Alright I have started on my hood and I want to post pics but I am having a problem getting them on here..........Suggestions?

I didn't want to mess with that, thats why i just put up a link to my Flickr photos.

Ok here is a link for Myspace...I have an album on there for my car with pics of my functional louver


http://www.myspace.com/jketchie

Your profile is set to private

Ok I fixed the stupid privacy thing. Now you can view my pictures.

I still think that a vac-opperated unit would be great for racers. It would open up at higher RPM's, allowing the hot air to escape.
Though road racers might want to have it open all the time as there is less chance of them getting caught in rain.

Ya a vac operated system would be sweet. I haven't had any problems with mine in the rain. I even have an open element air filter. Even after a week of rain it still starts up fine.

Looked at your Myspace. Looks like its coming along really good, although I have to ask, How did you get your wife to work on your car also?!?!? lol

i am still trying to figure that out.....It happened once and I am trying for an encore....By the way she is a mechanic in the Air Force.

also with the plastic ones on mine i drilled little holes and that helps the air flow but what u have is a great idea go 4 it

Yea those look like there gonna be pretty sweet. Mine flow TONS of air. You can see the heat waves coming out when you stop at a light lol. The only thing I don't like is that they don't even look close to stock. But I like your idea. I never thought of that.

Its about as close to stock as it is gonna look. I am trying to make all my mods look as stock as possible.

I was sayin mine don't look stock. Not even from far away. Yours look awesome though. I bet you won't be able to tell that they are different until you get up close.

Thank you. Now I just need to make up my mind on whether I am going to leave the mesh plain like it is or paint it. It's galvanized gutter mesh that was like $20 at Lowes.

Hmm...I think I would probably paint them. But that's me. How did you cut the slots in the louvers? You've got me thinking now...uh oh lol.

I used a Dremel with metal cutting blades....It's slow going and you go thru alot of blades but hey gotta make do with what I have. On the plastic parts I just used another dremel blade but again it is slow going.As far as painting them ...I am going to have the top of the car black pearl so I don't know if i want to just paint the vents flat black or paint it to match the body....still thinking. Whatever I chose to paint it I should get some high temp. I posted some more pictures on myspace and I will be taking some more this weekend.

Oh I also am still pondering how to actually secure everything on the hood.I was thinking maybe some epoxy?

That would be cool to have it the same color as the top. I would do that instead of flat black. I really like those. I may have to redo mine. But the only person I know with a dremel helped me make the other ones. He probably wouldn't be to happy that I'm redoing them lol. But my birthday is this weekend so maybe I'll ask for one. Or just buy one when I get paid. But idk if I trust myself cutting on the original louvres lol. Oh well I'll just practice first. Those look so sweet. Idk why I like them so much. It's hard typing all that on an iPod lol.

I was thinking about doing this on my GTA's hood for a custom RAM air. I'm not sure if there's clearance.

i was thinking, maybe have louvers cut out like on the Earnhardt car but then then have a sliding piece of sheet metal with a gasket to put underneath when its about to rain.

Rain doesn't matter. Your engine bay is getting soaked by all the water coming through the radiator anyways...

Very true, I have an original '84 factory Z hood from a cross fire injected car that has the "plugs" removed. Water does enter through there, and does run into the modifed stock air cleaner, although it does run right out the 1/8" drain hole I drilled in there, although it would also run out of the unused breather filter hole as well. Never have a problem with water in anything sensitive, even after 2 hurricanes last year when my RS was parked outside. This hood has now been on my car for about 8 years, so figure it has been through 4-6 major hurricanes with no ill effects from water infiltration, your mileage may vary.

BTW, does anyone happen to know if 91-92 "bulges" would fit into or cover the indents in the 84 hood? I'm looking at this to fill in until I order the Cervini hood I have been wanting for the longest time.

Also, love the functional louvers keep up the good work guys.

Forgive me, as i've not had my hands on a pair of hood louvers in quite a while, but I remember them being a very thin plastic, and fragile to boot. Do they become really fragile once you have cut them like that ? Or is their someone selling new Louvers that I am just completely oblivious too? (which would be nice)

They are pretty fragile...It was slow going as I was cutting them. I broke the top part of one of them but was able to repair it with epoxy. Once they are mounted back on the hood they seem to be fine. I am sure if I were to take a hail stone to them they wouldn't last but then hail stones can tear up metal and I live in Arizona so not too much hail here anyway.

Here's my version of a functional stock hood.. using the 91-92 blister style hood.

http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/me...ml#post4118323 (My functional Z28 hood, pics in side)

Ive definetly been thinking about doing this to my louvers, but at about 150 a pop new, i mite have to reconsider. Even tho i do have a couple pairs of em, mite ave to expierement.

Has anyone attempted at making the two hood louvers on 4th gen camaros functional???

It would be nice to see the louvers open and close mechanically,attached to a small motor with a rod operated by a temperature sensor with a manual bypass.......now that would be quite the challenge!
I do like the idea of open louvers shown on this thread.

Actually temp controlled louvers with a manual bypass wouldn't be very difficult. I will sit down and draw some up on CAD tonight and post it here. The electrical would be the difficult part, but it shouldn't be too much of a challenge. A thermo-switch under the hood could detect the temp, send a signal through a relay to an electric servo motor to pull the operating rod. You could wire a bypass into the relay so flipping a switch inside would activate them as well. Once the temp drops to an acceptable level, the thermo-switch closes and the louvers close. I think a sliding panel under the louvers would be the simple way to open and close them, as the louvers themselves could remain fixed. You could also use a 3 position switch so your options would be: Closed, Auto, open. That way you can close them in the rain and not worry about it. Put it in auto for normal driving, and flip to open when you wish to have them stay open.

The electrical and mechanical are fine and not difficult. The challenge would be to fabricate the louvers out of aluminum(made tolook like factory louvers) with a rod attached that would open them with the servo motor (sort of an air intake louvered vent system in plants) .That would take some time to do.
You have described exactly what I was referring to in detail
I just described it in layman`s terms.
It would be great to see the CAD drawings ,will be waiting to see them!

I am working on the drawings now. The greenhouse vents are exactly what I was envisioning when I started. I will have a rough example done tonight, and tomorrow I will sit down and get the shape and sizes put in. My uncle owns a large machining shop and I may be able to convince him to burn off a set on the CNC to see how they work. If everything is a go I will look into running off a batch and selling them on here. It all depends on how much it will cost to make in comparison to how much people are willing to spend. I wouldn't feel right making them if it will end up costing $500.00, but if I can do it for around $150.00 I think it will be ok.

CNC is great if you have access to one,keep us informed as to how you make out with the louvers

Tell me how much that rain doesn't matter when you distributor gets wet from the water getting towards the back of your engine bay instead of the little dribble on the front of the engine from your radiator. While you're sitting 'cuz your car doesn't start.

Anyways, you guys are making this stuff sound so damn hard. This isn't rocket science. It's the same principles involved in backdraft dampers and they've been around for god knows how long:



Mathius

I've been planning out for months on how to make the hood louvers open and close based on the temp of the engine. I have the mechanical side of things all set in me head, its the electrical side of things I'm having a problem with. Specifically taking a constant signal from the temp probe and converting it to a pulsed signal for the actuator(one pulse to open the louvers, one more to close it).

JT1562000 - Looking forward to CAD drawings as well and depending on the cost and design, I may be interested in a set if you're gonna CNC them. Would save me a lot of cutting time.

For electrical all you need is a temp sensor to turn on when a certain temp is reached and shuts down when youve reached desired temp ...such as a heat or ac stat in the house (as an example)

I have one for my electric fan,but I was thinking of installing a secondary one for the louvers that would open them up about 20* or so before the fan kicks on. The problem is in the way they work. When the "on" temp is reached, say 185* then the electrical resistance inside the sensor becomes essentially 0(in a perfect world at least). This provides a ground path to turn on the relay that powers the radiator fan. The sensor's resistance slowly increases as the temp drops and eventually becomes high enough that it cuts off the ground path for the fan relay. So the "signal" it sends is a constant signal until it reaches the shutoff temp.

This is where the problem comes from.

Most actuators/solenoids/motors/etc will need a pulsed(on/off) signal to activate them one time to pull the linkage that opens the louvers. Then a second signal to activate them one more time in the opposite direction(usually done by switching polarity of the electrical signal) so the motor/solenoid/etc runs in reverse and closes the louvers.

Having current flowing through the sensor continously while its "on" will supply a constant voltage to the motor/solenoid/etc to keep them in the open position. This is not good because they generate heat themselves and will quickly burn out their coils and kill them. So to prolong the life of your motor/solenoid/etc you need 2 separate, short signals(one for "on" and one for "off") which means you cannot have them wired directly to the temp sensor. I have yet to find a temp sensor that works like a home thermostat. If I can find one that works that way, that would be perfect.

I hope I am explaining this right.

That looks great!

hey the CAD came out alright, im waiting on final measurements before I post it here.

How did you make out with the cad drawings?
Did you try out the CNC?

The cad came out ok, but im slowly working on the operating system before I try to run the program. I want to make sure I can operate it before I drop the money on the metal to cut it all. Hopefully i will get some downtime and I can put some more time into it.

PM me if you need a hand with the program or any additional input.

Posting to an old thread I know, but see my avatar. These work very well at lowering underhood temps and look like OE from the outside.

Sorry for bringing up an old thread. But has anyone or does anybody make aftermarket functional louvers? How can we contact the people who designed and manufactured the louver for Dale Earnharts IROC below?

No one makes them....you need to cut them yourself.

I believe looking at that DE car that those,or "that" are actually stamped into the hood?

I prefer the solution by @askulte earlier in this thread.

Remove the louvres.

Cut the backs off the fines. This way they look original from the front, but air can pass out the back.

Cut four rectangular holes in the hood.

Reinstall louvres.

I think you're right.It looks like a one piece fibreglass hood and the louvre vents look like they're pointing forward (like a ram air)

Yup. It looks looks like it is stamped out with the fins forward which would force the air in the hood.

I have talked to the owner of staycool hood louvers and he will make functional louvers for you, but they are $290 a pair in black and $320 in stainless steel

Is he able to make the louvers to fit exactly in our hoods? I would be interested to see what they would look like.

$290 for a 2 pieces of sheet metal that costs $5 at Lowes? Thanks but no thanks. Givin the fact that nobody does this mod clearly shows that the situation has been taken avantage of. Now if he can design and provide a finished product, well then a picture can say a lot of words. For example, our plastic louvers have a stub so that the bolt can grasp. If the guy can fabricate and solve how we would be able to anchor the proposed louver, Then of course he price varies depending on how complex the fabrication is.