7 Tips for Customizing Your Engine With a Dress-Up Kit

A good car is a huge investment, and it’s one you want to make the most of. That’s why many people prefer to spice up their vehicle and improve how it looks by dressing it up. While you can do a lot to change the outside of your car, you can go further by focusing on your engine bay. Read through these tips to help you customize your engine with a dress-up kit. Start With Cleaning The first thing you should do is clean your engine and the whole bay. You want to start with a clean canvas when you start making your changes so that you can make everything look as good as possible. Wash the various parts and detail the engine when necessary. Covering Things Up When dressing up your engine, you’ll quickly discover there’s only so much you can do to make it look good while remaining functional. Many dress-up kits will use covers to hide away the parts in your engine bay that aren’t as fancy. These covers are vital for achieving a good-looking engine, and you’ll need a variety of them to create the aesthetic you’re searching for. Take a look at some of the popular cover types and why you should use them. Belt Covers The belt of your engine needs space to move without interruption, which makes it difficult to improve or change. Your best bet is to invest in a belt cover that sits above the belt and grants your engine compartment a neater look. Engine Shrouds While some engines look amazing, factory models normally focus on function over form. Replacing an engine is expensive and difficult to do, which is why it’s easier to cover it up. While a new engine can come with many benefits, these engine shrouds are perfect for improving the looks of your vehicle without replacing your current parts. Header Plates The header of your car can get quite ugly with time. Header plates sit on the header to make it look as polished as possible, preventing the header from ruining the look of your car. Valve Covers Valve covers are an important part of your engine, as they help your engine run smoothly by maintaining the engine pressure. However, they’re extremely visible to anyone looking at the engine bay and can have a big impact on your car’s appeal. You want to invest in a replacement cover if the visual of the valves takes away from your engine’s overall appeal. Supercharge Covers Some people like to invest in additional modifications to help boost the power and speed of their vehicles. These supercharges are very functional, but they stick out and can negatively impact the look of your vehicle. New supercharger covers can help hide them without affecting performance. Lettering Your Engine Bay While covers are a great addition to your vehicle, you can still add in more to make it look better than ever. Lettering is an effective way to personalize your vehicle and add some personality to your engine bay. It’s an easy addition, as you only need to stick these letters onto your vehicle to create whatever words or designs you want on your vehicle. Seeing Your Engine One of the big mistakes people make when dressing up their engine is failing to show it off. While you can spend all this money to make your engine bay look good, your investments only matter if people see them. Think about installing a window cover over your engine bay so that others can see your work when you’re driving. Replacing Small Parts People often look to replace the larger parts of their engine bays to make big, sweeping changes. However, the small parts in your engine are just as important to the looks of your car. In fact, using old parts to hold a shiny new cover in place can detract from the look of your vehicle as a whole. Dress-Up Bolts The bolts inside your car are always visible when looking in your engine bay, and bad bolts can ruin the look of your bay. Fortunately, it’s easy to get new bolts that look newer and match the look of your engine. Switching to steel or titanium bolts can make your engine look amazing, and these metals are stronger than most factory bolts. Dipstick Handles The dipstick of your car is another part that people forget to update, but a cheaply-made dipstick handle can really detract from the look of your engine. Although your dipstick handle may seem like a small part, it’s easy to spot from far away, which is why it’s worthwhile to invest in a higher-quality handle. Mounting Different Parts One of the best ways to dress up your engine is to lift the big parts of your bay. Mounting your battery and lifting your engine can give you more space and make the best pieces stand out. Most people focus on lifting their engines to make them more prominent and to create more space to fit other modifications, but the battery is another beneficial part to lift. Organizing Beforehand One of the most important tips for customizing your engine with a dress-up kit is to plan things out beforehand. You don’t want to purchase parts only to learn that they don’t fit together or work in your engine bay. Most of the time, a dress-up kit is a wise purchase because it will match the model of your car, ensuring everything works. For example, there’s a kit for Subaru WRX engine dress-up that’ll make your vehicle look great and fit if you don’t use other parts. Subaru STI kits are also available. Dressing up your engine will make your car look that much better and help you get more out of your investment. If you’re replacing factory parts, you can easily improve the performance of your car at the same time. Change up the look of your vehicle by giving the engine compartment a sleeker look that matches your ride’s personality.