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After doing some reading.. I blocked off the upper grill *pics*


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That's even better that it seals to the hood. Ultimately, you want any air that doesn't go thru the radiator to go around the car. That's never gonna happen with a street car, but you're going in the right direction for sure.

 

John

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am planning on doing less tin-work in front of the radiator. I chose to carefully seal each item to the front clip.

 

The radiator and fan are mounted and sealed. You can see the top sealing lip to the hood(seal not installed yet). The side holes will have 2.5" brake ducts. The oil hoses and wiring holes will also be sealed with foam. I will have the upper "splitter" to the top of the airdam to seal the rest of the front clip. All of the foam used is UV and chemical rated and it will not soak up moisture. The foam is from skylight installations and intended to be exposed to the elements for decades. The rubber seals are used wherever possible and they are typical rear-hatch sealing lips that I cannibalized for the front end.

 

 

The oil cooler in front of the radiator has it's own rear-mounted cooling fan with a thermal switch in the cooler header tube. I insulated the bottom header to keep the fan switch as hot as the fluid entering the cooler. There is also a high flow capacity, bypass thermostat for the oil system.

OilCooler.jpg

 

 

The upper fan mounts are completely independent of the radiator mounts. Both items can move in relation to each other and the chassis. The upper fan mounts only hold the fan the correct distance from the radiator core. The lower fan mounts support the fan's weight.

fanuppermounts.jpg

 

 

Radiator mount ears with rubber isolators in the factory S-30 holes.

Radiatormounttabsandisolators.jpg

 

 

Lower radiator sealing lip. This was the best approach to allow airflow through the lower protruding potion of the radiator core. This still seals the airflow through the front of the radiator opening. My front lower crossmember is chock full of holes and will allow free flow to the bottom rows of the core.

Radiatorlowerseal.jpg

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  • 8 months later...
that looks great!! I thought the wind tunnel results show better cooling by blocking off the *upper* radiator grill and not the lower?

 

i need to do more reading

I think you're right. It would make sense anyway considering most cars with a tiny opening tend to have it down low.

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We didnt test if it were better to block off the lower or the upper. In the testing we did block off the upper because it was an easier opening to block on the MSA type 3. The main idea of the whole concept was to make all the air coming into the front of the car to go thru the radiator. To keep the air from bypassing the radiator, you create a bubble of stalled air in front of the car that acts like a splitter. Hope that helps.

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Perhaps the advantage of having the radiator opening low comes from superior air flow. With the low opening air is less likely to go under the car because their is an alternative flow path right there, through the radiator. With the opening blocked off high, the air can more easily flow around the sides of the car or, particularly, go over rather than go under.

 

Just my theory.

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  • 1 month later...

I have just finished my fan shtoud and about to start on my front of radiator sheetmetal.

 

I am considering having two openings, one above and one below the bumper.

 

I have a couple of questions that I would like opinions on.

 

Should the openings have a rounded edge to the inlet like a ram tube does to smooth the airflow out since the inside walls will be tapered from small opening to large?

 

What effect does the bumper have on airflow? Should the back of the bumper have an extended trailing edge, like a wing does to again calm airflow?

 

The other thing is that the openings in my shroud are 2 of 28cm2, should I have two openings at the front that are each the same size as each fan size of 28cm2, therefore having the same size opening front and back?

 

I look forward to your thoughts.

 

Cheers Rob

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  • 4 weeks later...

Myron, I just bought a bunch of weather stripping/doorgasket/edging from mcmaster-carr, and the stuff would be perfect for sealing that... I'll see if I can dig up the receipt for the part numbers for you... Cheap prices for 10ft. sections with the "bulb" of the seal in alternate locations for sealing, and thicknesses!

 

I'm going to use some KYDEX formed to close off the front of my upper grill, along with some custom inner fender shields, but your idea certainly looks nice! Like the airbox too!

Mike

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  • 1 month later...

Here's my setup (recently completed). Bottom and side pieces fabbed from aluminum sheeting, and top piece from thin-gauge galvanized steel sheet. Directs nearly all airflow through the radiator and blocks all other air passage into the engine compartment. May even give a tiny "pressurization" effect to the cold air intake, if it results in a higher static pressure in the vicinity of the air filter.

bottom piece_thumb.jpg

bottom-side pieces_thumb.jpg

side piece_thumb.jpg

top piece_thumb.jpg

final installation_thumb.jpg

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This is all great stuff. I wanted to do a cover like the upper and lower to cover all the unsightly wires and smooth out the under the hood looks. More aesthetic then function but if i can get some function well hell.

 

Let me also ask this push or pull which is better for electric. Right now my fan is in front pushing.

 

Anyone wanna share templates for a 240?

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Yetterben-

As I was fabbing up my plates, I was thinking "I really to to make some templates for anyone else that's interested". And of course, never got around to it.... :(

 

If I get motivated in the near future, I'll pull out the pieces and make the templates and post an update. While every car will vary from model to model, the templates may at least give folks a starting point.

jhm

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  • 3 months later...

Alright people, so I been lurking in this thread for a while and seen everyones wonderful ideas. Also did some reading in the windtunnel thread and decided to give this a shot. I even did some snooping around at http://www.gurneyflap.com/focus.html And came up with this cardboard model. I hope to make the final product out of aluminum.

 

My camera died so I have to take another picture of the second piece that "covers" this one and blocks the front of the car. That one will also have airduct to cool the brakes. Ill post pictures of that one soon.

 

This is the only picture I have of it. This would be the "inside". The air would first go through the a/c heat exchange deal then to the radiator. I was thinking of using spare weatherseal to better seal it front the duct to the a/c and also around the radiator. I also think to add a "ramp" in the little mouth opening to push air up. Idea came to me while looking at the front of one of the aston martins on the website above. The shape of the aston martin mouth is somewhat similar to the mouth of an s30. Just an idea anyway. Ill keep everyone posted on the progress. Suggestions welcome.

 

Ill try to take better pictures tommrow. Let me know what you guys think.

 

IMG_0171.jpg

 

As you can see I would like to keep all the stock hood hinges, hold up mechanisms and even the grill in front like before to hide everything. It seems to be very doable.

 

 

Anyway its late. Ima get some sleep.

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