Easy 5lbs out of your engine bay.

[Wonderbar]

Gents,



So I was poking around today seeing what pointless brackets or random things I could pull out of the engine bay, when the black stamped steel covers for the fuel rails made eye contact.



Each one is held on my two 12mm bolts, one on the front and one on the rear. These seem to serve absolutely no structural purpose other than to protect the rails from clumsy mechanics dropping hammers.



The passenger side one does hold up the injector controller, but I've got an easy, cheap and DIY solution.



If you have a drill, a grinder and something to cut a straight line in aluminum with, all you need is some 1/2 x 3/4 aluminum "L" bracket. You can get this in a 5 foot length from Home Depot. You'll also need a 1.5 inch bolt and lock nut. I can make these if you cannot make it yourself.



I'm still working on my write up for the vortech supercharger tear down, I'll do a detailed one for this once I'm done with that.

[Lawnik]

I was thinking about doing this as well when I had them off for the SC install. Good idea for the bracket.

I wonder about the insulation though?

[Rayme]

They are noise insulator.

[Wonderbar]

Originally Posted by Lawnik

I was thinking about doing this as well when I had them off for the SC install. Good idea for the bracket.

I wonder about the insulation though?

The drivers side bracket is much closer to the rail, my guess is shock absorber. Doesn't make sense to insulate the side that doesn't have a computer attached to it, but not insulate the side that does.

[Wonderbar]

Originally Posted by Rayme

They are noise insulator.

That makes sense.

[Jyn]

Wouldn't steel covers for the fuel rail system be important in a front end collision?

[XanRules]

That's the Flux Capacitor, dude. Put it back.

[Wonderbar]

Originally Posted by Jyn

Wouldn't steel covers for the fuel rail system be important in a front end collision?

Not really.

[mid_life_crisis]

Originally Posted by Wonderbar

I'm looking at this picture and imagining how long it would be before my wife stopped ripping into me for putting crap from my engine on her food scale.

What is the container in the upper left with the shapely legs and "A good gift for bad people" logo?

[Wonderbar]

Originally Posted by mid_life_crisis

I'm looking at this picture and imagining how long it would be before my wife stopped ripping into me for putting crap from my engine on her food scale.

What is the container in the upper left with the shapely legs and "A good gift for bad people" logo?

Hahaha that's my special edition Sailor Jerry's bottle of rum.

The food scale is easy, I'll look for the pictures of when I had the dishwasher full of parts when I was stripping the paint off of them. Hahaha

[Travisty75]

Originally Posted by Jyn

Wouldn't steel covers for the fuel rail system be important in a front end collision?

Originally Posted by Wonderbar

Not really.

Subaru implemented this setup in their cars a while back. First cars I remember seeing them in are the WRX, so 2002. They are referred to as the Green Brackets of Death, simply because those versions on the EJ205 were a bish to remove.

They are there for side impacts, and protect the otherwise exposed injectors from a hard bonk. In the worst case and without those brackets, you'd spill raw fuel on a hot motor/exhaust.

With that being said, they were an item quickly removed and never reinstalled just because of the headache they provided with removal/reinstallation.

[spitfire481]

just make sure that ecu is properly grounded out and you dont just zip tie it in there somewhere. that ecu is grounded through that bracket. i zip tied my ecu unit to the rear brace to start the car after i put new port injectors in so i could check for leaks. yeah, that turned into a 2 day nightmare trying to figure out why the car would not run. bolted that bracket back in and bolted the ecu to it and problem solved.

[Turdinator]

Originally Posted by Travisty75

...They are there for side impacts, and protect the otherwise exposed injectors from a hard bonk. In the worst case and without those brackets, you'd spill raw fuel on a hot motor/exhaust....

Those are the direct injector rails aren't they? Fuel spraying into the engine bay at 5000psi after a side collision would be an interesting experience.

Originally Posted by spitfire481

just make sure that ecu is properly grounded out and you dont just zip tie it in there somewhere. that ecu is grounded through that bracket. i zip tied my ecu unit to the rear brace to start the car after i put new port injectors in so i could check for leaks. yeah, that turned into a 2 day nightmare trying to figure out why the car would not run. bolted that bracket back in and bolted the ecu to it and problem solved.

Great info here, thank you.

Originally Posted by Wonderbar

Gents...

Have you noticed much, if any, extra injector noise after removing these?

[continuecrushing]

Nice, quick and easy weekend project!