Who actually has this mod?
Thread Starter
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 30,055
Likes: 351
From: Big Red Ne
Who actually has this mod?
I am ordering the under hood stainless steel mirrors from American Car Craft. Does anyone out there actually have this mod? I have seen several posted pictures. I would like some input BEFORE I make the investment. What are the problems with the install? How easy is it to keep clean? Does the engine heat have an adverse affect?
http://www.americancarcraft.com/corv...s/c520alt2.jpg
I am ordering this soon so information is rather important. Can you help me out? Thanks!
http://www.americancarcraft.com/corv...s/c520alt2.jpg
I am ordering this soon so information is rather important. Can you help me out? Thanks!
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 4,949
Likes: 10
From: Monticello MN
Originally Posted by rkhegler
I am ordering the under hood stainless steel mirrors from American Car Craft. Does anyone out there actually have this mod? I have seen several posted pictures. I would like some input BEFORE I make the investment. What are the problems with the install? How easy is it to keep clean? Does the engine heat have an adverse affect?
http://www.americancarcraft.com/corv...s/c520alt2.jpg
I am ordering this soon so information is rather important. Can you help me out? Thanks!
http://www.americancarcraft.com/corv...s/c520alt2.jpg
I am ordering this soon so information is rather important. Can you help me out? Thanks!
I think it looks very cool, but I wouldn't do it on mine. The reason being, as I have longtube headers, it gets hot enough under the hood without the radiant heat reflective qualities of a mirrired surface back onto the engine. I would think, but may be wrong, that it may tend to prematurely age your wiring insulation. Maybe, if it's not a daily driver, it may not make much difference.
Ed
BTW: How do I get to that part of their website that offers this kit? I tried variations of your picture address with no luck. Thanks!
Ed
Last edited by C5XTASY; Sep 4, 2005 at 12:30 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 5,362
Likes: 3
From: Delray Beach FL
Melting Slicks
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 2,296
Likes: 0
From: Pearland TX
St. Jude Donor '03-'06-'07-'08-'09
Originally Posted by hilton head 50th
Impossible to keep clean without scratching.
i threw a bunch of under-the-hood ss away in the trash just for that reason
Race Director
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 11,308
Likes: 1
From: The Beautiful Greater Bay Area California
Hi RK, 
Regrettably, I agree with our fellow members who have thoughtfully responded to this thread. Last year, I purchased some of the very attractive and highly polished SS underhood treatments for my C5.
Well, I was not pleased when they came out of the box with excessive glue and fingerprints on the back of the panels with loose rubber molding edges. Moreover, I found that were far too easily scratched with gentle wiping and waxing, let alone from just mere light dust and dirt.
Best Wishes,
Eden
Regrettably, I agree with our fellow members who have thoughtfully responded to this thread. Last year, I purchased some of the very attractive and highly polished SS underhood treatments for my C5.
Well, I was not pleased when they came out of the box with excessive glue and fingerprints on the back of the panels with loose rubber molding edges. Moreover, I found that were far too easily scratched with gentle wiping and waxing, let alone from just mere light dust and dirt.
Best Wishes,
Eden
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 7,202
Likes: 3
From: somwhere Texas
Can you tell me how it would increase the temp. just because it is shinney. If you apply 50 deg. to a peace of metal it will not get hotter than 50deg. It must have fuel properties in order to increase the temp. ?????? I could be wrong, but that only happens only once a year. 
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Team Owner
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 23,682
Likes: 9
From: Flagstaff Az.
SS under hood
C5extasy didn't say it would increase the temperature. He said it would reflect the heat back to the engine which it would. One reason they put the dark insulation under the hood is to soak up the heat, not to reflect it.
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 3,939
Likes: 14
From: Baltimore Md.
I was interested in this but thought it might get scratched easily. Also, is your underside of the hood painted as nice as the outside? Mine isn't and I don't think that would look good. I've replaced that insert in the upper right corner of the hood many times because it scratches so easily. I would think twice about buying this product even though it would look 
Good luck! 
Good luck!
Le Mans Master
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 6,038
Likes: 3
From: Charlotte North Carolina
Originally Posted by tiojames
One reason they put the dark insulation under the hood is to soak up the heat, not to reflect it.
I know that dark colors absorb more light, therefore heat, than lighter shades, but none of that is an issue under the hood where there is no light. Further, I understand that some materials will reflect heat (not just light, but heat) while others tend to diffuse it much more effectively. When you talked about using dark colored insulation under the hood...I am not sure how it makes any difference. It seems that any underhood insulation which has identical composition and structure should be equally effective, regardless of color. Then again, I am not an engineer or scientist, etc...
Thanks.
Last edited by Prosecutor; Sep 4, 2005 at 11:06 PM.
Safety Car
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 3,802
Likes: 0
From: monroeville pa
St. Jude Donor '04-'05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13
I just wanted to order just the chrome caps you know for the washer unit and the oil filler cap ,the power steering unit i should have no problems with buying those i dont want to spend the money to replace all the other things in the engine i did that a along time ago on my 75 vette that was when all the chrome parts were alot cheaper.Do all these caps last for a good long time?I also redid the retainers that hold the hoodliner on with the instructions from one of the forum members awhile back making them look like chrome now.I sure learn alot of good things from the forum members. 
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 3,939
Likes: 14
From: Baltimore Md.
Originally Posted by charlene
I just wanted to order just the chrome caps you know for the washer unit and the oil filler cap ,the power steering unit i should have no problems with buying those i dont want to spend the money to replace all the other things in the engine i did that a along time ago on my 75 vette that was when all the chrome parts were alot cheaper.Do all these caps last for a good long time?I also redid the retainers that hold the hoodliner on with the instructions from one of the forum members awhile back making them look like chrome now.I sure learn alot of good things from the forum members.
Thread Starter
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 30,055
Likes: 351
From: Big Red Ne
Originally Posted by doug doo wop
Never had any problems with the chrome caps, try "corvette engine covers" caps. The hoodliner retainers is a nice touch and should last forever; cheapest mod I ever did and looks great.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 842
Likes: 0
From: Murray KY
Cruise-In VII Veteran
I have some ss pieces made by kirban I think. They are scratched up like everyone else has said. I am going to eventually convert my ss pieces to chrome by http://www.creativeenginecovers.com/c5chrome1.html from what I have seen chrome will not scratch as bad as ss. You might want to save for a while and get the good stuff if you are serious about showing your car.
Just a suggestion,
Bob
Just a suggestion,
Bob
Thread Starter
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 30,055
Likes: 351
From: Big Red Ne
Originally Posted by bobdt173
I have some ss pieces made by kirban I think. They are scratched up like everyone else has said. I am going to eventually convert my ss pieces to chrome by http://www.creativeenginecovers.com/c5chrome1.html from what I have seen chrome will not scratch as bad as ss. You might want to save for a while and get the good stuff if you are serious about showing your car.
Just a suggestion,
Bob
Just a suggestion,
Bob