I just bought a 2012 Scion tC, it has a little over 127k miles and runs great. The only thing at the moment I want to do is spruce up the engine bay because it is dirty and lacking color.
When I went to do this though I came across a few questions that I’m hoping someone can help me answer.

1. Can I disconnect the battery? On my old 2005 Monte Carlo SS the car had a system that if the battery was disconnected it would completely lock up the car.
Does the Scion have any features like this? or can I just disconnect the battery and get to cleaning..

2. The engine has 2 covers on it; a heat shield covering the front portion of the engine (#1 in photo) and a portion under the spark plugs (#2 in photo) that I assume covers the engine internals.

Is it okay remove these pieces? And is it okay to paint them with high heat resistant spray paint?


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You can disconnect the battery whenever you want. Been a while but I think it shuts off immediately the first time you start it after reconnecting it, but will run normally afterwards.

It is a bit of work to do, but you can remove the valve cover to paint or powder. If you do this, make sure you have spare gaskets before you do it and swap them out to avoid leaks. It gets retightened to 10-15ft/lbs. If the plugs are original it wouldn't be a bad time to change them as well. I forget the gap but you should be able to find it without much trouble. This car uses Iridium plugs. If you remove this, make sure to cover the exposed valvetrain so you to do not get moisture or contamination.

The exhaust manifold heat shield just bolts on, you can do whatever you want to that without much worry just make sure you use high heat paint.

I had my valve cover, strut bar and intake all powdered Wet Charcoal (and cleared with Cerakote) and it looks so much cleaner under the hood. For a mostly stock application I'd probably stick to black just to clean it up without trying to make non-flashy parts flashy. (old pic below, but looks so much better cleaned up)

 

If you want to 'Kick It Up a Notch' you can do a Contrasting or Bold Color. Or for Uniqueness, You can Take it to The Next Level. Whatever your Budget or Imagination Permits.

Yes, you can Disconnect your Battery at any time with no problem. Your #1 is your Exhaust Manifold Heat Shield (Header Cover). Your #2 is your Intake Manifold (Valve Cover). Yes, both can be taken off and painted with High Temperature Paint.

However, Due to the High Temperatures my Daily Header Cover which was painted with a Copper Color High Temperature Paint deteriorated in 2 years. So, I took it to a Power Coating Shop and had it done in Beautiful Red.

The Other Pieces you see are my Custom Show Pieces, Custom Engine Cover, Custom Header Cover, Custom Cooling Plate (Radiator Cover), Custom TRD Cold Air Intake Cover, Custom Fuse Box are all Custom Made.


MR LUV

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Thank you so much! I really like your engine bay. Really clean.

 

Thank you so much for the info. Btw your Scion looks sick! I like the attention to detail; the bar that holds the battery in place being painted is meticulous asf.

 

Yeah, that @MR_LUV character pays some pretty good attention to detail...and it shows.