Kuroi_Tora
Bought an X
- Location
- West Texas/Southern New Mexico
Ok, as y'all know, i'm finally able to start slow restoration/repair work on the xTardis building up to the final custom paint job i want to get. I'll have paint questions by winter for a certain person who did amazing when she painted the hell out her X! I like the idea of painting the seats, too. But....
My kid and i were checking for parts crawling O'Reilly's, AutoZone, Pep Boys, etc when he asked me a question that left me stunned. He asked "why do people chrome their engines?" Now the kid is bright with an amazing mind. I started with the usual "for the bling and to more easily locate leaks and such" response. He looked at me, with this look he gets when he's really thought it through, and asked "so, why not just keep the engine clean? And why don't professional racers do it"? I realised then that i hadn't really thought of that since playing on my old 67 Mustangs in high school or any of my buddies cars back in the 80's.
So, help me answer him well. Why -do-people bling it up with chrome, braiding, colour, etc under the hood and around the chassis? Other than for looks, i mean. I can see a colour scheme to separate systems (blue for cooling, red for fuel, black for vacuum, etc) but for sheer functionality? How/why did it come about and what's its purpose?
My kid and i were checking for parts crawling O'Reilly's, AutoZone, Pep Boys, etc when he asked me a question that left me stunned. He asked "why do people chrome their engines?" Now the kid is bright with an amazing mind. I started with the usual "for the bling and to more easily locate leaks and such" response. He looked at me, with this look he gets when he's really thought it through, and asked "so, why not just keep the engine clean? And why don't professional racers do it"? I realised then that i hadn't really thought of that since playing on my old 67 Mustangs in high school or any of my buddies cars back in the 80's.
So, help me answer him well. Why -do-people bling it up with chrome, braiding, colour, etc under the hood and around the chassis? Other than for looks, i mean. I can see a colour scheme to separate systems (blue for cooling, red for fuel, black for vacuum, etc) but for sheer functionality? How/why did it come about and what's its purpose?