Hood Mod
 

Ok, so I am going to ask a stupid question that has had me puzzled. I have a 97 z28 that has stock hood. It has what I call "two louvers" on either side? I'm assuming these are just for decoration because they are solid with some kind of plastic inserts that I have no idea why they are there. Here's the brainstorm- Could you cut into those "louvers" and allow airflow to the engine? I know everyone says to go to ram air/ ss induction hood but I don't want to change style. I already have CAI, so this in theory would allow a little more air to surface area of motor?

97 drop top z28 LT1- Kooks ss headers, Moroso CAI, Magnaflow Catback, SLP airfoil, and more to come...

I have thought about doing that but since they are so far up the hood I think it would make that much of a difference.

A free test would be to remove them and the insulation to see if under hood temps decrease.

Behind the plastic inserts is the fiberglass piece they mount into. You'd have to cut those out as well. The real issue is moisture getting in, and one of those vents is situated really close to the PCM.

Thanks, sounds like I wasn't the only one thinking about this. I'm just wondering if you cut out only a portion of those "vents/louvers" and left the the holes to where you could stick the plastic inserts back in you could test whether our theory works? Therefore, if things go bad you could plug it back in and probably wouldn't hurt anything. That was a good point about moisture- not sure what you do about that.. I feel like someone has done this before but no one seems to know.

I did this when I first got my Camaro. No real temp difference; just made them look functional.

No real benefit to these hoods. I did the same thing to my IROC when I had it and it worked great. The 4thgen hood however, won't.

Looks ugly and junky without the fake grills on them. Leave it alone.

yes it does lower temps http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/appear...ood-scoop.html

It looks like crap, don't do it.

It's annoying that so many people think taking a dremel to a 4th gen makes it better.

"Hey, I have an idea, I'll take off some things that look good, put a couple of big ugly holes in the space they occupied, and then complain that my engine bay is absolutely filthy from nothing preventing dirt, leaves, and bugs from getting in it every time I drive. I'll also complain that my PCM has gotten wet from not doing anything to help prevent it from getting wet. I'll choose to ignore that my hood and many of the underhood components are made of steel or iron and I'm raising the chances of them having rust. And oh, I'll make my car unphotographable, because now my car looks like a junkyard POS with the vents cut off and the brackets visible. For my next project, I'm going to dremel a hole in my head to allow my brain to breathe better. I heard it can get rid of migraines because some culture in Africa or India or some crap does it and it's legit and tight and kewl. All I gotta do is cut the hole and wait for the skin to grow back over the soft spot in my head." :rolleyes:

make sure you put a vent on the back too so that you get the Ram Air affect.

Yes you could cut them out- but the little amount of airflow difference that it is going to make is hardly worth all the trouble its going to cause.

My car has the "big block stinger" style or whatever you want to call it on it. The cowl was cut out on the under side by the previous owner so now you can actually look from inside the car, under the cowl and see a small glimpse of light thru the headlight buckets. Plus with the addition of the FMIC and tubular K-member there is considerable more airflow getting to the motor. The motor is set to run and stay at 185*. I can tell you that after driving the car it is still hot as @#$# under the hood. Yeah it prol wouldn't be as hot as a stock hood but I don't think it makes that much difference.

Cutting about 3 sq inches total of possible airflow vents in your hood is not worth it. Take of your hood insulation if you haven't already. That will do more to reduce your underhood temps than a couple tiny cuts could prol ever do.