E30 Zone

Ive been considering cutting a bonnet vent into my driftcar

before the flaming starts this is a function over form idea thats possibly going on my touring skid car this isnt a pretty car its been built to be used and abused looks is no issue

obviously heat builds up quick when drifting and wondered if anyone had any thoughts on wether this would help with keeping the engine a touch cooler and if so the most plausable place for it to go

any thoughts welcome

cheers
Si.

Chop the front valance behind the bumper so there is a big gap for air? Or atleast hole cut it.

bonnet vents are not only to get heat out of the engine bay. they also reduce front lift.

Just remove the bonnet?

UweM3 wrote:bonnet vents are not only to get heat out of the engine bay. they also reduce front lift.

Here's mine, I had these done years ago, works well to keep the engine bay cool, you can tell it works when the elctric fan kicks in and the hot air escapes from them.


Rav

Yep as jhonno says just remove the bonnet.

Held on with 4 bolts IIRC and is a 2 minute job ( you will need another person for assistance)

oldroydsr4 wrote:Held on with 4 bolts IIRC and is a 2 minute job ( you will need another person for assistance)

My track car's bonnet is detatched, take it on and off all the time by myself simple enough on your tod. Pop the bonnet forward and you can reach the 4 bolts with out hastle. Once undone give it a big hug and lift it off.

Couldn't you just pop the bonnet using the release lever. That should vent it enough.

cheers for the replies

im going to hole cut the front valance aswell easy job that one

the bonnet is being 'lightened' (removing structure underneath) and fixed in with pin's, and the pop up mech im going to remove, i could remove it for drift day's etc, but i do plan on keeping this car and maybe completing in it next yr which is going to require a bonnet

was thinking more along the lines of bypassing the hassle of removing it etc or running with it just popped up on the catch, just swap wheels and play

the other reason the bonnet release mech is being removed is i plan on fitting something with slightly more power next winter and 2 more cylinders , and during this im going to remove and rebuild some of the front end which will be doing away with the standard bonnet hinge etc

How about raising the rear of the bonnet? It would 'suck' the hot air out of the engine bay rather than forcing cold air in. All you'd need to do would be to raise the rear thingys that the bonnet wheely bits locate into

raising the rear usually does very little to help under bonnet temps.

the base of the screen is a high pressure area, which tries to push air in, which is why your heater air intake is there

bonnet vents which actually work to pull hot air out are usually a foot or so past the front egde of the bonnet in a low pressure area so hot air is 'pulled' out, which reduces under bonnet temps, and increases the flow through the radiator.

have a look at vents on other cars which were put there for a real function, mitsi evos, delta integrale evo, ford gt40, metro 6r4, pug 205 t16, bmw m1 etc most of those have shaped ducts under the holes and so need some airflow over the surface of the bonnet to work properly.

i dare say that on a drift car which spends a lot of it's time at funny angles and reletively lower speeds just cutting some big holes and covering with mesh over the hot spots will make a noticable difference. i'd be adding a long strip vent, say 7 inches tall, and the full width of the radiator on the bonet between the radiator and front of the engine, and maybe another, or some louvres above the exhaust manifold.

i have seen pics of an e30 with an m1 style bonnet vent which looked pretty cool and followed the lines of the bonnet well.

harry_p that's the vent you are talking about

http://www.competitionconcepts.com/HoodVent.html

si- wrote:the bonnet is being 'lightened' (removing structure underneath) and fixed in with pin's, and the pop up mech im going to remove, i could remove it for drift day's etc, but i do plan on keeping this car and maybe completing in it next yr which is going to require a bonnet

was thinking more along the lines of bypassing the hassle of removing it etc or running with it just popped up on the catch, just swap wheels and play

the other reason the bonnet release mech is being removed is i plan on fitting something with slightly more power next winter and 2 more cylinders , and during this im going to remove and rebuild some of the front end which will be doing away with the standard bonnet hinge etc

Where exactly are you going to complete in it?! With it cut about and banged up from diffin'?!

If you are putting it on pins anyway there is no hassle in removing the bonnet

Why would you need to remove the bonnet release mech to fit a 6 pot/ V8 depending on your current lump?!

I removed the hinge pins and machined flanged bolts with a security pin to remove the bonnet. Saves me the hassle of adjusting the bonnet.
Just need to add a dry brake into the washer jet pipe.
I was even thinking about to move the washer jets onto the wiper arms to make live more easy

Where exactly are you going to complete in it?! With it cut about and banged up from diffin'?!

If you are putting it on pins anyway there is no hassle in removing the bonnet

Why would you need to remove the bonnet release mech to fit a 6 pot/ V8 depending on your current lump?! [/quote]

well figured that if im going to secure it with pins then all that guff up the front is not needed so bin it build a slam panel/semi space frame type deal, and in the mean time change the lump foe something V-shaped with bits missing should make it easier.

cut about and banged is what im hoping to avoid, i have an aspiration to 'compete' thanks for spotting the typo, Mike Gaynor seemed to do pretty well on a budget, he had the talent to back it up but we all gota start from somewhere

harryp - what you've mentioned on the placement of the vents is pretty much what i had in mind just wanted to see if anyone had any input to back up my theory

cheers fellas

im with bonnet and wing velours. get a few on the directio of air coming in and on the wings put some on the direction of leaving air.

gives a quite nice look and is extremely functional.

UweM3 wrote:harry_p that's the vent you are talking about

http://www.competitionconcepts.com/HoodVent.html

That's what I'd do, or just cut a hole in that position for a cheaper alternative

i think thats pretty much where im going for i think,

cheers for all your help and input fellas