I have to throw my vote in for you venting your own hood. I know you can paint, and i know you can work with sheet metal....

whats stopping you? no one can ever make a hood that looks the way you envision it in your head... except you

 

So you are drawing air from the engine bay and ducting it to the front ?
I guess it only helps at low speeds ?

 

I kinda got over "vented" hoods when the Z31 300ZX went out of production in 1989.

No. I opened up a vent on that side of the front sheet metal like the one that comes with the VFAD.
There is a "pusher" fan under the mini-rad, so air is drawn in from the bumper and pushed up into the engine bay.

 

Heat is better when ducted away...lameness aside...

Function over form damnit!!

 

You are confusing Danes with Germans.
Danes do it the other way around.

 

so with this setup you can give it s**t on high boost a 109F day and be ok ? Your main rad. is stock right ?

 

time to paint/PC all that sheet metal.

 

Main rad is OE.

Normally on 105°F+ days, once I get up to speed, if I get on it, a few seconds later the temps would quickly climb to 230°+.
Driving around, it was all I could do to keep the temps below 220°F with light throttle and low revs (below 3k, which I HATE).

I went driving around a bit today (maybe 15 - 20 miles of mixed road and highway). Its 109°F in my neighborhood right now.
Driving in the 4k range (my normal cruising revs), temps varied from 190° - 205°.
"Slumming" it in the 3k range like before sent the temps below 190°!
If I stood on it for a few gears, the temps started to climb up to 215° - 217°. As soon as I let off, they immediately fell back down to <210°F and then below 200° after a few more seconds! Before, I couldn't stand on it at all in these conditions without the temps taking off.
I need to get on the highway and maintain 80+MPH to see if it creeps or not.

Uh, no.
I like bare aluminum. Eventually, everything under there will be bare aluminum.

 

You may be underestimating your mod. That's a fairly elegant solution and the only "hard" part might be fabricating the shroud and whatever mounting you came up with for the battery relocation. For someone in these HOT areas, especially those who've already gone ahead with performance mods, this seems very reasonable. Worthy of a DIY, at least.

Any thoughts on whether the tranny cooler will be ok long-term carrying water-based coolant?

 

Should last forever. Its furnace-brazed aluminum, so its essentially a radiator like every other.
Its rated to 200 PSI, so I can't imagine it failing.

 

interesting project MM

 

Are you making one for my car? I know, I know ,,, make it your self.
Just driving home a few minutes ago from work, which is 3.2 miles. I saw the engine temp climb to 221. Lugging along like an old lady. It is about 111 over hear right now.



I feel sorry for all you people that don't get to enjoy this beautiful weather we have here in Arizona. You don't know what your missing.

If you really want to feel what the temps are like here in AZ. Here is something I tell my out of town friends to do before they come down here for a visit.
Take a Blowdrier for your hair, put it on HIGH and place it about 6 inches away from your face. Pointing at your face of course.
This will give you an idea of what it would be like to stick your head out the window at 40 mph.
Go ahead give it a try.

 

Its raining now, so add a hot, wet blanket to that hairdryer.

 

ughh thats nasty... raining at over 100 degrees.... ughh

makes me think of memphis where its upper 90's and 95% or better humidity all summer long

 

then might I suggest reading http://www.submarineboat.com/

lots of good DIY info on casting and working with aluminum... and it's just a neat website

 

heh - I remember that when I was there years ago . We had an F100 truck with no AC . We tried driving with windows down but had to put them back up because it was like being in a blast furnace

 

We cross a point around here - I think its about 101° or maybe a touch less - where sticking your hand out the window makes it hotter instead of cooler.
I'm sure it has something to do with latent heat and such, but it is a noticeable transition.
One day you are driving around with the windows down and the next you aren't.

 

It does when you have a K&N intake.

 

That was my first though when I stepped of the plane 13 years ago when I moved here.

Feels like I just walked into a hair dryer. Great

 

ah,

i get it now.. thx for that splanin! and it escapes from the rear of the hood?


beers

 

It escapes however the heat from the regular rad escapes.
The back edge of the hood, around the motor, out the side vents and wheel wells, etc.

I was shooting temps with my laser thermo after some hard runs (and maxed out my displayed temps at 217°F) and got some interesting readings.

The thermostat housing was 217°, but the new mini-rad was 220° where there is no fan and 210° where there is; the stock rad was only 207°. (I need to get a bigger fan on the new rad. The one I'm using is only 6" and only covers about half or less of the surface area. I'll pick up a 10" PermaCool next week.)
Oil coolers were 195° on the left and 180° on the right.
The keg was about 207° for the most part as well.
Alternator was 245°F!

Under the same conditions last week, all of those temps would have been 10° - 20° higher with a displayed temp of 230°F.

 

Fantastic add on to your cooling system Jeff...I've been curious as to what you were working on since you mentioned the idea.

Let me know if you need any extra "ballast" in the car for testing purposes!

 

sorry if i was to evasive.

you are still doing the hood mod, the one that does not work?

i am so glad i dont fight the h2o temps, but i fight the under hood issues!

between the lines.

beers

 

Yes. And it still "doesn't" work perfectly.

Under hood only matters if it goes into the motor.

 

it seems to make my coils angry. heat soak...

beers