Anyone ever made their hood vents functional on a second gen?

[JR]

First off, i didn't know rather to put this in paint/body, or the performance section, but since this is a discussion on performance rather than a how to, I put it here.

I've beem working on reducing underhood temps as much as possible lately, and they're still higher than I'd like. On the highway theyre great, but sitting in traffic, heat builds quickly and doesn't stop until it's moving again. Never to the point the engine overheats, but way hotter than I'm comfortable with. (I have a lab thermometer ran underhood just beside the throttle body.)

So, I could explain what all I've done to combat the problem, but that's not the topic here.

I'm considering picking up a fiberglass hood for my 70, and cutting/installing louvers in the hood indentations.  (I'm not cutting up a clean, steel 70 hood, relax guys.)

I've been reading alot on aero tweaks, pressure differentials and using them to your benefit, and it seems like just behind the radiator is the best location.

I've learned that if you put them at the rear of the hood, the high pressure area at the base of the windshield can push the engine heat into the cowl vents/interior, or cancel out the effect of escaping air.

So, inside the original indentations seems like the best spot. Anyone done this before, I'd love to see some examples. The only car I can find using the same idea is Mike Moran's 69 charger that won roadkill nights recently.

[tan top]

slight different spin on this   , remember seeing on here a guy made  two air grabber doors with vacuum set up , fit / in  a second generation hood , cant find the thread at minute 

[WHITE AND RED 69]

I've always wanted to do this but just can't bring myself to cut into my hood. But I like the idea of letting some of the heat out.

I've seen these two different ones, not as extreme as the one posted above but I like em. I'd do it like Pete's charger (1st pic) and keep the turn signal in place but I like the honeycomb mesh a bit better.

I'd still like to do it one day but make little weatherproof magnetic strips to cover them for when it rains. That way it would look totally stock and then can easily be removed while driving.

[RallyeMike]

If you are "sitting in traffic" there wont be much air flow through the vents unless you plan to somehow direct it there. Is your exhaust wrapped?

[JR]

That's exactly what I had in mind White&Red. Maybe find some mesh to attach to the underside for a more OE look.

I'm using a fiberglass hood, so no clean steel will get ruined.

Mike, I'm assuming that since heat rises, it should escape through the vents on their own while sitting still.  I know when I pop the hood after a long drive, the heat escapes very quickly, and it cools down in a quarter of the time than if I'd left the hood shut.

And no, the exhaust isn't wrapped. I had bare cast HP manifolds, but just this weekend I pulled them in favor of some ceramic coated Hedman shorty headers. That should help alot itself, the manifolds radiated alot of heat.

I really like what this S2000 owner did. I figure maybe find the same mesh, paint it black to blend in with the stripes, and it shouldn't be too noticeable.

[RallyeMike]

I think to get useful benefit the holes are going to have to be larger than mail slots. One idea I had would be to exhaust the heat with electric fans/ducts out the bottom or into the wheel wells. I'll be interested to see what you come up with.

[HPP]

I did this mod on a '68 Road runner I had. Opened up the hood slats that ran along the side. They were much larger than the divots on a Charger hood though. I can say that it allowed a lot of hot air out of the engine bay. On cooler days you could see light refracting off the heat coming out of there.  Despite that, it was still hotter than Hades under the hood of that thing.

[JR]

I am actually considering cutting open the whole indentation in the hood scallops. The downward slanted portion. That should be plenty of open area.

I don't have access to Photoshop, or else I'd draw up something to illustrate it, but I'm sure you guys know what I mean.

The only real concern is, the right opening would be right on top of the distributor, which would be bad in the rain, but I'm sure i could make a cover to pop on if I got caught in the rain. Or car wash. But honestly, I rarely drive it in the rain anyways.

[Lennard]

Did you see the episode of Gas monkey garage where Aaron's race Ford Falcon overheated?
This was his solution that did the trick:

https://www.google.com/search?site=webhp&tbm=isch&source=hp&ei=HN8PWPnPDceymQH0spSYAQ&q=aaron+kaufman+ford+falcon&oq=aeron+Kaufman+Ford+&gs_l=mobile-gws-hp.1.0.0i13k1l2j0i13i30k1l2j0i8i13i30k1.3027.29209.0.33148.36.29.6.2.2.0.687.6526.0j18j8j1j0j2.29.0....0...1c.1.64.mobile-gws-hp..2.33.5009.1..0j41j0i30k1j0i10k1j0i8i30k1j0i24k1j0i10i24k1.bTfpk1-KxOs#imgdii=fMb_NnBYnyptgM%3A%3Bq8FucukHkBO9pM%3A%3Bq8FucukHkBO9pM%3A&imgrc=q8FucukHkBO9pM%3A

[cdr]

and people wonder why I have a 1970 Road Runner hood on steroids on my Charger 

[Dodge Don]

[alfaitalia]

They look great...I like the way they get more "lost" in the black panel than on the black Charger with the silver panels in the hood. The op would need them facing to the rear to aid cooling..that way they can only aid cool air intake to the carb.

[Kern Dog]

I'd like to see more pictures of that Charger air grabber, mainly underhood. It would be great if that did somehow ram air into an air filter like the Plymouths did.