You're awning looks good, a nice use of an old hood.

It'll be interesting to see how the dye lasts. One of the biggest problems is the plastic is probably glass reinforced so it'll probably always looks dull in a short period of time.

You certainly like the details to be just right, how much OCD do you have;)

Jason

Gojeep have you looked into acetone smoothing? it's used to smooth and make shiney the dull surface of abs plastic, from a 3d print
btw love the awning!

I did try some acetone but sucked the plastic oils right out of it and made it look worse. It is very smooth as bought some buffing wheels and plastic polish, it was more that the colour changed the thicker the plastic was that I cut off. I'll see how this goes as can always have it sprayed satin black when time comes to painting everything.

http://willyshotrod.com/Willys2082.jpg
I was was very fortunate that I was given a set of stock fuel rails from a 6.1 SRT HEMI engine as they had changed them for a billet pair from a fellow Ozrodder member Choco. I did a trial fit and the only thing I needed to do was alter the bend an the end of left one in the picture. It was at 90* like the other side originally. Just placed it in a vice with soft jaws and carefully straighted out the bend as shown.

http://willyshotrod.com/Willys2083.jpg
They didn't come with the crossover fuel line so I cut mine off just each side of the barb. Even after softening it carefully with a heat gun, I couldn't pull it off the old rails. But my line was longer than I needed anyway so no problem. The line is nylon inside with a rubber feeling coating. I had to put the ends in a jug with the water boiling and quickly push it onto the barb that I had lubed with a bit of rubber grease. Held the rail in the vice so I could use both hands to force it on all the way. I added some single ear stainless hose clamps as well even though the factory didn't have them originally.

http://willyshotrod.com/Willys2084.jpg
Here you can see why I had to bend the end a bit so the line can pass by the end of the intake runner.

http://willyshotrod.com/Willys2085.jpg
The other side was fine and cleared. I had to put the whole line back into the boiling water to get it the flow around back of the intake as it is very stiff cold.

http://willyshotrod.com/Willys2086.jpg
So no crossover line anymore. I also got my coil covers back from the powder coaters and had them done in a Mystic Silver Hammer Tone. I didn't want to look like I was pretending to have an early HEMI, so this gives it a modern twist and has both the silver and black colours they came in.

http://willyshotrod.com/Willys2087.jpg
The hammer tone also hides the rust pitting that was left too and this colour choice allows me to leave the intake unpainted as well. Hence why the recent effort into making them look alright without paint. The chrome rails are subtle enough not to be in your face and fit with the stainless acorn nuts and screws that hold the covers in place.

http://willyshotrod.com/Willys2088.jpg
Want to cover what is left after I plastic welded the fan/radiator support together. This was damaged in the accident that wrote off the donor Grand Cherokee. Be good to rid the area of some more plastic as well.

http://willyshotrod.com/Willys2089.jpg
Found some old tin that will be good enough for the job. I mainly free handed a 'W' in the same style as the one embossed into the factory tailgate.

http://willyshotrod.com/Willys2090.jpg
Using the art dies that came with this Eastwood roller. Strangely they are slightly too narrow so that the end bolts don't have pressure on them. Only then relying on the grub screw which I don't like. I found the bosses from old 5" and 9" cutoff and grinding wheels have the right diameter to make good spacers.

http://willyshotrod.com/Willys2091.jpg
I was going to add the 'O' behind the 'W' as well but quite like the simplicity of this. I didn't have a bead die small enough for the bead lines each side, so used the art dies for them as well. You just have to turn the piece around and run back over itself again to do the other side of the forming the bead. I also put a joggle in along one edge so some pinch rubber sat closer to flush and stiffened up the edge as well.

http://willyshotrod.com/Willys2092.jpg
As I didn't do any pre-stretching, I had to do it post rolling. It is too hard to judge the perfect amount of stretch you need anyway before hand. I hammered each side of the bead work as well as from the other side using a bolster to get the stretch it needs to have it all sitting flat and without any twisting.

http://willyshotrod.com/Willys2093.jpg
Just hammered the screw driver to stretch around the 'W' and round the ends of the beads etc.

http://willyshotrod.com/Willys2094.jpg
Think it looks better than the damaged plastic and adds a little styling touch while tidying up the area.

http://willyshotrod.com/Willys2095.jpg
Not sure if I will have it painted satin black like the rest of the engine bay, from the pinch weld down on the firewall, or do it body colour? But for now at least, everything is pretty much done in the engine bay as everything has been wired and plumbed too, as far as I know.

Wow, I can't believe you just did that freehand... love it.

Sent from my SM-N975F using Tapatalk

The W looks bloody good. I originally though satin black but I reckon body colour may be the go as it will be a bit of initial bling when you lift the hood.