whatdat
05-16-2001, 06:10 AM
Purchased from Kolak (duh) hood vents and splash guard baffles from a pontiac grand prix GTP. Total cost: Cheaper than 5.9 vents.
First of all, the pieces. I recieved (promptly, of course. Thanks Nick! At 4pm in the middle of a party, natch. Thanks, UPS!) PUlled out of the box two white nylon/gelcoat hood vents, two bottom units which connected to the vents, complete with honeycomb metal grilles. All pics showing the vents still white or black on the chargold ZJ are just set on the hood for looks. No screws to attatch the bottom to the top, 6 required per side.
The preinstall: Set them on the hood, and moved them around till they looked good and closely straddled a single-thickness section of the hood, roughly where the 5.9 louvers go. Put lots of blue painter's tape (a quick, clean release masking tape) over the hood where they would mount. Set one on the hood, drew the outline with a marker, marked the mounting holes. There are 6 posts sticking down from the vents into which screws are threaded from the bottom vent sections. I marked the location of each of these posts with the marker.
The cutting: I drilled the holes marked earlier, and connected them with a jig saw. Lots of emotion at this point. The tape protects the hood paint from the bottom of the jigsaw. Clean easy cut.
The installation:n I installed the vent into the top of the hole, fit perfectly. Tried to attatch the bottom piece, had interference. It was hitting the hood brace pieces (the large X in the bottom of the hood) and I cut the offending pieces off. Now it fit well. Unfortunately, after I trimmed the underhood insulation, the aforementioned insulation blocked most of the vent holes in the bottom piece. So I got out the 2" hole saw and put 3 holes in the bottom piece. More cooling!
The painting: I scuffed the entire surface of the vents with 150 grit sandpaper, and applied black duplicolor truckliner bed spray. Leaves a black, hard, flexible, pebbled surface, somewhere between matte and gloss. Not exactly satin, more like wet asphalt.
The other one: I measured the location of the original hole, transferred those measurements to the other side, and repeated the aforementioned process.
Outcome: Sweet! Looks nice (not 5.9 nice, but it's not 5.9 expensive) understated, not like a huge lookatme hood scoop. Functional, not stick on cheapies. Well made; they are designed to cover a 3.8l 240 HP 280lb/ft supercharged V6. They won't melt or deform with heat or age. Functionality: Hell, I can't give you real numbers. My engine still gets to 210 (or just below) and stays there. Objectively, it works. My AC seems colder, the fan clutch doesn't seem to keep the fan spinning as much, and after a 20 mile, stop&go/70mph combo trip home today, in 75 degree weather, bright sunshine, my hood was cool to the touch in the center. I'm talking, the same temp as my wife's car that stayed in the driveway all day. Directly in front of and directly aft of each vent the hood was hot, but directly over the engine was cool. I figure this means it works. Also way cool to sit at a dead stop in traffic and see the shimmer of the heat coming out of the vents.
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=104408&a=12904832&p=48571428&Sequence=0&res =high
click for all the pics (http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=104408&a=12904832&f=0&sp=0)
First of all, the pieces. I recieved (promptly, of course. Thanks Nick! At 4pm in the middle of a party, natch. Thanks, UPS!) PUlled out of the box two white nylon/gelcoat hood vents, two bottom units which connected to the vents, complete with honeycomb metal grilles. All pics showing the vents still white or black on the chargold ZJ are just set on the hood for looks. No screws to attatch the bottom to the top, 6 required per side.
The preinstall: Set them on the hood, and moved them around till they looked good and closely straddled a single-thickness section of the hood, roughly where the 5.9 louvers go. Put lots of blue painter's tape (a quick, clean release masking tape) over the hood where they would mount. Set one on the hood, drew the outline with a marker, marked the mounting holes. There are 6 posts sticking down from the vents into which screws are threaded from the bottom vent sections. I marked the location of each of these posts with the marker.
The cutting: I drilled the holes marked earlier, and connected them with a jig saw. Lots of emotion at this point. The tape protects the hood paint from the bottom of the jigsaw. Clean easy cut.
The installation:n I installed the vent into the top of the hole, fit perfectly. Tried to attatch the bottom piece, had interference. It was hitting the hood brace pieces (the large X in the bottom of the hood) and I cut the offending pieces off. Now it fit well. Unfortunately, after I trimmed the underhood insulation, the aforementioned insulation blocked most of the vent holes in the bottom piece. So I got out the 2" hole saw and put 3 holes in the bottom piece. More cooling!
The painting: I scuffed the entire surface of the vents with 150 grit sandpaper, and applied black duplicolor truckliner bed spray. Leaves a black, hard, flexible, pebbled surface, somewhere between matte and gloss. Not exactly satin, more like wet asphalt.
The other one: I measured the location of the original hole, transferred those measurements to the other side, and repeated the aforementioned process.
Outcome: Sweet! Looks nice (not 5.9 nice, but it's not 5.9 expensive) understated, not like a huge lookatme hood scoop. Functional, not stick on cheapies. Well made; they are designed to cover a 3.8l 240 HP 280lb/ft supercharged V6. They won't melt or deform with heat or age. Functionality: Hell, I can't give you real numbers. My engine still gets to 210 (or just below) and stays there. Objectively, it works. My AC seems colder, the fan clutch doesn't seem to keep the fan spinning as much, and after a 20 mile, stop&go/70mph combo trip home today, in 75 degree weather, bright sunshine, my hood was cool to the touch in the center. I'm talking, the same temp as my wife's car that stayed in the driveway all day. Directly in front of and directly aft of each vent the hood was hot, but directly over the engine was cool. I figure this means it works. Also way cool to sit at a dead stop in traffic and see the shimmer of the heat coming out of the vents.
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=104408&a=12904832&p=48571428&Sequence=0&res =high
click for all the pics (http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=104408&a=12904832&f=0&sp=0)