I have been to Technoclassica Motorshow in Essen
Germany last weekend for a look. Plenty of rare and
not so rare classic- and sportscars. No Roadsters
except for a poster on in the Z&ZX club Germany's
booth. On the subject of engine bay ventilation,
I got a chance to take closer looks to a few different
cars. Both the Mercedes Gullwing 300SL and Aston
Martin DB4 GT Zagato had large fender vents where
the inner fender behind the front wheel were cut out.
But the wheelhousing had a splashguard to to cover
the wheel from the vent outlets. The DB4 Zagato
had the airfilter box above the right side front wheel.
The body panels were attached to a thin steel frame
(Superleggera technique) and very different compared
to how car bodies are built today. This made it possible
to make all sorts of modifications while the body was
just a separate cover that could be shaped in almost
any way as long as it's big enough to fit over the
internals. The Gullwing was slightly different as it
had steel body panels compared to the DB4 Zagato's
aluminium sheets on steel pipes to hold the shape.
There was also a complete body jig made from wood
on display for the Gullwing. Mercedes had a 300 SLR
from 1952 on display to mark the 50:th birthday of
the SL model. Anyway, there were a lot of nice cars
to look at that most of us would never get a chance
to see anywhere else and I spent 2 days walking there.
Thomas
sidney raper wrote:
> I too have to disagree with John. If you look at old race cars from the
> 60's (ie. the first racing cobra) louvers on the hood were a standard way to
> increase cooling. Usually the air coming in through the radiator is limited
> by the exit path - under the car . The big problem as I recall was that if
> you increased the grill opening, you just increased the up force on the car
> making it less stable. That is one reason why the Cobra Daytona had the
> radiator exhaust through the hood. That alone actually decreased engine
> compartment temperatures. The side louvers could be done to help, but you
> would have to eliminate the inner fenders (not a real good idea on a street
> car) or make ducts for the air (lots of work for little gain). To improve
> the cooling, the best thing that you can do is to duct the grill opening to
> the exact size of the radiator - that increases the flow and reduces the
> turbulance. Remove the backing off of your grill for a little more help in
> cooling. Little gains, but it helps.
>
> Daniel is right on in his note (in my opinion - based on my observations and
> readings on racers of the period.)
>
> >From: Daniel Neuman <dneuman@quark.sfsu.edu>
> >Reply-To: Daniel Neuman <dneuman@quark.sfsu.edu>
> >To: sandhoff@csus.edu
> >CC: datsun-roadsters@autox.team.net
> >Subject: Re: Mods, Upgrades, Thoughts
> >Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 10:48:12 -0700 (PDT)
> >
> >John wrote,
> > > Just IMHO, but chopping holes in the hood can lead to spot overheating!
> > >
> > > The hood helps direct air flow around the engine and down the back. If
> > > that airflow is interrupted, you may not get the expected flow around
> >the
> > > sides and back of the engine.
> > >
> > > -- John
> > > John F Sandhoff sandhoff@csus.edu Sacramento, CA
> > I don't believe that there is a significant amount of cooling done
> >by the air that flows around the engine. If the rad is sealed to the sides
> >of the car at the front high pressure area you will force most of the air
> >thru
> >the rad. This hot air then flows over the engine and out thru the bottom
> >of
> >the engine bay. If you put louvers in the low pressure-high velocity zone
> >on the hood this will help to suck the hot air out of the engine
> >compartment
> >and also to pull more air thru the rad. So I think louvers can be a good
> >thing
> >whether or not they look good is another thing.
> > just my .02 cents
> > Daniel 69 2000
> > Oakland CA
> >
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