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Replacing the oem air intake with an aftermarket high-flow tubular air intake invariably means losing the oem engine cover. A 4-pot engine does not have the same visual appeal as a V6, V8, V12 etc, nor the appeal of their sound but that's a different story! Some of us are happy to leave the engine exposed - Doing so doesn't present any problems but a cover does offer some protection from weather splashing in and also does much to make the engine bay look a lot tidier. Okay, I know there are macho Phillistines amongst us who don't care about engine bay eye-candy.
Others of us prefer to have an engine cover but there aren't a lot of options on offer. One solution is to cut down the oem plastic cover and even go a few steps further and beautify it as Neil has so skillfully done : -
http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=11138.msg170827#msg170827Evoms offer a black finished aluminium engine cover but, if you can get hold of one, it has some shortfalls in its design. Hence I carried out some improvements which others may find useful.
The first shortfall is the hole through which you have to pass the MAF cable and Coolant bottle hose whenever you take on/off the Evoms cover. This means disconnecting both cable and hose and until you have unscrewed and partly moved the cover you can't even access the MAF connector! My solution to this is quite simple: Just take a fine hacksaw and open the 'O' to form a 'U' - Why couldn't the designers have thought of that.
^ This leaves a 'peninsular' for one of the fixing points but there are no stresses when fitted.
^ Recently it's been rightly pointed out that the coolant bottle hose (header return) could suffer from undue wear by being gradually cut by the metal Evoms cover (whether 'O' or 'U'). This could be potentially dangerous. The following two photos show a solution:
Another shortfall is the difficulty of fixing onto the existing engine bracket adjacent to the air intake and battery. That bracket gets very hot! So imagine you're out on a run and have to stop to check something out such as a coilpack and want to remove the engine cover. Apart from the physical difficulty of getting your fingers inside and under the cover to access the bolt, you could easily burn yourself.
So my solution has been to use a thermal metal-to-metal glue to secure stainless steel washers and threaded bolt (hex screw) so the bolt is permanently fixed and acts like a peg into the engine bracket. A rubber washer and stainless nut can be further used once the cover is fitted but I haven't found this necessary. The result is that I don't have to hurt or burn my fingers or drop nuts and bolts irretrievably down amongst the engine.
^ Threaded 'peg' on outer side, ready to offer as male to the female bracket.
^ Permanently glued hex screw on inner side to form a peg. This is on the inside under the cover - The area seriously difficult to access. If you are wondering why there are two large washers it's part of my necessary repair to restore a hole. The particular Evoms cover I was given had this area cut away but I don't understand why - Perhaps to slip over a loose nut and bolt already in the bracket and then tighten. This would avoid the difficult access problem but wouldn't be very secure as it could jump upwards if jolted and then start rattling.
Incidentally, with some of the aftermarket intakes and especially on cars with oem engine mounts and therefore plenty of movement, the bracket can break : -
The ITG intake has good fixing with a degree of cushioning from its many silicone hose sections. The Forge Twintake doesn't need to use the bracket : -
^ My Evoms cover with the Twintake and no nut fitted.
^ The Evoms cover just clears the Twintake filter cannister but there is no movement so no problem.
^ The cover has plenty of room for hoses etc to route.
I think the Evoms cover aesthetically looks much better with a centre strip and it does appear to be designed to have one, although Evoms have not provided any fixing method. In fact, much as I like their cover, it hasn't been properly thought through by its designers. It's as if it went straight from the drawing board to production and distribution without any testing. It's not helped by the fact that Regal are the main exclusive UK distributors - I ordered one at the very beginning of December and the order didn't come through until a few days ago. Perhaps it's down to Evoms themselves but it's frustrating. Fortunately GTIjames gave me one and I cancelled my order.
[With Special Thanks to forum members GTIjames and gillm]
January 2013 - GTI build # plaque added...............
