FJ-55 Series Vents (1 Viewer)

[Ebag333]

Found some vents on eBay that appear to have come off a FJ-55 (the seller was non specific, only stating they were from the early 70's).

I had been looking for some Land Rover vents, but the price was right on these and they had a buy it now option. Plus the whole Land Cruiser vs Land Rover argument. Sold.

For reference:

Land Rover Sport

Land Cruiser FJ55

I was unsure if I'd actually like the way they looked, so the first step was to mock them up.

Hard to see how they'd look with the magnets holding them up (thanks Mot for the one on the left!), so a quick photochop gave me this:

Okay, I can live with that. Some quick taping, outlining, and cutting later, and I had a nice hole in my fender.

Drilled a couple of holes, pulled the tape, and ended up with this.

Currently only two of the four holes have screws in them, need to go pick up some additional ones that are the right size. Also need to bend the vent slightly as the fender is slightly curved, for a tighter fit. Plan on repainting it, I think I'll probably spray it with Duplicolor bedliner to match my body cladding/flares.

All in all quite easy. For anyone else considering doing this, there's really nothing behind the sheet metal there, so you can use whatever as long as you're not using a 10" blade. No need to worry about hitting wiring/motors/etc. The closest object is the motor for the antenna, and you can see where it's located from inside the engine bay.

It doesn't move nearly as much air as I'd hoped, but it certainly lets hot air out. You can feel the hot air moving when idling, and it seems that the engine bay cools quicker when moving. It doesn't seem to help much if any when idling, but in the next day or two I'll hopefully see if the max idling temp drops any.


I actually got both sides, but one side is a fake vent, so I'll need to manually cut it out if I want to use it. Fortunately it's steel, so I can easily do so if I so desire a vent on the DS at some point.

 

[Eicca]

Looks cool! Fender vents are on my list of things-to-do-when-I-have-time-and-actual-money.

More pics, if you please

 

[Pighead]

I think you need the chrome 55 vents...

 

[inkpot]

Howdy! I DO like that. I even have a set of the dummy vents from my Piggy, cause I put in "turn lights" with plexiglass covers. I'll have to think on this one. jOHN

 

[Ebag333]

I think you need the chrome 55 vents...

I think I do too. Maybe I shoulda swiped them off your piggie when I had the chance. Wait, someone beat me to it......they just took the whole thing!


In all seriousness, I actually prefer the blacked out look. Just my personal preference.

 

[Taildragon]

You beat me to it, I have been eying some 55 vents for the cruiser also. Thanks for the writeup. JT

 

[CreeperSleeper]

I would destroy those so quickly...

 

[Ebag333]

I would destroy those so quickly...

Yes, but is there anything you wouldn't destroy?

 

[CreeperSleeper]

My cowl is still good!

 

[fzjconvert]

Wow that is a great idea! Do you think that it will really let a lot of air out or is it more cosmetic?

 

[Ebag333]

Wow that is a great idea! Do you think that it will really let a lot of air out or is it more cosmetic?

Absolutely honestly? More cosmetic than functional.

The holes in the inner fender aren't big enough to move any serious amount of air, except at speed. So this doesn't really help any when idling, you still get just as hot. What I have noticed is that when you start moving you cool down quicker, so the vent is letting the hot air out when you have air flow.

It'd be much more effective if there was a fan behind the vent pushing air out of the fender. That'd draw air out of the engine bay and would actually help when idling.

For reference, my engine bay temp gauge is directly behind the motor as far back and up as you can get (and still be in the engine bay). That's pretty much a dead spot for air flow, so will likely be the hottest or close to it as far as temps go.

Anyway, I'm planning on seeing if I can add a fan or two behind the vent to move air. I'd likely tie it into my 14" electric pusher fan that I installed in front of the AC condenser, when you want the pusher fan on you'll want the side vent fan on. That'd also let me have after run on it, which should actually help quite a bit as it'd draw a lot of heat off the exhaust side of the engine.

I think with a fan behind the vent you'd actually see some improvement idling and at slow speeds. But without doing that, it's really not super functional. It helps some, but not a ton.

 

[retrofive]

How are you gauging this? any numbers? What are you using out of curiousness ? any before or after numbers?

 

[Trollhole]

Don't be hoarding already rare parts. It's not as if 55 parts are falling out of the sky these days.

lol

Oh and great job taking a part from the ugliest Land Cruiser and making your cruiser slightly uglier.

 

[Ebag333]

How are you gauging this? any numbers? What are you using out of curiousness ? any before or after numbers?

For reference, my engine bay temp gauge is directly behind the motor as far back and up as you can get (and still be in the engine bay). That's pretty much a dead spot for air flow, so will likely be the hottest or close to it as far as temps go.

When idling, engine bay temps will break 70* C. How far above, not sure as my gauge only goes to 70* C. I don't think it's much though as it quickly drops below 70* C once I start moving.

For city driving, 55* C to 60* C is typical, at least in this 90* F weather.

For highway/freeway driving, 40* C to 50* C is typical, depending on exactly how fast I'm going, pulling a grade, etc.

As stated before, the top numbers haven't changed much, maybe slightly lower. What seems to be the big difference is the engine bay cools off quicker if I've been idling and start moving again. Additionally it seems to take a bit longer to reach the top numbers, especially when moving.

Don't be hoarding already rare parts. It's not as if 55 parts are falling out of the sky these days.

Oh and great job taking a part from the ugliest Land Cruiser and making your cruiser slightly uglier.

You just wanted 'em to make your cruiser slightly prettier.

 

[Devil's Slide Doug]

Another option would be the factory vent and blower from a 60 series hooked up to a thermostat/timer to help out when idling/parking.

 

[Qball]

Was thinking about the LR side vent and NLXTACY promptly called them ghey. A quick search on ebay and I'll be proud owner of a set of the 55 side vents, hopefully get them installed next weekend.