I used a sledge hammer to kill a fly...

[BILT4ME]

The only reason I even mention it is because I was having a discussion this past weekend with another member about installing a turbo setup on my truck and he has been addressing heat issues on his after the turbo setup.

He pointed out these things and being in the Midwest with rain, snow, hail, and tornadoes, we need to think about those things as the rust disintegrates our rigs from under us. He just picked up a set of louvers from a GP and we were discussing the methodology of having actual louvers punched into the hood and what issues would be there.

I honestly LIKE the look it has on your truck! It just MAY cause an issue for ME.

It's all good.

 

[ElJayBird]

I'm not at all worried about it. Any drips will fall on the valve cover and will evaporate almost immediately. It's a non-issue. Electrical components don't get any more or less exposure to water than they do without the louver installed. When running in the rain there's more water finding its way up from the wet highway and river crossings than will ever make it into the engine compartment through the vents. Again - it's a non-issue...

 

[1973Guppie]

can you share the part # for the actual hood louver plate you used? I like the look alot and want to do this ASAP.

 

[thatcabledude]

Under hood pic?

 

[Travis 76]

Defenantly do the blue clutch fan modification. Mine didn't have. Very much oil in it and it didn't cool any better than my original fan clutch. After adjusting it per the mod thread, and I filled with 20K oil, it keeps the engine from overheating when outside temps get to 115.

 

[SteelHunterFJ80]

Yes, it's the Poison Spider louver. I bought a pair of universal spray nozzles off of Amazon for about 5 bucks. I plan to install them this weekend but they should work perfectly. The OEM sprayers require an odd shaped hole in the hood that would be tough to duplicate. The ones I bought are the kind with a nut on the bottom and only require a uniform round hole.

I wonder if those aftermarket sprayers will work better than the OEM. Let us know how they work!

 

[zonker]

Ordered the louvers yesterday from Poison Spider. I inspected Mr. Elijah Birds photos closely and determined this was the louvre insert for the '97 - '02 TJ. I thought this was a brilliant solution for adding venting to the hood. Should water become a problem there is more than enough room to make and add a baffle mounted on standoffs from under the hood. Also pulled my sound deading down a bit to eyeball the frame structure. Should not be a problem. One horizontal brace might get left in and consequently those few louvers in the vicinity will be non-functional.

End result will be more airflow thru the radiator and lower engine bay temps. I know LCs have done without venting for years. However I just like the possibility lower overall temps and less heat soaking. Something will have to work better or last longer!! I am sure of it!!

 

[mikedamageinc]

So either of you (OP or zonker) do the string test to see if air is coming out of the entire panel? Also have you thought about continuing the belly pan behind the radiator to essentially seal the engine bay so air goes thru radiator and out the vent which helps highway aero for ah-hem, mpg and handling? (Laughable in the 80 I know but even a little in both depts helps)

 

[Dave 2000]

No doubt rising heat will go througn the vents but, I also think the gaps around the inner fender that are not covered by the rubber panels let a fair amount out as well. Extending the panelling under the motor may reduce the amount of air getting into the radiator? Also worth noting is the extra air coming out may help prevent the fan VC coming in at high speed, so perhaps an incy wincy fuel saving there?

Regards

Dave

 

[ElJayBird]

Hot air isn't simply rising out of the vents - I can feel the fan pushing it out of the vents with quite a bit of force.

 

[zonker]

I used to road race in SCCA B-sedan many moons ago. The car we campaigned always ran a bit warm.. contrary to every solution we tried. This was not just myself.. but a couple of very smart folks who knew automotive engineering. By chance we did not get the rear opening hood completely latched while testing the car. Was very surprised that the temp was staying a bit lower on what was a hot day.

End result we created a way to keep the hood partially open including cleaning up the top area along the firewall. Never had any kind of heating issue again. Including brutally hot Riverside in the middle of summer. "Might" have a parallel to louvered panel on the hood tamping down the temps a bit. Hopefully so!

 

[BDA130]

Sweet mod! Where did you get the Kanji LC symbol?

 

[fuzzywuzzy]

I inspected Mr. Elijah Birds photos closely and determined this was the louvre insert for the '97 - '02 TJ.

Excellent investigative work Mr. Zonker! Top-Notch work!

 

[zonker]

Yeah.. now I just need to get it installed and see if I spent money wisely or flushed it down the toitie!

 

[6894kevin]

That vent is Awesome!

 

[Speckmon]

Dang! that's sick!

 

[thedoughboy]

X2 on more pictures that show what it looks like on the bottom side of the hood.

 

[mikedamageinc]

Hot air will rise at rest easily, and it is also being pushed out but the fan, but highway speed maybe another story. That is where the string test comes in handy. It will show which force is winning. The shape and placement looks like it would work to suck out the air but only a test will show for sure.

 

[zonker]

The louvers are only meant as an assist to relieve hot air. Not to necessarily increase air flow thru the radiator. However more airflow "might" be a bonus. Even if only 20% of the hot air is drawn out of the louvers because of the pressure differential between the engine compartment and outside air.. I am certain that the amount of heat soak will diminish.

A couple months back I proved that the oil pressures sending unit looses efficiency as heat from the exhaust manifold heat soaks the sending unit. My oil pressure was great with just a normal operating temp of 185 degrees. After 30 minutes of freeway the indicated oil pressure dropped a fair amount. Engine temp was still 185. Replaced the sending unit. No change. Put an extra heat shield above the unit. Now it took longer for the same end result. Next step I moved the sending unit temporarily over towards the fender via cooper tube. No change in pressure after the same drive only now for a full hour.

So in my opinion heat soak is real and if I can make some of the engine compartment components last a little longer.. that would make me smile. If for no other reason.. just because!

 

[Dave 2000]

Hot air isn't simply rising out of the vents - I can feel the fan pushing it out of the vents with quite a bit of force.

Sorry I meant heat rising post shutdown.

Regards

Dave