Holes or vents in a 68 Charger hood ?

[Toretto]

Do you think that holes or louvres in the hood like this in a good idea if you need a cooler engine bay?

For example in a sleeper

Feel free to post pictures of your solutions (AAAND tips to get the engine bay less warm)

The picture below is a suggestion to show where the holes could be, that makes it easier for air to pull through the radiator:

[green69rt]

There is a seal at the rear of the hood that is there to prevent engine heat and fumes from getting into the louvers in front of the windshield. Those louvers feed air into the passenger compartment.  If you make cutouts in the middle of the hood it seems that you will defeat the purpose of the seal.  You really need to find another way to get hot air out of the engine bay.

Maybe put a air damn (spoiler) on the lower front of the car to help push more air though the radiator to keep things cooler.

[Toretto]

  If you make cutouts in the middle of the hood it seems that you will defeat the purpose of the seal.  You really need to find another way to get hot air out of the engine bay.

Maybe put a air damn (spoiler) on the lower front of the car to help push more air though the radiator to keep things cooler.

Good point. Thanks for your input My friend has a sleeper, so a spoiler would give it away sooner than some "hidden" vents..

Do you think it is dangerous to put the vents too close to the back of the hood?

Does this picture look better?

[don duick]

 

[Toretto]

this is an attempt of humour, right?

I am sorry. No. It is my bad skills at photoshop/paint. The picture was just to show an idea of the vents would go. (The vents will be black.)

And no. We are not cutting the original hood of the car

Do you have some input now you know this is a serious request?

[JB400]

Considering the Hellcat cars probably put out more heat than a big block or a hemi, I'd say one, maybe two on each side would be sufficient.

[don duick]

no sorry just being a prick. I have a 3 inch tube from my air cleaner to the opening next to the radiator and I get cold air and has made an improvement. I never thought about heat in the engine bay. maybe consider an opening and closing scoop like the road runner super bee not sure which one had it.

[Toretto]

no sorry just being a prick. I have a 3 inch tube from my air cleaner to the opening next to the radiator and I get cold air and has made an improvement. I never thought about heat in the engine bay. maybe consider an opening and closing scoop like the road runner super bee not sure which one had it.

Now we are getting some ideas  We have tought about the Road runner scoops

And nice job on getting cold air into your air cleaner 

[Toretto]

Considering the Hellcat cars probably put out more heat than a big block or a hemi, I'd say one, maybe two on each side would be sufficient.

Noted

[Mytur Binsdirti]

Does this picture look better?

Nope, it looks as bad as the first.

[Toretto]

Does this picture look better?

Nope, it looks as bad as the first.

Rat Rod-look   Look at the vents shaped as letters 

Now: ThereIfixedIT.com

[Sinister68]

Saw this car at Mopars at the Strip in 2008...

[JR]

How hot is your engine bay getting that is making you consider hood vents? What problems are you trying to solve?

I would prefer to cool it by upgrading/rebuilding the cooling system and also having the manifolds/headers ceramic coated.

[Toretto]

Saw this car at Mopars at the Strip in 2008...

Thank you. That looks good

[Toretto]

How hot is your engine bay getting that is making you consider hood vents? What problems are you trying to solve?

I would prefer to cool it by upgrading/rebuilding the cooling system and also having the manifolds/headers ceramic coated.

It is my friends Charger. If he is cruising or driving in rush traffic, the engine bay gets so hot that you can't touch the hinges and the hood itself 

He has an aluminium radiator and an extra fan

If he upgrades the cooling system and gets cold air to the motor he will get better performance

[tan top]

Saw this car at Mopars at the Strip in 2008...

that looks good , imo that's what Chrysler should of done  in the first place , made the hood depressions functional ,  although , would not have been practical when these cars were new & daily drivers !! when it rains where does the Rain water ! go   ive contradicted my self here

[Ghoste]

If you can't even touch the hood there is some other problem going on and your friend needs to address the disease not stick a bandaid on one symptom.

[ACUDANUT]

Bad idea imo

[Toretto]

Saw this car at Mopars at the Strip in 2008...

that looks good , imo that's what Chrysler should of done  in the first place , made the hood depressions functional ,  although , would not have been practical when these cars were new & daily drivers !! when it rains where does the Rain water ! go   ive contradicted my self here

We need a little contradiction sometimes But I agree, they should have done this from the factory 

If Chrysler did this from the factory, they would probably make something that would drain rain water.

[Toretto]

If you can't even touch the hood there is some other problem going on and your friend needs to address the disease not stick a bandaid on one symptom.

I will tell him that

If he upgrades the cooling system and gets cold air to the motor he will get better performance and a custom hood  

The first thing he did, was to repair rust and paint the body. Then he fixed the brakes and suspension.

Then he overhauled the engine and cooling system. So he is on the right track


Many people gets more horsepower and doesn't care after that....

[Ghoste]

So it's an unmodified engine as well?  No headers?  Does the engine run cool?

[Mike DC]

  
I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the most basic idea here.

Any 68/69 Charger = sleeper?  

In 2015?

[Toretto]

So it's an unmodified engine as well?  No headers?  Does the engine run cool?

Sorry. I meant he overhauled and stroked the engine

He has an orig. 440 stroked to 500 cid alu. heads (edelbrock) cnc ported.  alu. rad. 727 with 3500 rpm stallspeed conv.

And headers of course.

Someone tipped us about a meziere water pump. https://www.meziere.com/ So we will check that out

[Toretto]

 
I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the most basic idea here.

Any 68/69 Charger = sleeper?  

In 2015?

We live in the last Soviet state, so we are used to old cars that don't have much horsepower 

And his Charger look like a stock 318 car 

Buuut.. It outruns Nissan Skylines. On a rainy day 

[Ghoste]

Okay, now it makes a little more sense.  It still shouldn't make the hood so hot you can't touch it though.

[1974dodgecharger]

 
I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the most basic idea here.

Any 68/69 Charger = sleeper?  

In 2015?

wouldn't it be backwards?  Our old cars cant keep up with modern cars.....

[JR]

What temperature does the gauge show after an hour of driving? Does the car experience fuel boiling issues? Are there no other symptoms than a hot to the touch hood?

[Toretto]

Okay, now it makes a little more sense.  It still shouldn't make the hood so hot you can't touch it though.

In a black Charger cruising slowly on a sunny day in the last Soviet state maybe?

When we came on the freeway with 55 mph the temperature went down.

[Dino]

Okay, now it makes a little more sense.  It still shouldn't make the hood so hot you can't touch it though.

In a black Charger cruising slowly on a sunny day in the last Soviet state maybe?

When we came on the freeway with 55 mph the temperature went down.

Still not normal, although mine is white I can have my car idle in traffic on a smoldering day without it overheating.  It should get hot to be sure, but not so hot that you'll burn yourself on body panels.

[JB400]

What size of radiator is in the car?  22 in. or 26 in.?

Does the car have a fan shroud?

What type of fan does the car have?

[Ghoste]

And what temps are being indicated on the guage?

[A383Wing]

When we came on the freeway with 55 mph the temperature went down.

temperature of what??

[Toretto]

When we came on the freeway with 55 mph the temperature went down.

temperature of what??

The gauges. (And I am guessing the motor of course.)

The speed wind cooled the radiator

[HPP]

We live in the last Soviet state, so we are used to old cars that don't have much horsepower 

And his Charger look like a stock 318 car 

Buuut.. It outruns Nissan Skylines. On a rainy day 

Ahhh, now I see.

Big old Mopars tend to run very hot, compared to what you guys are probably used to. Every big block mopar I've owned had plenty of heat under the hood, car, truck, van, it didn't matter. They were plenty warm. It is not that unusual, but you probably also have additional heat generated because of the significant step up in horsepower.

I do tend to agree with Mike, a classic Charger is hardly a sleeper, especially in eastern Europe, but if you are trying to keep it low key, louvers in the hood aren't going to do that either.

So you sound like your trying to address two issues, 1) draw heat out of the engine bay, and 2) shove cooler air into the intake tract. These two objectives cannot necessarily be addressed by the same solution.

To address #1) remove the side plates in the inner fenders next to the upper control arms ( if you really want to move air through these, install small 12v electronic fans here to extract air). You could vent the hood as shown in the above picture. Make sure there are no additional obstructions on the air path through the grill to the radiator. Build ducts between the nose and radiator to force the air through this path. Make sure the air exiting the engine bay under the car has minimal obstructions.

To address #2) the low key approach is to use a closed  air cleaner with two 3" round hoses that route to the radiator core support to get cooler outside air. Install a rear facing scoop and isolate the air cleaner from the heat under the hood to extract the air only from the scoop. Install a forward facing scoop to accept air and isolate the air cleaner from the engine bay same as previous.

If you have a problem with the coolant temperature level, then that is an entirely different matter and would subject #3) with another set of solutions.

[G-man]

Sleeper... Charger... Toretto...

Sorry to say but none of that works in the same sentence.

You don't want a wing or spoiler because then it wont look like a sleeper? Trust me, the spoiler is the least of your problems. You got a near 6 meter car there that says anything but sleeper to deal with first.

Hot air should not be a problem in the engine bay. Practically no members here have holes in hoods and nobody's charger is overheating. Have a good radiator, and that is all you need.

I don't see the point to the entire thread. Besides, wouldn't holes make it look like it aint a 'sleeper' ? THis is american muscle, not Rice. You want a sleeper, get a jap car, you are in the wrong field to begin with here.

[JB400]

Idealy, I'd agree that a Charger isn't a sleeper type car, but I do believe that a Charger could be built as a sleeper amonst the other Chargers.  Stay away from the high impact colors, and paint it white, gold, or one of the other generic colors, with a semi gloss clear.  Do a completely stock interior, and run mufflers  off of a C body.  I'd also add full wheel hubcaps and body side moldings to complete the look.

[G-man]

Idealy, I'd agree that a Charger isn't a sleeper type car, but I do believe that a Charger could be built as a sleeper amonst the other Chargers.  Stay away from the high impact colors, and paint it white, gold, or one of the other generic colors, with a semi gloss clear.  Do a completely stock interior, and run mufflers  off of a C body.  I'd also add full wheel hubcaps and body side moldings to complete the look.

I would rather a Skyline than what im envisioning that looking like 

[Toretto]

And what temps are being indicated on the guage?

Over 190 F. The gauge was over max at one point.

But he changed the thermostat this week and now the car runs cooler 

[Tilar]

Does your friends Charger have the hood insulation on the under side?  I'm not even sure that this is the correct one...



http://www.ebay.com/itm/1968-1969-Dodge-Charger-RIGID-FIBER-MOLDED-HOOD-INSULATION-PAD-w-CLIPS-68-69-/131437776166?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item1e9a4d4d26&vxp=mtr