The week off over Christmas was spent cleaning and lining the engine bay. Various electrical components need to sit near the motor, so its a good idea to seal off the compartment to the elements. To make sure everything fit, I arranged it all onto a sheet of styrofoam (photo below), then used it as a template to cut out a sheet of marine ply - its cheap and strong. Hopefully the several layers of varnish, plus bitumen paint on the underside will keep it weatherproof.

Shaping the panel was a job, but it fit together nicely. The cooling air duct at the back of the engine compartment is perfect to mounting the CPU cooler (for chilling the batteries and inverter). Hopefully the engine bay will get plenty of airflow to help keep the motor a bit cooler.