Back to the bay…
I didn’t think it would take long for me to return my focus on to the engine bay! As you may remember, over the winter months, I smoothed and repainted the engine cover, battery cover and manifold cover. Also finally fitting the 034 Motorsport catch tank, freshening up the S3 strut brace, replacing nuts and bolts and other odds and sods, I was really happy with the finished OEMish look, and hoped that would be that…
Here’s how it stands: Just to give you an idea where I'm at at present...
I’ve always had an itch over the S3/TT expansion coolant cover, but not so much the S3/TT battery cover. The itch has always stayed as just an itch because of the way it marries up to the Leon engine bay (with a curved gap that is quite noticeable). Also, I’ve never been keen on the size of the access opening for the expansion point itself, as it has a gap at the front for observation of coolant in the tank; purposeful but not aesthetically pleasing, IMO.
Here’s a picture of an OEM part to give you an idea, if you haven’t seen one before:
Recently, I was really impressed with Darren’s (D.K.) work on his cover, where he expanded out to fit flush to the edges of the Leon engine bay. He also covered the windscreen washer cover point too. It looks really good but I’m still not keen on the observation/access point for the expansion tank.
Time to scratch the itch…
I’ve been looking for a second hand S3/TT expansion tank cover for some time, but without success. A new part is roughly 80 squids and that’s a little too much for a part that I would be butchering, IMO.
So… I know a guy named Rob who does loads of work with acrylic Perspex. He’s making me a piece of Perspex sized 1000mm by 400m with a 100mm internal upstand; basically a 90 degree bend creating a 100mm lip. I should have this by midweek.
I plan to cut this down to size, following the edges of the engine bay, to make a cover for the expansion tank, power steering tank, carbon canister and washer tank (mimiking all the good points of the S3/TT cover). Working with Perspex, I’ll be able to use heat to create inverted bumps leading to circular holes for the R8 expansion cap and Forge power steering cap. I won’t be making an access point for the washer bottle, as the larger washer bottle used on the S3/TT doesn’t fit the Leon’s set up so easily, and so the standard washer bottle would sit quite a lot lower than the level of the cover.
Once fitting perfectly, it’ll be sprayed the same as the other engine covers, hopefully achieving the appearance of an OEMish cover that has always been there… We’ll see. Not seen it done before and I like the ‘trial and error’ approach. Another fingers crossed moment...
Off to Edition 38 tomorrow, where I'm gonna try a buy some pressed plates, if I still like the look of them in person. Hoping that the sun will be with us
Really looking forward to it.
Thanks for reading.