TGO,
I know this sounds like a broke record....

I have been talking to a guy that makes louvers (among other things). After talking to him on the phone he basically said that he wants to be able to sale more than a few sets otherwise it would not be worth the effort.

Here are the louvers that I am ordering (see below). I am trying to get him to modify his cad design of these louvers into the shape of a Stock IROC louver. If there is enough interest, he might even make a whole new design all together.

Who is interested??

 

Here is what they look like from the bottom


Here is a completely different set that he made

 

Here is a pic of some of his louvers being made


They come as a flat piece of metal (images shown are not the same louvers as posted above, but same concept)


Here they are after being properly bent before installation

 

If I cannot get anyone else on-board, I will just have him do mine and be done with it. The pair of louvers on the red car above are the louvers I am ordering btw... At some point I'm hoping to send him a set of IROC louvers.

I told him that I had 15 people interested, he said that would be enough

 

Here is what they look like from the bottom



I like the idea, but it looks like they take a lot of precious under-hood room. Certainly will cause air cleaner clearance issues for carbureted and TBI cars.

 

I suppose that you are right, I have a ls1 swap... it's not a big deal for me

 

no takers huh?? no wonder people don't produce parts for thirdgens...

 

I'd be interested in a set that mimicked the IROC louvers, provided under hood clearance was good. Plan on going carb soon, I need that clearance.

 

i might be interested if he could get them almost the identical to the stock louvers, or fit inside the dented area where the louvers go. and if the price isnt too outrageous

 

I'd think you would have more interest if they mimiced the stock louvers but were functional.

 

Looks like the only function they serve is to let some heat out and let a lot of water in. If your car is a fair weather only car then that's one thing but I just don't see any good reasons to make the hood louvers on these cars functional. I imagine that's why you don't have many takers. JMO

 

Agreed. However, these might work for me, but they would have to fit stock location, just cut a hole. Price?



I plan on adding a cover for motor. If a tpi car, make sure electrical connections are good. Then don't worry IMO.

This also adds some front down force look at the wind tunnel results of the newish ford gt or the zl1.

 

Seriously, you think just the extractor is going to give you downforce?
It's an extractor, it just pulls heat from the engine bay. On our cars that also helps pull air through the radiator.
I think extractors are a good idea on most cars.
This one looks pretty good, but it's overly complicated and takes up too muck space for third gens. The same thing can be done in composites much more easily and even in aluminum should be able to be done without taking up so much Underhood space.

 

I do.

Much or measurable amount? No. It would help make a lower pressure air under the car. Also depends on the way they overlap. How the air over them would pull the hot air out.

 

Well, you're wrong.
It would allow an air release for hot air of the engine compartment. In order to decrease pressure under the car (creating downforce) you have to control the air moving under the car with splitter, skirts, etc.
If you read more about the new vette z06 you will note that they describe it as the first American car to have measurable downforce from the factory. Even so, it has to be going pretty fast to do it.
Take a shop vac and put the nozzle straight down on a flat surface. Note that it has lots of "downforce" when sealed to the surface. As soon as you lift it even slightly off the surface, no more downforce. Lots of negative pressure inside the vac tube, but no down force as it only takes a small leak of air to equalize pressure and eliminate the force.

 

Some of your points are valid but others are not completely true. The vacuum cleaner analogy is mostly true, but as you get away from the ground there is still DF but it is much less. Youtube 'ground effect'.

About hood louvers. The factory cooling system brings air in from the front of the car and exhausts it down to the ground under the car. The most common method to create downforce in race cars is to limit the amount of air that goes under the car and seal the sides; in other words seal off the front with a low air dam or splitter, seal the sides with low skirts and route your cooling system air out of the hood or the sides of the car. Hood louvers allow more air to go out through the hood rather than under the car, therefore creating some down force. Splitters and skirts are additional aids to create DF.

Do I think louvers by themselves are going to create a noticeable difference on an otherwise stock car? Probably not to most people but it could be one of those incremental things. On a car with a splitter or low front air dam and sliding skirts it will probably make a larger improvement. Some rather generic cl numbers are given in some books for different types of engine cooling systems types.

 

Depending on the price I would be interested in a set that would fit the factory openings.

 

If it isn't noticeable or measurable it isn't downforce. Yes, the pressure in the engine compartment might decrease slightly (it's still very positive) but if it has no EFFECT or measurable FORCE it isn't ground EFFECT or down FORCE

 

With good sensors and good repeatable testing I'm pretty sure you could measure a difference.

 

Agreed. Any ball-park prices on these things? I would be very interested in a set. Would he be willing to make them look very similar to the factory louvers? Either way I plan to make mine functional.

 

Just a thought, the base of the windshield is a huge high pressure area on the car. It may be better to not use the last 4" or so if you're putting them in same location as the stock louvers. If you can move them I'd go forward with them until they start just behind the radiator support.

 

blakecharles I'm still interested... Could you give an answer to the above questions?

 

I would be interested if the price and clearance were right (matching stock).

 

Thirdgens are awesome cars great fun ti drive sexy to look at but once you get past 120mph the handling isnt too hot. Ive got my 89 formula350 gave my 01 ws6 transam to the wife. The ta handles like a dream at 150mph on curves the formula starts getting scary at 120ish on a perfectly flat straight road.

Adding functional vents is not going to change those issues at speed. At slower speeds functional louvers are a novelty so most folks will think its a cool idea which it is but it serves no real purpose.

When i push the ta up past 120 you can start feeling the car hunkering down and the steering getting a little stiffer and more response to less input.

When you take the ttops off and get around 100-120 you can feel the back end starting to bounce as its losing grip. The faster you go the scarier it gets. Around 130 i can actually feel the rear end popping up and starting to lose control.

Depends on what your calling downforce. But when your car is no longer aerodynamic things go to hell quick.

My advice dont stick things to your car or remove them without careful testing if you plan on going stupid fast.

 

I am doing louvers to my cowl hood on the sides of cowl to vent heat, not on cowl itself. These louvers look nice tho in the pics. How much they cost?

My iroc feels fine over 120-140. Havent been over that, just quarter mile runs it feels fine even on bias tires. May see 160's this year. Hope it remains stable but the vents for me are for heat extraction only lol primary concern

 

It sounds more like you need nicer shocks & struts. I've been faster than that and my car does not do what your describing.

 

How much?

 

How much for a set of these exact ones? I have a 4" cowl hood for a firebird and would love a set of custom hood Louvers like these! If u can give me his contact into I would also appreciate it.

My hood gets very hot bc it has a 521 BBF under it and I've been researched where good extractor can help get the heat out and help cool my engine more.

 

Estimated cost?

 

$100, http://vraptorspeedworks.com/custom-roadster-parts/

 

Put me down for a set.

 

Anything ever come of this?I would like a two sets if price was right and they fit a Iroc hood

 

Depends on price. They do look amazing. Clever to bend two tabs to angle the individual louvers. I also have access to a CNC machine, it wouldn't be horrible to template that, and maybe it could be done with 040 or 060 aircraft aluminum.. Cost on something like that isn't too much other than owning the CNC machine and handling 4x8 aluminum sheets.

That's why I say depends on the price. Regarding needing a bulk order.... How is it not worth it to let the CNC machine cut out one set? He can use any leftover aluminum on the sheet for other projects. It seems the only labor involves bending the individual louvers and de-burring edges.

 

I would like to see an installed set, and am very interested.

 

I'd like to see a tray under the vents much like the new Camaro SS and ZL1 have. There is a tray that allows air to escape up and out from under the hood while making sure water drains away from vital parts.

Like so

 

For $100, if it matched the current louvers I would buy. But I need the clearance. My TBI already touches my hood with my K&N Filter top.

 

If there a link on the web site http://vraptorspeedworks.com/custom-roadster-parts/ to buy a set of these?

 

yup, that's the guy. He is really nice. He asked me to send him a set of stock louvers/hood to mock up. It never happened because nobody seemed to be interested.

His louvers are only about $100/set, but the IROC louvers would be a custom design. There is no way that I can guarantee that kind of pricing, but I'm quite sure they would be cheaper if we had more takers.