pics of fuse block wiring cover

[boatpuller]

some members have been intrested in pics of my fuse block wiring cover.when you get to the stage of firewall clean up.you get focused on that ugly wiring mess coming out of the back of the fuseblock,it's hard to get it covered and nobody makes anything that i've ever seen.so,i came up with this from an old heater duct deflector.it looks better than the pics show.i'm not totally sold on it,it kinda looks like a house clothes dryer vent.but you really don't notice it unless your staring at it.it is factory 79 plastic so it isn't to bad.i'd like to see other ideas? (sorry about pic quality on close ups.)

[Restrorob]

Looks good to me, Much better than all the wires. What did the donated heater duct come off of ?

[Srubydo1986]

cool idea going to have to do that to my chevelle and my truck.

bent aluminum might be a cool idea too.
But make it a bloc with holes in it so it more of a block then a cover. then put a emblem or somethink on it to make it more show worthy them ploish it to no end tell it shines like chrome.

[benoit454]

Agreed it does look nice.

I think it's an old ac duct from a 73-87 truck with ac, looks like a duct I had to remove on our 86 to get the heater box out from the inside to change heater cores.

Am I seeing it correctly though, you removed the wiper motor/pump all together?

[Srubydo1986]

thats a wierd break set up there my old dually had it but i never knew how it worked. Any ideas soryfor high jack just curious

[Restrorob]

That's Hydro-boost, They used it on diesel and larger trucks. It is operated off the power steering pump.

[Srubydo1986]

does it work any better then normal stuff. My dully was only a 350 with a granny tranny 2wd nothing to special but it had it.

[bigblock79]

that is the best booster there is and if you run big cams you need it

[boatpuller]

Originally Posted by benoit454

Agreed it does look nice.

I think it's an old ac duct from a 73-87 truck with ac, looks like a duct I had to remove on our 86 to get the heater box out from the inside to change heater cores.

Am I seeing it correctly though, you removed the wiper motor/pump all together?

right on...79 duct..it isn't the greatest,but it looks better than a bunch of crappy wires.when you see the whole engine bay,it really does just fade in and look like it supposed to be there.only real chevy truck nuts like us would know the difference.as for the wiper motor/pump...it's gone...it never rain's around here.

[boatpuller]

Originally Posted by bigblock79

that is the best booster there is and if you run big cams you need it

exactly,i kicked around the idea of switching to a booster.but i love my brakes

[Ivan D.]

Originally Posted by bigblock79

that is the best booster there is and if you run big cams you need it

I agree, as a matter of fact most new trucks now are hydroboosted, well most Chevys at least. The beauty of it is that it doesn't care what working condition yer engine is, as long as it's turning you'll have brakes. Also it is much more responsive than the typical vacuum-assisted power brakes, and it feels more powerful too.

Boatpuller, my truck originally came with manual brakes and I was thinking about keeping them, but with 32s in the front and 33s in the rear I'd have no chance of stopping fast even if my life depended on it. I currently have only the front brakes hooked up, but even with the big tires the truck stops much much better than the manual brakes with 26" diameter wheels.

[knightlife]

I'll see what I can do with custom molding some fiberglass pieces...no garuntees on it tho! lol...

I'll draw them up like Im doing my dash (6x9's in the dash say wha!!!!)

[boatpuller]

Originally Posted by knightlife

I'll see what I can do with custom molding some fiberglass pieces...no garuntees on it tho! lol...

I'll draw them up like Im doing my dash (6x9's in the dash say wha!!!!)

that would be cool,seems like alot of guys interested in covering that up.

[knightlife]

my scanner broke...so I will have to find a kinko's or something of that nature in the north charleston area lolz.

[jr2]

Damn fine job there Boat! I think I am going to kinda of duplicate what you have there in a hunk of aluminum for my truck. Just a piece of 18ga. Pretty soft stuff (annealable maybe) and just hammer form it. I'll drop pics in here when I am done.

Wish I could have had that hydroboost in the 78. I have it on my 2000 1 ton. Love that Hydroboost!!! I think I am going to install it in my '43 Flatfender as well.

[boatpuller]

look forward to seeing it.i'm kinda suprised nobody makes one for restro use.alot of people seem like there intrested. come up with a good one and get rich...............ya never know

[garysouthlake]

Thanks for the idea as I'm trying to clean up my firewall also............

[benoit454]

I think hiding everything really cleans thing up alot.

It may be a real PITA to get in remove and work on something depending on how fancy and complicated said cover or hidden device may be, but I think if you are looking at doing something like that, it's worth it to know how clean it looks with it in place.

I like when people hide their wiring and hoses and all that, if you staright adding amps, and other electrical things it turns into a spider web pretty quick. I've always tried to hide most of my work as well, like amp power wires and alarms and/or alarm wiring.

Mine sure doesn't look as clean as yours with the booster in there, because I hardly realized you could see that fuse box and all it's mess that easy.

You talk about it blending in, I bet us vacuum booster guys it would blend in extremely well since it's not such a visual area behind there.

I also love how a non a/c heater setup really cleans things up alot. That's why I loved my 76 and love this 84, factory NON A/C. Where I'm at you GOTTA have a heater, and wipers. At least heat for sure in case they fog up on ya.

[jr2]

Chris..

I too have always liked a "clean" engine compartment. You can see in the pic (not quite done yet & still dusty from the shop)

I have rerouted most of the original harness out through the fenders and hidden it under the radiator/core support. The harness to the back of the engine now runs down over the trans hump. The power block is going to get it's own cleaning up/cover. If you look at the through/firewall connection you can see that I still need to ad some loom to cover the uglyness of the stock harness. Once i get it all finished and covered up I'll repost a pic.

[benoit454]

wow jr2 that looks great.

I'd like to do the very same thing, nice and clean.

[piecesparts]

I made my own out of aircraft aluminum and then bolted it to the firewall. I keep it polished to match the other shiney thngs in my truck.

[N2TRUX]

Y'all have my attention! I would love something simple to hide the ugly spot on my firewall...

[bigblock73]

Clean engine bays to me are simply awesome! Anyone can have a vehicle painted, bolt on all sorts of doo-dads, and chrome things out...but it is all in the details to me, spend the time and make things look nice or invisible.

My engine bay is not done, neither is the truck LoL, but so far I have shaved my firewall, hidden ALL my wiring, and mounted all the engine accessories down low..so when you open the hood, all you see is engine. I am going to try and route my plug wires under the headers, and have my own fuse block cover in the works, it will be made out of aluminum to match the other alum accessories on my truck. I'll post pics when I get it finished.

[boxrodz]

It doesn't look to bad, boatpuller. It does clean up the spagetti of wiring. One suggestion would be to run the wiring into the underside of the cover instead of through the sides to clean up the sides of the cover. (Between your "clothes dryer vent" cover and N2s "aardvark's" air cover, those images are ingrained in me. )

One idea is to push the fuse box all the way through to the interior side of the firewall and mount it with some spacers. Then, use some plate metal (to conceal the fuse box hole) with thru-holes/grommets for the wiring. It would depend on the amount of excess leads on the wiring to make it happen.

The molded fiberglass cover and the hammer/buck form aluminum cover both sound like good ideas.

I agree, that it's all in the details...

[boxrodz]

Originally Posted by jr2

Chris..

I too have always liked a "clean" engine compartment. You can see in the pic (not quite done yet & still dusty from the shop)

I have rerouted most of the original harness out through the fenders and hidden it under the radiator/core support. The harness to the back of the engine now runs down over the trans hump. The power block is going to get it's own cleaning up/cover. If you look at the through/firewall connection you can see that I still need to ad some loom to cover the uglyness of the stock harness. Once i get it all finished and covered up I'll repost a pic.

Looking real tight, jr2.