot lead, perhaps to the chassis? Then in the bay you can earth out to wherever your want
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: tech1889 on 11 January 2011, 17:37
i dont like the sound of that  :grin:
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: clipperjay on 11 January 2011, 18:06
You need a decent unpainted bolt hole to earth the battery I did mine right in the corner of the boot there is a natural hole located down there, and had no issues with grounding to it. If you are that anal you can always drill a hoile in the boot and feed the cable through to the underside, but I thought better of that due to low ride and corrosion under the car so the chassis of the boot surficed!
The other is to feed a black 20mm cable through the other side of the car and out to where the gear box sits or anywhere on the block or wing? That cable is thick and very heavy after 2-4meters of the stuff!
I still have kit & cable just not what I wanted for my current ride. 
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: Sam on 11 January 2011, 18:08
i dont like the sound of that  :grin:

Its how your car should me at the min, just a cable comming off the -ve and bolted to the chassis, nothing else  :smiley:
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: tech1889 on 11 January 2011, 18:12
yer but VW decided that not me  :grin:

Jay you looking to part with this kit ??
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: clipperjay on 11 January 2011, 20:13
yer but VW decided that not me  :grin:

Jay you looking to part with this kit ??

I can point you in the right direction to purchase your own DIY kit after all its not that complicated!
Plus the hardest part would be getting enough soilder onto the circular battery terminals and circular connectors!
I can't charge you for something, you can buy newer and proberly cheaper fella :wink:

I used a blow torch to heat up the connectors then just let the soilder flow into the joint.

This is the link for all your needs!
http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/cable/batterycable.php (http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/cable/batterycable.php)
475 475/0.40 60 14.5mm 415 £9.46 (RED)

http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/battconns/batttermls.php#butt (http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/battconns/batttermls.php#butt)
Battery/starter cable ring terminals.
Tin plated copper tube terminals.
can be crimped or soldered.


http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/battconns/battclamps.php (http://www.vehicle-wiring-products.eu/VWP-onlinestore/battconns/battclamps.php)
Stud/nut clamp.
Stud size 8mm


As you can see the costs is not bad after all the clamps for the battery itself you might have paid about £45.00 Max!
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: tech1889 on 11 January 2011, 20:19
Sorry mate how much of each part will i need so i can work costs out  :smiley:
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: clipperjay on 11 January 2011, 20:25
Sorry mate how much of each part will i need so i can work costs out  :smiley:

Go to each link then add it up mate, two battery terminals, two circular connectors, 2-3 meters of RED cable 1 meter of Black cable!
Job done its all priced up on the web site mate  :wink:

You might be able to go to a local auto car shop and just buy 1/2 a meter of ground cable in black so you dont have to buy a whole meter of the stuff. The thing is I dont know where you would route the cable but 3 meters is more than enough, the car is not longer than 2.5 meters anyways! 
You also might want to ring them up to clarify the correct cable to use as I'm going by memory so do the home work before you part with your cash!
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: tech1889 on 11 January 2011, 20:34
Cheers mate the car not ready for this yet just want some ideas to try and clean the bay up for after the conversion..

Gona try and move as much as possible to the boot lol
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: clipperjay on 11 January 2011, 20:37
Most people will say hide the loom through chassis legs and tuck them through the front engine mount then back to the gear box for sensors reconnecting its not hard as long as you label where everything goes!  :cool:
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: tech1889 on 11 January 2011, 20:39
so you just lengthen and adjust the loom as you go ??
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: clipperjay on 11 January 2011, 20:54
Yes but you need to do this carefully use shrink wrap and proper solder joints!
I'm not a fan of it due to the fact you bunch so many wires together in order to hide them. If one melts and catches on fire it takes out the whole car loom and the car and I've seen better moders than myself who had a few fires out of the blue. All were minimalsitic bays, so hence unless you know what you are doing be careful as things get very hot and its electrical after all!  :evil:

Plus the fact in a crash the front mount takes a pounding or a chassis leg could easily cause a few problems like cut wires from metal and leaking petrol rails etc. I'm old and sensible go with scene you only live once or was that die once  :rolleyes:
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: tech1889 on 11 January 2011, 20:59
would there be any way round this ?? maybe using a new loom so that the wires are of better condition ??
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: clipperjay on 11 January 2011, 21:12
Well thats part of the problem with 20 year old wires adding large sound systems and increasing amp usage.

Personaly I would try and speperate the lot into positive, neutral and grounds then make sure they are water tight most drain holes are in the chassis legs which don't help, plus water in the rad area from forced air water on the front of the car! IMO you can do it properly but most people won't due to time and effort involved. I have seen bays that have false sides back and sides so they create cavities that are water tight (EXPENSIVE) and those boys are high end as they really don't want any wires to be seen and also delete car componets and relocate for minimalistic bays. With enough money you can do anything well  :grin:
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: tech1889 on 11 January 2011, 21:14
I might try for a bit of a beginners smooth'ish bay... will relocate what i can.. will hide a few wires.. im not gona get anal about as i like to access my wires when something goes wrong lool.. just smarter than OEM if that makes sense ??
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: Sam on 14 January 2011, 10:49
OOOoo here is a good idea, see how the washer bottle and expansion tank have been sprayed black  :smiley:

(http://www.maxpower.co.uk/images/067mh.jpg)
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: cняis on 14 January 2011, 14:26
OOOoo here is a good idea, see how the washer bottle and expansion tank have been sprayed black  :smiley:

(http://www.maxpower.co.uk/images/067mh.jpg)

i think i'd rather be able to check coolant level  :laugh:
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: Sam on 14 January 2011, 14:32
You could always mask a thin line up one side?
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: messenjah on 14 January 2011, 15:48
or replace the level sensor so you know it works and learn to check the engine temp periodically
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: cняis on 14 January 2011, 18:27
or replace the level sensor so you know it works and learn to check the engine temp periodically


the sensor wont read any temp if there's no coolant in the system...  :rolleyes: :lipsrsealed: :lipsrsealed:
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: messenjah on 14 January 2011, 19:02
but the level sensor will flash the coolant warning light if theres no coolant in it
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: tech1889 on 14 January 2011, 20:00
sensor = go wrong
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: cняis on 14 January 2011, 22:43
i dont see the issue with leaving the bottle translucent  :huh:
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: Sam on 15 January 2011, 03:06
Well I just pointed out that its a good way of been a lazy f**k*r and just blending it with the rest of the bay  :smiley:
Title: Re: Tidying up an engine bay
Post by: clipperjay on 15 January 2011, 09:32
  :grin: its a personal choice no reason you can't pop a tiny camera in the expansion tank then you can watch the water levels to your hearts content lol. I prefer the false fire wall method you can delete loads then