space-junk

iTrader: (1)

okay, so i know that a lot of you guys will probably mock me for this, but i really do want some serious input...

i have an idea for a hood "scoop" type deal that ive been kicking around in my head for a while now...

do you guys remember the rally cars from the 90's where they didnt have a centered "hood scoop", but they had louvered vents on either side of the hood... usually rectangle, but sometimes round...
my idea is this, take your hood and on the side where the airbox is, cut a 6"x9" rectangular opening in it... long ways toward the windshield... then make a louvered plate, kind of like an A/C register, and have the louvers facing toward the windshield...

then, if your using a stock airbox, make a kind of "ram air" style tube that has a seal around the lip so that when the hood closes it creates an airtight seal around the vent...

Viola, true cold air intake... i know that it might be a lil bit "ricey" for some of you guys, but i think that it would actually work... and if you use the stock airbox, then you could just have a water catch at the bottom of the intake tube before your airbox... also, maybe you can put a sliding piece of metal or plastic in to block it off for heavy rains...

by no means would this be a snorkle, but for someone who drives a lot in the hills and logging trails, might be a cool mod...

thook

I've thought of something like that myself, but congratulations if you can make it line up to seal. That would be something to pull off.

T-1000

I plan doing a V8 swap sometime in the future, and that's one of the mods (of a sort) I want to do along with it for better cooling.

You can get lots of air to the radiator, but hot air around the engine with nowhere to go greatly contributes to overheating as well, I figure some louvres in the hood (maybe with fans too?) would go a long way towards letting out some heat, especially if I could get a low pressure area above them with a certain shape.

Cyberman

The hard part about putting that hole near the windshield is getting the air to the front of the truck to go through the AFM. Hood louvers would be good to dissipate the engine bay heat though. The only problem with that idea is water getting into the engine bay. Have a look at the cars that had that setup stock (i.e. Z34, and Grand Prix). They have a setup that also drains the water away.

space-junk

iTrader: (1)

sorry if i didnt explain well enough, but the louvered plate will be put above the airbox on the hood about 3 inches from the front headlight...

like so...(the .'s are in there just to keep the lines seperated... they mean nothing...)

Windshield
|-------------|
|..................|
|..................|
|..................|
|.............|-|.|
|.............|_|.|
|____________|
Bumper

and i know figured that there would be aproblem with water, so what do you guys think would be a good idea for keeping the water out of the air box?

i cant find any good pictures on google of the vents like you were talking about cyberman... or the setup that they have that will drain the water either... any details on that?

corax

what you might want is an NACA duct for the hood (just Google or EBAY NACA duct)

maybe something like this for the bottom side ($20 @ Turbo John's Racing Mall)

space-junk

iTrader: (1)

yea, thats the general idea, but something more along the lines of this for on the hood...
Hood vents

and something kinda like this for under the hood but with a weather stripping on it...
http://www.turbojohn.com/mall/index....02946fb065b2a0

toyminator2000

Those louvers on the hoods of most race cars isn't for the air intake its usually to help direct air flow through the engine compartment to assist in cooling.

abecedarian

to add to toyminator2000... and help relieve pressure under the hood helping keep the front end from lifting.

louvres are gonna work like a venturi, creating negative pressure as ambient air flows over the top if they're too close to the front edge of the hood and you won't likely get enough positive pressure if the louvre was right in front of the windshield to create any ram effect.
naca ducts, when properly designed, are the best way to do it and do not affect aerodynamics/drag like scoops (which would be the next best).

scuba

why not just do a snorkel ?

Matt16

I agree with Abe. The air flowing past the louvres on the hood is going to try to suck air from the intake. I think this has the potential to noticeably reduce engine power output.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4AbzQyLPcE[/youtube]

Cyberman

One more thing to add. A true ram air is only functional at higher speeds, which forces the air into the intake. If your truck is anything like mine, top speed is roughly 70 (I think, never get mine past 60 lol).

Because of the harsh environment a 4x4 is put thourhg, IMO the best option for a truck to increase performance at the intake would be forced induction (turbo or supercharger). Both of those options are tough to apply to the 3.0 though. You could always throw some NOS at it lol.

Cyberman

Here is one application of hood vents for cooling that they did to a Heep. Notice there are pans underneath to drain off water.

http://www.oman4x4.com/hoodventinstall.htm

corax

I had a pair on those Grand Prix louvers on my Del Sol (before I flipped it), reversed with the vents facing forward and the K&N sectioned off and sealed from the rest of the engine bay (gotta love street sign metal and weatherstripping), the drip trays on those pretty much kill any thought of air getting through - as a heat vent, they'd do fine.

I did a set of Thunderchicken 4cyl turbo coupe scoupes on mine, but reversed to draw air out. There is no drip pan underneath and I've had no problems with water in the last 3 or 4 years (I've been through some torrential downpours too), but when I was picking a place to put them on the hood I made sure that there was nothing underneath that would be affected by water