My Legs Are Hot

[Big Jim]

Go for the : 2329 8 slot @ £15+ each

[Guest alan rowe]

thanks Jim and Andy for the info, advice and web site link - much appreciated

 

I've now got to decide the right size that locates well on the bonnet sides

 

One last question to Jim -- IF I decide to locate in the side panel rather than the bonnet, what adverse structural affect might I be making to the strength of the body assuming I use a 3 or 5 louvre version (ie not too large)

 

Alan

[Big Jim]

It may be fine, but I'm somewhat rough on my car, in other words, it gets used & abused! Also, me being of the 'economy model' sized persons, the poor thing needs all it's strength, so I am very reluctant to cut big holes into what is actually the load bearing panels of the car.

When I first got the car, the sides used to warble like Rolf Harris's Wobble board, until I put a brace on each side.

You will in time find that the monocoque car will start to 'crack up' at the weld area's, or where too many holes have been drilled.

[Guest alan rowe]

BJ -- thanks for the info and discretely well put !!!!!!!!

 

Alan

[Guest Rob Walters]

I have prety much blocked up all the holes from the engine bay and I have some vents to fit into the bonnet from a boat yard so thanks to every one for the input.

We have just come back from touring round France and it was about 40 deg C, blocking holes made this a lot more bearable also moving the rad into the nose cone with an electric fan made a big difference to the engine cooling.

 

The reason for the post was I got speaking to a Caterham owner a few weeks ago and he had suffered the same hot legs plight, he fitted a small computer fan just above the rear end or the front mud guard, this was sadwiched by a vent on the out side and a sliding vent / grill on the inside to seal the car if required, he was really pleased with the mod so I thought I would pass the tip on.

 

Once I have fitted the bonnet vents I was thinking of doing a similar mod to the computer fan and putting a vent / grill inbetween the battery and the foot pedals so when it gets colder I could benifit from the engine heat (instead of putting a heater in) has any one done this before or got any thougt on this ?.

 

One other thing on the first dayin France it chucked it down and we got soaked, this was better once we put the soft top on but everything steamed up, any ideas what works best to make this better ?

 

many thanks

 

 

Rob

[Jon Bradbury]

Rob

 

Hmm... You probably don't want to use engine bay air to warm your feet up in winter. It will probably smell awful! Steaming up with the roof on is pretty much unavoidable in a car that is already wet inside and especially if it has a small cockpit. Air conditioning is the only answer I'm afraid.

 

I had a whacky idea of fitting home made fins to the exhaust manifold, boxing them in and then passing cold air through the box and then into the passenger compartment. I don't know if I'll bother with this; it seems alot of hassle for no gain (over, say using a normal heater matrix) but it's fun to consider in a kind of Heath Robinson sort of way. I can do this, by the way, because I have the DOHC kit with the exhaust on the passenger side (and there's quite a bit of space round it too).

 

The real problem to my mind is obtaining a source of cold air without allowing water to get into the cockpit. Most cars do this by putting a sealed off area between the firewall and scuttle with a vent in the top of the bonnet and rubber trim to seal it from the engine bay. This has drainage pipes to empty any water out that gets through the intake vent, with the fan mounted above the bottom so it doesn't pick up water.

 

I do not think it would be possible to build something like this into a Hood. There is not enough space.

 

Andy -

 

It looks like you have cold air vents in your bonnet. What's underneath them? Can you post a piccie please?

 

Also, that is a Suzuki DR-Z 400S trail bike. I am using it to commute into London (120 mile round trip... sore botties) and its pretty much the biz. I had a 600cc sports bike before that but it never got used. At least with the DR my wife is confident enough to have a go (she's got a full license too).

 

Cheers

 

JonB

[Guest Peejay]

It should be possible to put holes in the monocoque, using a 'hole cutter', so that they are perfectly round. If you have the long wings you can put them under there and they will hardly show... heep them away fron the wing munting holes tho'. Not done this but have seen a V6 with it done

 

Pete