Mod idea - good or bad???

[4u33er]

Anyone know how to go about cutting the holes on the hood to vent out?

 

[rsc]

Anyone know how to go about cutting the holes on the hood to vent out?

Sawzall? Die Grinder with a rotary cutoff wheel? Maybe a dremel with a cutoff wheel (or three)

 

[alrock]

Was just watching Overhaulin' and Foose cut a hood opening with a die grinder (Ford Galaxie episode)

 

[4u33er]

I was searching online and read that sawzall works better than a grinder/angle cutter

 

[58Bisc]

Electric or air shears cut through it like butter. You mark it off with masking tape, drill a hole as a starting point, insert the lower jaw of the shears in the hole and cut away. It will take you about five minutes total. Just be sure that you don't catch a lower brace and cut through it by mistake.

Habor Freight throw aways:

Air: http://www.harborfreight.com/pistol-grip-air-shears-98580.html

Electric: http://www.harborfreight.com/14-gauge-swivel-head-shear-68199.html

 

[4u33er]

Found a shop who will cut and install it for $80 will post pics when done!

 

[Bigunit]

Found a shop who will cut and install it for $80 will post pics when done!

:corn::corn:

 

[Paladine71]

Picked up my screens for tomorrow's installation. I decided to go with a much cheaper version than the RunCool option. I'll post up pics tomorrow if all goes well.

 

[JoshuaL]

:corn:

 

[Paladine71]

Mod went without any issues this morning. Here is what I did...

Instead of spending $300+ on the RunCool Louver for the center of the H3's hood, I took a short drive over to Lowe's and picked up these screens for about $30. One is a think aluminum door screen to protect the louver holes from large debris. The other is a thin aluminum screen to catch the small debris. Air moves easily through, of course.

I removed the thick, steel RealWheels louver and placed it to the side.

I removed the hood and placed it on two supports, and then cut out the holes with a diamond wheel, sawzall and then smoothed it with a grinder. I followed this by sanding and applying some gray paint to prevent rust.

I measured and cut the two screens to layer them with the large screen on top, then the small screen under it and remounted the louver to the hood using the original bolt holes for the louver.

Then remounted the hood.

In my humble opinion, it looks great.

I then took the beast for a drive to assess impact. I ran it at 80 degrees outside temp, around 70 mph with the AC on full blast. The temp gauge read between 1/2 and 3/4 for the whole trip, even when climbing some of the hills of WV. By comparison, running at that speed at 90 degrees outside temp without the AC, I ran over 3/4 on the temp gauge. More testing is required, but so far.... noticable improvement. With the beast in park, engine on, you can feel the heat rising through the louver.

 

[4u33er]

Looks good, I'll fab up something similar to yours! It's pouring here in NY, even got a severe thunderstorm warning with flash floods. Lot see how much damage my vent is gonna cause :giggle:

 

[Bigunit]

Alright!!! That does look great! Nice job!

Did you use anything to secure the screens to the hood and/or do the louver screws and the louver keep it in place?

 

[Paladine71]

The steel louver has five 10/32 bolts that connect it to the hood. Those bolts will hold the screens as well. I passed all five bolts right through both screens, they're not going anywhere.

 

[4u33er]

What are you going to do about water with potential damage to the coilpacks?

 

[Paladine71]

The only issue that I'm having with water is due to the damn sunroof!!! :no:

I have an Alpha. If I'm not mistaken, my coils have a nice plastic covering to protect them. Someone correct me here...

 

[Paladine71]

Here is the fan I found for my idea that never has happened.
http://performanceparts.com/part/Flex-a-lite/330

I am very tempted to try this, mounted below my louver openings.....

 

[H3Ray]

I'm wanting to do the same to my Alpha H3.
Anyone care to advise?
Materials? Hood Vent?
Links? Hello ... ?

Thx.

 

[ReconH3]

I am very tempted to try this, mounted below my louver openings.....

Paladine, I've been looking at 12v computer size fans at Radio Shack. Much lower profile and about the size of the holes in the hood. I then got a thermostat switch for regular electric fans off of Amazon.


"Ex Umbris Venimus"

 

[Paladine71]

The extra fans mod fell by the wayside. Sadly, I've been extremely busy at work for the past year plus and just haven't gotten to it yet. It's still on the "to do" list. The original mod, venting the hood, was a great idea and has worked very well for me. I'm glad that I did it. Do you have a link for the fans that you're talking about?

 

[Paladine71]

I'm wanting to do the same to my Alpha H3.
Anyone care to advise?
Materials? Hood Vent?
Links? Hello ... ?

Thx.

H3Ray, you should be able to find the vent that I have on post 20 of this thread, if that's what you meant. The rest is covered in this thread. Let me know if you have specific questions. The end result of this mod is a cooler engine. I don't have anything bad to say about it two years later.

 

[3Hummers]

As hot as our Alpha runs this sounds like a must do mod.

 

[benlaud87]

I'm going to be cutting holes to make mine functional soon. I'm glad there are people that have already done this so I can use it as a guide

 

[rsc]

Having done a similar setup on my truck, I had mixed results. Yes, at low speed or stopped the heat does come out the vents so it met its purpose to cool when wheeling or crawling along. On the hwy I haven't noticed a big difference. I think this is because it should be pushing air IN not pulling it OUT the hood (the H3 flows air in the front and the "sealed" hood forces air out the bottom so sucking air out the top is counterproductive). My vents air not in the center of the hood but outboard which may make some difference here. I did notice that my fan clutch is going out so it is getting a torture test at the moment until the e-fan goes in.

 

[rsc]

As hot as our Alpha runs this sounds like a must do mod.

I think you are on the right track with this mod.

 

[brokenaxle]

180

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