Engine Compartment Venting?
 

What are the drawbacks of hood vents. Does moisture coming through the hood and into the engine bay cause concern.

How difficult would it be to do functional side vents through the fender? I've seen lots of Honda's with BMW style side vents, Im not sure how functional they were. But there are a few different styles of side vents.

I was thinking about putting hood vents on my 92. I figured that heat would escape easier, and any extra moisture would simply cool things down a bit (to a point). Being a self-proclaimed electronics genius though, I have been working on a motorized louver-flap thingy design to seal off the vents when parked, in the rain, etc. But that is simply my humble, untrained, 17 1/2 year-old opinion.



(BTW-This is my first post...........WHOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOO!!!!)

Welcome....and I'd say those vents (cheese graders) aren't functional on those after market honda things. How about a top mount intercooler instead? :D

Cut your hood and put in some GTR style vents.

hmmm, I wonder how hard it would be to make a hood scoop with one of those universal ones.... I'd use a junkyard hood, of course :) .... a top mount IC would be groovy :)

Top mounted is a step in the wrong direction. Hot air rises, and top mount intercoolers suffer from heat soak. This is why the Subi upgrade is to move to a front mount. You want to mount you intercooler in the coldest place in your car. Besides, with clearances on our motors it would be very difficult to place.
I like my stealthy look. The appearance of "hood add on's" defeats that immediately.
In the engine bay, it would be easy to plumb some ducting through from behind the washer bottle and radiator reserve.
Now I am just looking for a "stealthy" functional side vent design that will look appropriate for the protege fender.

Oh, you're right... somewhere along the line I picked up the misconception top-mount is better. :)

Well, I have a hood scoop on my 91 LX and I haven't found any drawbacks to it (even with driving in the rain the water doesn't get to the filter). The scoop sits directly above the filter and I've noticed that when the car is already moving, it offers a little more pickup thanks to the "fresh air" it is getting.

Here is a picture to give you an idea:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...1/fd035329.jpg

Adam
91 LX

i vented my hood like 2 weeks ago. i got 2 triangle vents on the top of my hood. 1 is like right above my air filter and the other is on the other side above my power steering tank. i put mesh then plexiglass over them so if i want them to actually vent i just take the plexiglass out. they actually work you can feel the intake suckin in more air. i gotta take more pics then i'll get them on.:stickpoke :ak47: :chef:

LTRKSTR, I would like to see some pics of the hood top and underneath if possible! 4drmiata, I am trying to vent not induce, but good info on the rain. I'll have a NACA duct mounted in the lower engine shrowed and piping into the air box from the front bumper for induction, besides the turbo does the sucking, so I just have to provide it cool air to suck from!:D The NACA duct is there instead of a scoop so it doesn't ingest anything from the road;) I just need to get the extra heat that the Turbo produces out of the engine bay to minimize heat soak of the intake pipes. I guess I could just insulate them but, I don't like the "hockey tape" look. I may go to a combination of fender & hood vents. I figure the hood vent works best while sitting at a light, natural convection will allow heat to escape. The fender vents, I would like to vent from the back of the engine bay if possible, on the firewall just behind the strut towers, but I don't want to degrade the structure for the struts. I figure the fender vents are better when moving because the air blowing through the rad would naturally push the hot air to the back of the engine compartment. Where the fender vents would suck it out.

Rick