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Did you ever notice how much room the engine bay of a '65 Chevy has?


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I used to have a 65 Chevy pickup and you could near about get in the engine bay and work with no problems, I have a friend who had a Chevy Monza with a 350 and he had to take in to the dealership to get plugs changed and they actually had to loosen the engine from the motor mounts and lift the motor slightly to do the job, they don't make em like they used to!! :o

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I can see the top of the engines in my '00 and '11 cars...but really can't see much around them, though. On the Cadillacs, that is partially due to underhood panels that cover the dirty bits. Some of the Jeep engine is visible. On my vintage '87 Mustang GT I can see a lot of the engine and a bit of the ground..

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In my younger days I always had more than enough beers on hand to last an Armageddon. At one point I had a 73 Camaro SS RS. When I popped the hood my first thought was "I could fit a "2-4" (Canadian term) between the rad and the grill.

That's when I started to think that I might have a drinking problem.

Bob

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I used to have a 65 Impala convertible, 283 small block w/power glide. It was Canary yellow with black top and interior. Also had a red 69 Chevelle with a 307/power glide at the same time. Both cars were easy to work on I could literally climb in the engine comp.(I'm 6ft tall) if I had to. Those were the days, now you can barely fit your hand anywhere under the hood.

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Yes and all those plastic covers look cool but it must be a pain to work on them.

I wonder what the real reason for those plastic engine covers is. My cynical mind tells me they're put in place to make the engine seem inaccessible and mysterious to the owner, and maybe "force" the owner to take the car back to the dealer for everything. I can't see any other logical reason to hide the engine under a cover.

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Best one I've seen is the early 70s Monte Carlos, they have a good two feet between the engine block and radiator!

Harry: they're used for both aesthetics and helping to reduce underhood noise into the cabin, they may also be used for pedestrian impact safety.

Edited by Jordan White
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I wonder what the real reason for those plastic engine covers is. My cynical mind tells me they're put in place to make the engine seem inaccessible and mysterious to the owner, and maybe "force" the owner to take the car back to the dealer for everything. I can't see any other logical reason to hide the engine under a cover.

Primarily sound deadening, I would think. They don't bother me as I have a good repair shop I take my older cars to and the dealer is just down the street for the '11 (less than a mile away).

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I wonder what the real reason for those plastic engine covers is. My cynical mind tells me they're put in place to make the engine seem inaccessible and mysterious to the owner, and maybe "force" the owner to take the car back to the dealer for everything. I can't see any other logical reason to hide the engine under a cover.

The same reason they make you use special tools - or ANY tools, really - to access the AIR CLEANER!! Why do you need four star screws, located in realtively inaccessible areas, to hold the plastic cover on the air cleaner? So you don't check it, so the Auto Tech can charge to look at it.

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The same reason they make you use special tools - or ANY tools, really - to access the AIR CLEANER!! Why do you need four star screws, located in realtively inaccessible areas, to hold the plastic cover on the air cleaner? So you don't check it, so the Auto Tech can charge to look at it.

Exactly.

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I wonder what the real reason for those plastic engine covers is. My cynical mind tells me they're put in place to make the engine seem inaccessible and mysterious to the owner, and maybe "force" the owner to take the car back to the dealer for everything. I can't see any other logical reason to hide the engine under a cover.

I think you're correct. I can't even find the spark plugs on our '08 Sonata. When I had my '67 Fury wagon with the 318, I could sit on the fenderwell with my sneakers on the exhaust manifold to futz around under the hood. Man, that distributor was waaaaaaaay back there. But my '89 Spirit turbo had everything right up front- plugs, distributor, oil filter- and enough room to actually use the correct tools! That car was easy to work on.

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Don't think so. They can do that with the pad on the underside of the hood. Besides, plastic isn't a particularly good sound insulator. I'm sticking with my "cynical" explanation. :D

They can, but you don't see the underhood pad much anymore. And if you look on the underside of the cover, it's not just plastic. There's insulation material there as well. If you think about it, it's much quicker to stick a cover over the engine on the assembly line compared to attaching a pad to the hood with several clips.

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