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Changing out engine cover

5K views 28 replies 8 participants last post by  Treetopflyer 
#1 ·
I ordered a carbon fiber engine cover. It hasn’t arrived yet, but since my car is stored for the winter I thought I’d take this time to start prepping for it’s arrival and removed the engine cover. I need to reuse the felt liner and aluminum grille for the new cover. Does anyone know a good method for removing the silver discs holding them in place?
 

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#2 · (Edited)
I used a very small flat headed screw driver to pry those clips loose. When you go to replace the clips you’ll find some of the pins on your carbon cover are too short (if you bought the Koshi carbon cover) and the clips for those won’t bite on the pins. In those cases simply put the clips on upside down and you’ll have better success. None of my clips have detached when replaced. It’s a fairly tedious task (removing and replacing the felt and clips) but worth the effort.
 
#4 ·
I echo ALFANut's comments. Use a small flat screw driver to pry up the corners of the clips and they come right off. Note that there are a bunch of them AND just when you think you have all of them....there are an equal number below the insulation you also have to remove. He is also right that there may be a couple of pins that are on the shorter side....I just thinned out the felt at those locations.

MOST IMPORTANT.....some of us including myself found that the metal pins on the new carbon fiber cover could use some more reinforcement where they attach to the CF. If you don't do this now you will have to take it all apart and redo it after doing the reinforcement as some of the pins come loose. I had about 2-3 of them that came loose (I think my mechanic pulled to hard when taking the cover off....I know pull it loose as I give it tot them....or just remove it and leave it at home until service is done).

It is very easy to reinforce....just get a bit of glass cloth and fast dry epoxy from you local hardware store....mix up a bit at a time and place around base of pins. Make sure you don't handle the glossy side of the cover with your epoxy spreading fools or fingers. I have had my cover for around 3 years and after reinforcing haven't had any come loose.

The 4 rubber grabbers that hold the cover in place are also transferred from the old cover to the new. I found that if you remove them after warming with a hair dryer they are more pliable and easier to remove. Also....when removing the cover in the future pull up at each corner rather than trying to pull the entire assembly free at once. Removing the cover after the engine is hot also makes those grabbers more pliable.

Finally....you will love the look....really dresses up the engine compartment....especially if you have a couple which doesn't cover it up like on a spider. MAKE SURE YOU SAVE YOUR STOCK COVER SINCE SOME PEOPLE WOULD PREFER IT COMPLETELY STOCK WHEN YOU SELL IT DOWN THE ROAD.
Fantastic advice. Thanks!!
Looking forward to having it. I got the one off of madness that has the QF on it. Not sure who manufactures it.
Pics will follow when it’s done.
Thx again
Tom
 
#3 ·
I echo ALFANut's comments. Use a small flat screw driver to pry up the corners of the clips and they come right off. Note that there are a bunch of them AND just when you think you have all of them....there are an equal number below the insulation you also have to remove. He is also right that there may be a couple of pins that are on the shorter side....I just thinned out the felt at those locations.

MOST IMPORTANT.....some of us including myself found that the metal pins on the new carbon fiber cover could use some more reinforcement where they attach to the CF. If you don't do this now you will have to take it all apart and redo it after doing the reinforcement as some of the pins come loose. I had about 2-3 of them that came loose (I think my mechanic pulled to hard when taking the cover off....I know pull it loose as I give it tot them....or just remove it and leave it at home until service is done).

It is very easy to reinforce....just get a bit of glass cloth and fast dry epoxy from you local hardware store....mix up a bit at a time and place around base of pins. Make sure you don't handle the glossy side of the cover with your epoxy spreading fools or fingers. I have had my cover for around 3 years and after reinforcing haven't had any come loose.

The 4 rubber grabbers that hold the cover in place are also transferred from the old cover to the new. I found that if you remove them after warming with a hair dryer they are more pliable and easier to remove. Also....when removing the cover in the future pull up at each corner rather than trying to pull the entire assembly free at once. Removing the cover after the engine is hot also makes those grabbers more pliable.

Finally....you will love the look....really dresses up the engine compartment....especially if you have a couple which doesn't cover it up like on a spider. MAKE SURE YOU SAVE YOUR STOCK COVER SINCE SOME PEOPLE WOULD PREFER IT COMPLETELY STOCK WHEN YOU SELL IT DOWN THE ROAD.
 
#7 ·
Just to add my $0.02...

Be sure to place the cover(s) on a soft surface or lay down a microfiber cloth on the surface you are working with. Upon your frustration of removing (or reinstalling) the 85th clip, you dont want to scratch your brand new (or OEM) engine cover.

Use the pick tool or small flathead screwdriver to life up prongs on clips. Before reinstalling the clips, right side up or upside down, crush down the prongs *just enough* withe pliers or a Vise grip so the clip will sit tight on the peg. Yes. Some of the pegs will be shorter and you might have to turn the clips upside down. I think there were a few pegs that i was only able to get a majority, but not all, of the textile fabric to lay before reinstalling clips. I trimmed the fabric on those as I want to say it was outer upper pegs that were shorter.

For the rubber grommet engine mounts, I didnt think of heating them up like rkberta did. Having worked on my exhaust rubber grommets, i just sprayed some diluted soap water on the grommet and the rubber grommet will just sliiiiide out of the mount and slide into the CF engine cover.

Another precaution is you will have to relocate the metal grille part of the OEM engine cover. While working with the CF cover, just be careful not to let the CF surfaces be scratched up by the metal grille.

And lastly, the CF engine cover is much lighter and more pliable, for a lack of a better word for flimsy, lol. You cant just rough and tumble remove the engine cover any more. I dont know how strong the CF rubber grommer mounts are on the CF engine cover and did not want to find out the hard way. So when removing CF engine cover, i slide my index fingers and thumbs up under the front part of the cover to try to get as close to front grommets as possible and lift the front engine mounts off the grommet first. Be careful doing this as the engine cover will pop up and hit the boot lid. In the beginning, i placed a towel on top of the engine cover so if it did hit, no damage or scratches. Now, i know how much force to use to unseat the grommets without hitting boot lid. ;)

Then, with front grommets disengaged, i reach as far back as possible under the cover to get to rear grommets to unseat those carefully.
Whenever I take my car in for service, I ALWAYS remove the engine cover as I dont know if they will have to remove the engine cover and as much as I love and trust my Service Manager and Tech, I dont want to jeopardize my beautiful engine cover. :)

Btw, be careful to tactically seat your grommets on the engine mounts when putting on your engine cover back on. The metal grille will contact your beautiful and unscratched biletted oil filler cap if not careful. In the beginning, I removed my oil filler cap before placing the engine cover back on. Now, I know how to place he engine cover back on without scratching the oil filler cap. (Or maybe i know if it did scratch the cap, it will scratch it in the same place as the first time! Lol :). Oh well.....

Hope this helps....
 
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#8 ·
Just to add my $0.02...

Be sure to place the cover(s) on a soft surface or lay down a microfiber cloth on the surface you are working with. Upon your frustration of removing (or reinstalling) the 85th clip, you dont want to scratch your brand new (or OEM) engine cover.

Use the pick tool or small flathead screwdriver to life up prongs on clips. Before reinstalling the clips, right side up or upside down, crush down the prongs *just enough* withe pliers or a Vise grip so the clip will sit tight on the peg. Yes. Some of the pegs will be shorter and you might have to turn the clips upside down. I think there were a few pegs that i was only able to get a majority, but not all, of the textile fabric to lay before reinstalling clips. I trimmed the fabric on those as I want to say it was outer upper pegs that were shorter.

For the rubber grommet engine mounts, I didnt think of heating them up like rkberta did. Having worked on my exhaust rubber grommets, i just sprayed some diluted soap water on the grommet and the rubber grommet will just sliiiiide out of the mount and slide into the CF engine cover.

Another precaution is you will have to relocate the metal grille part of the OEM engine cover. While working with the CF cover, just be careful not to let the CF surfaces be scratched up by the metal grille.

And lastly, the CF engine cover is much lighter and more pliable, for a lack of a better word for flimsy, lol. You cant just rough and tumble remove the engine cover any more. I dont know how strong the CF rubber grommer mounts are on the CF engine cover and did not want to find out the hard way. So when removing CF engine cover, i slide my index fingers and thumbs up under the front part of the cover to try to get as close to front grommets as possible and lift the front engine mounts off the grommet first. Be careful doing this as the engine cover will pop up and hit the boot lid. In the beginning, i placed a towel on top of the engine cover so if it did hit, no damage or scratches. Now, i know how much force to use to unseat the grommets without hitting boot lid. /images/smilies/wink.gif

Then, with front grommets disengaged, i reach as far back as possible under the cover to get to rear grommets to unseat those carefully.
Whenever I take my car in for service, I ALWAYS remove the engine cover as I dont know if they will have to remove the engine cover and as much as I love and trust my Service Manager and Tech, I dont want to jeopardize my beautiful engine cover. /images/smilies/smile.gif

Btw, be careful to tactically seat your grommets on the engine mounts when putting on your engine cover back on. The metal grille will contact your beautiful and unscratched biletted oil filler cap if not careful. In the beginning, I removed my oil filler cap before placing the engine cover back on. Now, I know how to place he engine cover back on without scratching the oil filler cap. (Or maybe i know if it did scratch the cap, it will scratch it in the same place as the first time! Lol /images/smilies/smile.gif. Oh well.....

Hope this helps....
That $0.02 is worth a million bucks! Thanks @Docron. Stuff I’d never had thought of.
My learning curve with this car is pretty much vertical. Great having such a huge pool of great info.
Side note does anyone have pics of their CF engine cover so I can get a good idea of how crazy awesome it looks?
Cheers
 
#10 ·
Ahhhhhh! It’s finally here. Looks FANTASTIC!! (Thanks Eric at Madness!).
Also got the Sila hose.
Anyone have any tips for installing that bad boy?
 

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#13 ·
Here are the pegs. Not much holding them on. Plus it’s true- the cover is very thin, extremely light and very “flexible”. Seems very easy to damage. Notice the thickness difference between OEM and CF
Can’t wait to get it installed however
 

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#17 ·
So I removed the pins, felt and grille from the OEM cover. I’ll show a little DIY on how it works and how it looks if anyone ever is interested.
First I found by using 2 flat head screwdrivers I could effortlessly remove the circular clamps. I put one in a slit to hold it firm while with my other hand I carefully pried up 2 of the tabs. The clamp slid right off.
You need to remove all the top clamps. That allows you to remove the top layers of felt (3). Then under that was anotherfull set of clamps. That held the aluminum grille in place. Under the clamp and between the grille are small circular felt discs to buffer the space between the clamp and the grille. Once that layer of clamps are removed, you can remove the grille. Under the grille are white plastic spacer discs. They simply slide off and you can remove the last layer of felt.
Lastly I simply pulled out the rubber fittings for the engine. They were very easy to remove. A simple twist-and-pull.
Easy peasy!
 

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#18 ·
Don't remember if I mentioned this before....when removing the new CF engine cover, do NOT just grab the whole thing and yank hard on it as you may brake one or more of those tubes off and have to redo the whole thing to re-glue them. You will also notice that when the engine compartment is hotter, tose rubber grabbers on the engine cover will be more pliable and easier to remove the cover.

The correct procedure is to gently loosen each corner working from the corners closest to the rear of the car. Also when taking it in to dealer I recommend removing the cover and leaving it at home...that way you avoid damage and potential scratches as they work on the car.
 
#20 ·
Very good advice. I’ll definately remove it before service. Thanks for the solid tips.
its beautiful isn’t it. They do a fantastic job
Even though it is an unnecessary bit of bling I think it’s an absolute must have if you’ve got a Coupe, if that makes sense. It beats peering in through the rear hatch window and seeing a slab of black plastic. The carbon cover is more allied with the rest of the car.
agree. it is unnecessary for performance. The car is so beautiful the CF does really add to the look. Let’s face it- this car’s beauty is only equaled by its performance.
Such a nice touch.
 
#24 ·
Interesting development.
So while reinstalling the grille and felt into the new cover i noticed that most of the pins that are supposed to be short, are long. And some of the pins that SHOULD be very long are, indeed, very short. Which leads me to have to find a way to secure the felt to the short pins.... they don’t even poke up through the felt. They have to have put them in each other’s spot. There are 4 pins waaaay to long and 4 pins waaaaay too short
 

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#27 · (Edited)
I put the clips on the other way ‘round (so they appear concave when you view them) in order to get them to bite on the pins. This has worked and none have fallen off as of the last time I looked (in Sept of last year). Bloody annoying, since they’ve been aware of the issue for almost three years and done nothing to rectify it.
 
#25 ·
yep....they still haven't addressed that. Just remove a layer or two of the felt in those areas and it will make it work. I think they may have been putting in the pins in the opposite position they should have...front to back ;-) We have been talking about this ever since they first started selling these and still not corrected.
 
#26 ·
yep....they still haven't addressed that. Just remove a layer or two of the felt in those areas and it will make it work. I think they may have been putting in the pins in the opposite position they should have...front to back ? We have been talking about this ever since they first started selling these and still not corrected.
exactly. The front and back are mixed up
 
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