Guest mattrp Posted July 10, 2000 Share Posted July 10, 2000 I have had my V8 in for 7 months now, and I like many have said, was experiencing really high underhood temps. I could tell I was losing power due to the air going into the carb, and the wire loom was getting toasty, and the temps kept rising. Well, 3-4 months ago I raised the hood supports about an inch to allow the rear edge of the hood to stick up just a little (I have hood pins). This made a huge difference on the temps. I get less heat soak on the starter, the battery stays cooler, the harnesses dont melt, and the radiator (3 core zcar) is more than enough to keep things cool in the 100+ degree california heat. And yeas I do have block hugger headers. Just an idea. Matt 72 500Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted July 11, 2000 Share Posted July 11, 2000 This doesn't bode well for my '72. Stock hood right? I've just sent a note to the original owner of my car asking for a paint code, if I can get it a fiberglass hood may very well be on it's way... Any downsides to running the back edge of the hood up that far? How's it look? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pparaska Posted July 11, 2000 Share Posted July 11, 2000 I was talking to an old Z racer this weekend (he has a V8Z that was a blast to drive too!). We were talking about cooling and under hood temps. He said when he was part of an ITS race crew, they did alot of experimenting with this. He first recommended hood vents (a la 280Z). Then he mentioned some aero studies he'd seen. He said that on the race car they took a stock radiator to crossmember pan and sealed it up to the rails, radiator support, crossmember. Then he said that adding vents to the hood in front of the engine worked well, since it is a low pressure area. That coupled with sealing off all the holes in the radiator support got them great cooling and lowered the underhood temps. He also mentioned that building a duct to the cowl plenum through the upper firewall and running it to an enclosed element air cleaner to take advantage of the high pressure there and to get cooler intake charge. I'm looking at doing at least the last trick initially. The first idea about the hood vents sounds interesting. I think I might look for a rod and custom shop to punch some wide louvers on either side of the hood in front of the engine. Then maybe attach a scoop to it on the underside of the hood to direct air from the rad/fan towards the louvers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLKMGK Posted July 11, 2000 Share Posted July 11, 2000 For an intake take a look at Mike Kelly's pics. He's got an air cleaner ala the old ram air 442 or Ford racecars (Galaxy?) that had intake tubes run to the headlights. Mike's run his right to the radiator support for a cool intake - great idea if you ask me and those boxes are advertised in lot's of car mags at a reasonable price... [This message has been edited by BLKMGK (edited July 11, 2000).] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mattrp Posted July 12, 2000 Share Posted July 12, 2000 Well, I think it looks great. It makes the car look very different. People can tell its not quite normal. If I remember right the back of the hood is actually a high pressure zone, so you are effectively forcing air into the engine compartment. I dont know if this is good or bad. I do like mikes air ram thing though. I will try that when i get a chance. Gotta get the new motor in first, hehehe. Matt 72 500Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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