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I just wanted to gather some ideas about how to make a few things functional and how to bring in more fresh air into the engine bay as I’m driving like what are some items I can remove or add to the car like how to make the grille functional do I need a Chin Spoiler should I get a cowl hood or a vented hood can somebody brainstorm ideas with me?
Please put down the Sawzall, and step away from the Camaro.
If you've got an overheating problem, fix it right. In stock config there is plenty of cool air under the hood. There's nothing you're going to add or remove that's going to make it work better than it did stock. If you need to add anything to regain functionality it's usually because someone removed something without understanding what they were doing.
If you don't thoroughly understand how something on a car works, study the topic before you start trying to modify it.
Maybe it'd be easier if you explain what goal you're trying to reach, and ask how to get there. Why do you want or need more cool air?
It’s not a Overheating problem it’s just I’ve always known these cars to be Restrictive on Air Flow like they can just breathe a lot better for example the Newer Mustangs and Camaros have Functional Hood vents that release hot air from under the hood and at the same time brings in cold air from driving I’m trying to go in a direction similar to that
I always wanted to make the hood grilles functional (but still look stock). So I did. Cut out the non-structural hood surfaces under and dremeled out the bottom of each grille row. I can see heat waves rising from them once I shut the engine off. It actually flows quite a bit. I don't think they do a whole lot for extra engine cooling but it keeps the temp noticeably lower in the engine compartment.
I've thought about this same topic too, in a 'what if'/science project sort of way. Here's some of my thoughts, using simple common sense type logic. Sadly, I have no actual measurements or experience on how effective these would be, and I'll apologize here, as it's after midnight and I'm fairly tired, some of these thoughts may come out oddly, and I'm posting from my phone.
1. Generally most cars don't need more air 'in', they need to get the air that's there (and now heated up) out better.
That's why you see some newer high power cars with hood vents, not hood scoops, as was mentioned earlier. That big grill opening up front is allowing all this air to get stuffed into the engine bay and hopefully find a way out. This makes things somewhat warmer under hood, but can cause the front end to lift at high speeds. Creating a vent on the top of the hood allows the higher pressure engine bay air to 'escape' to the lower pressure area on top of the hood. 2 birds, one vent, you lowered your front end lift and created a high speed way to get rid of radiator heat.
2. Take a look at a new Camaro or Corvette with a hood vent. The vent duct only covers about the middle half of the radiator, this means that you don't need to duct the whole radiator to be really effective (I'm sure there was a lot of time figuring out the best size to pull the needed amount of heat from the rad).
The rad to vent duct is a tricky thing (if you want to go that route, there's always the cut a hole in the hood and be done method). You need to have enough volume to be effective, a somewhat straight path, some way to mount it and avoid other under hood things like the engine, accessories, sway bar, front mount turbo etc.
Also remember, that while the middle of the hood is a low pressure area, at the base of the windshield is high pressure. So removing that cowl/hood seal lets more air in (we're trying to get it out, remember). This is why cowl induction hoods worked on carbureted cars, it was basically a cold air or short ram system for them.
3. As far as third gens go, I think that the Camaros never had functional vents, though some had fake ones that may be able to be opened up. Firebirds, at least GTAs, have 2 small vents near the back, near the edges. They are functional, but I have no idea how effective. There is also a small 'grill' towards the front of the hood, but the dates are pointed forward and it is mounted in front of the rad, above the handy tool shelf our cars have is. This one I have even bigger doubts on its ability to move air, and it's probably trying to move it in the wrong direction.
Well, that turned out longer than expected, hope it's useful to someone in this thread.
the factory purposefully warms incoming air because it helps with the smoothness of engine operation and creates a more predictable environment.
also because maf operation depends on smooth-ness of airflow the incoming air path is crucial in shape/form.
When switching over to 'high performance' (at low power 500hp~ novice levels) one typically removes the maf so they can use larger, potentially more turbulent tubes (at low air flow rates). One also tends to eliminate the 'warming' effect of incoming air by using intercoolers and water/methanol injections in gasoline applications. Note that this (cooling) is not done through radiative heat exchange or convective vent cooling. Rather the engine is still fully insulated, shielded and contained as much as possible: ex. exhaust is coated and wrapped & w/ turbine blankets, the heat energy is all supposed to be contained within the engine and it's tubes. Because that keeps it out of the engine bay to begin with, which lowers initial IAT for example and keeps the engine bay cool. Trapping the heat and using it somehow is also essential to getting the most efficiency from an engine, for example newer cars tend to use higher coolant temperatures because higher temps improve economy. So you shouldn't be thinking about how to vent air in and clear the engine bay of useful heat energy which was radiated from the engine; you need to think how you will contain and control the heat that leaves the engine to keep it out of the engine bay. Because heat is $$ you spent for fuel, that is your gasoline you throw away when you exchange heat out of the engine system via heat exchangers, venting and radiation.
By design, air flows into a thirdgen's engine compartment after meeting the air dam under the radiator support, and being pulled up through the radiator and condenser, over the engine, and then the air flows down the transmission tunnel and disperses behind the car.
You're not going to gain much more air coming in or exiting by punching a bunch of holes in the hood or opening a cowl vent, you're just going to disrupt the directed flow of air that's already there, as well as letting water into the top of the engine compartment when it rains or you wash the car.
Most of the time, all the scoops and openings in hoods and fenders, etc are connected solely to the engine's intake to allow the engine to breath cooler outside air. Just punching holes isn't really going to do that. Seriously though, if all they needed to do was punch a bunch of louvers and stick on hoodscoops, would new car manufacturers bother with alternatives?
Car culture buys into hood scoops and holes in the hood out of necessity. Aftermarket intakes and swapped engines tend to be taller than stock and interfere with the hood. So the easy solution is to cut a hole or add a scoop. It didn't take long for the scoops and holes to be associated with enhanced performance, and eventually you have peel and stick hood scoops at Auto Zone and fake hood scoops on everything under the sun. Trouble is that most attempts to reinvent the wheel and improve the factory cooling, usually end up making things worse.
By design, air flows into a thirdgen's engine compartment after meeting the air dam under the radiator support, and being pulled up through the radiator and condenser, over the engine, and then the air flows down the transmission tunnel and disperses behind the car.
You're not going to gain much more air coming in or exiting by punching a bunch of holes in the hood or opening a cowl vent, you're just going to disrupt the directed flow of air that's already there, as well as letting water into the top of the engine compartment when it rains or you wash the car.
Most of the time, all the scoops and openings in hoods and fenders, etc are connected solely to the engine's intake to allow the engine to breath cooler outside air. Just punching holes isn't really going to do that. Seriously though, if all they needed to do was punch a bunch of louvers and stick on hoodscoops, would new car manufacturers bother with alternatives?
Car culture buys into hood scoops and holes in the hood out of necessity. Aftermarket intakes and swapped engines tend to be taller than stock and interfere with the hood. So the easy solution is to cut a hole or add a scoop. It didn't take long for the scoops and holes to be associated with enhanced performance, and eventually you have peel and stick hood scoops at Auto Zone and fake hood scoops on everything under the sun. Trouble is that most attempts to reinvent the wheel and improve the factory cooling, usually end up making things worse.
hit the nail on the head.
If the engines not overheating and the factory system is working as it should then why fix something that isn't broken? If anything, a better radiator and fan is as far as anyone really needs to go for a street driving car.
Of all the little issues these cars have, the under hood air flow isn't really a concern.
What do you want the air for? Do you know? Just putting extra air into the engine compartment is a cost/benefit compromise. You have to know what you want it in there for. If it's for cooling there are specific things you want to do, if its for more power there are other things to do. In any case, you are going to **** up the aerodynamics, so you have to calculate how much benefit you're getting against what you're losing.
By design, air flows into a thirdgen's engine compartment after meeting the air dam under the radiator support, and being pulled up through the radiator and condenser, over the engine, and then the air flows down the transmission tunnel and disperses behind the car.
You're not going to gain much more air coming in or exiting by punching a bunch of holes in the hood or opening a cowl vent, you're just going to disrupt the directed flow of air that's already there, as well as letting water into the top of the engine compartment when it rains or you wash the car.
Most of the time, all the scoops and openings in hoods and fenders, etc are connected solely to the engine's intake to allow the engine to breath cooler outside air. Just punching holes isn't really going to do that. Seriously though, if all they needed to do was punch a bunch of louvers and stick on hoodscoops, would new car manufacturers bother with alternatives?
Car culture buys into hood scoops and holes in the hood out of necessity. Aftermarket intakes and swapped engines tend to be taller than stock and interfere with the hood. So the easy solution is to cut a hole or add a scoop. It didn't take long for the scoops and holes to be associated with enhanced performance, and eventually you have peel and stick hood scoops at Auto Zone and fake hood scoops on everything under the sun. Trouble is that most attempts to reinvent the wheel and improve the factory cooling, usually end up making things worse.
Right on Drew!
They didn't put that heat pad under the hood because they wanted to waste money. It not only saves the paint on your hood but maintains that "controlled heat" that is needed.
"By design, air flows into a thirdgen's engine compartment after meeting the air dam under the radiator support, and being pulled up through the radiator and condenser, over the engine, and then the air flows down the transmission tunnel and disperses behind the car.
You're not going to gain much more air coming in or exiting by punching a bunch of holes in the hood or opening a cowl vent, you're just going to disrupt the directed flow of air that's already there, as well as letting water into the top of the engine compartment when it rains or you wash the car. "
I agree with the rain thing. I don't get a whole lot but I don't like the dripping. I keep my car covered and rarely if ever goes out in the rain (its a Vert and doesn't seal well anyway LOL).
The airflow I'm not so sure about. Hot air goes up. And there's a lot of it coming from the block and headers/manifolds. Sitting there idling with AC on, the fans pull air into the engine bay but I don't see them moving anywhere near enough air to flow it past the transmission. Anyway, on a hot summer day, that heat comes right up and out. And when I move, above a certain speed, the skimming effect probably (I have no readings!) sucks air up and out of the bay as air flows over the hood from front to back) I like it for that, but, you are right, a properly running car doesn't need anything like this. I just always wanted to do it.
Last edited by Tootie Pang; Mar 11, 2019 at 08:00 AM.
Sitting there idling with AC on, the fans pull air into the engine bay but I don't see them moving anywhere near enough air to flow it past the transmission. Anyway, on a hot summer day, that heat comes right up and out.
There is weatherstripping across the cowl so the hood is sealed for all practical purposes. The fan wash will go wherever it can. If you walk around my car at idle you can feel the waft of hot air coming out from under the car.
They didn't put that heat pad under the hood because they wanted to waste money. It not only saves the paint on your hood but maintains that "controlled heat" that is needed.
I've had my Daytona/Turbo IROC style hood for over almost 16 years and I daily drove it with that hood for 7 years. Over the engine the hood is a single layer of fiberglass and I've never used hood insulation. I've never had the paint face or blister.
I've had my Daytona/Turbo IROC style hood for over almost 16 years and I daily drove it with that hood for 7 years. Over the engine the hood is a single layer of fiberglass and I've never used hood insulation. I've never had the paint face or blister.
That is good to know. My 84 Trans Am will be getting a Ram Air hood. Not so much for the looks, but as a way to get the hot air out. That and for carb clearance. Also, the nose of an 84 with GFX has no way to let air IN.
