Latest car pictures....

[rj35pj]

82358236823782388239Here are the latest progress pictures of our coupe #536. Any comments, questions, or criticism is welcomed.
Thanks,
Bob

[riptide motorsport]

Nice nice work!!!

[kabacj]

Very tidy work Bob. I like it.

John

[Tim Potts]

Nice and clean. I like the air cleaner, do you have tubes planed for it?

[rj35pj]

Nice and clean. I like the air cleaner, do you have tubes planed for it?
Tim,
Yes I do. All the newer cars talk about cold air intakes to improve performance and gas mileage, I can just imagine the build up of heat up close to the hood where the air filter is plus I'm just trying something different. I want the car to look race ready even though it won't be a true track car.
I don't plan to fit the tubes until I have all the aluminum work up front done and then I hope it looks good.

[Garry Bopp]

Lookin' good! Very nice work!

Garry

[Jacob McCrea]

That looks great, Bob. Among other things, I really like the covered switches on that panel between the trans tunnel and the dash. I'll have to remember that when I get to wiring. Keep up the good work.

[skullandbones]

Tim,
Yes I do. All the newer cars talk about cold air intakes to improve performance and gas mileage, I can just imagine the build up of heat up close to the hood where the air filter is plus I'm just trying something different. I want the car to look race ready even though it won't be a true track car.
I don't plan to fit the tubes until I have all the aluminum work up front done and then I hope it looks good.

Even if your plans don't include racing, you sure could have fooled me. I would call it a "race car". Again, that's very clean and neat work! WEK.

[loeffler1]

beautiful Looking!!! I can't seem to get my head wrapped around this shroud issue. By the looks of your photo you have blocked about 20% of the radiator's capacity to cool. How can a fan that is rated for a certain CFM draw more air in than it is capable of? The fan really only works when standing still, but when on the road the airflow through the radiator suffices and this has effectively been reduced. Now on a conventional automobile the shroud is deep and curved and the fan is rated for the particular radiator's capacity. But this shrould is rather shallow with very flat surfaces. Seems the air would just stagnate in the corners. I took a copy of your photo to a engineer friend of mine who has an HVAC business and he said the radiators capacity has been decreased with this design, the only effective cooling area is that circle that the fan operates in. Of course that's his opinion. I sure would like an engineer to explain to me how a shroud helps. Time will tell, I guess once you get it on the road.

Bill

[rj35pj]

beautiful Looking!!! I can't seem to get my head wrapped around this shroud issue. By the looks of your photo you have blocked about 20% of the radiator's capacity to cool. How can a fan that is rated for a certain CFM draw more air in than it is capable of? The fan really only works when standing still, but when on the road the airflow through the radiator suffices and this has effectively been reduced. Now on a conventional automobile the shroud is deep and curved and the fan is rated for the particular radiator's capacity. But this shrould is rather shallow with very flat surfaces. Seems the air would just stagnate in the corners. I took a copy of your photo to a engineer friend of mine who has an HVAC business and he said the radiators capacity has been decreased with this design, the only effective cooling area is that circle that the fan operates in. Of course that's his opinion. I sure would like an engineer to explain to me how a shroud helps. Time will tell, I guess once you get it on the road.

Bill
Bill,
I appreciate your comments. I am no engineer and your friend may have a very good point. My hope was that the air would rush through the fan area creating greater flow even when the fan is not "on". The fact that my shroud is flat and square may not be the answer...... If I have to revise this shroud or ditch it all together would not be the first time something didn't work out. :o If I left it off life would be simpler and my aluminum around the radiator would fit without modifying. I suppose if I did have a more funnel shaped shroud it probably would work better, but I don't know that I can make one. This is why I like others to question what I have done.
I really only made the shroud because of running AC. hmmm.....

[rj35pj]

beautiful Looking!!! I can't seem to get my head wrapped around this shroud issue. By the looks of your photo you have blocked about 20% of the radiator's capacity to cool. How can a fan that is rated for a certain CFM draw more air in than it is capable of? The fan really only works when standing still, but when on the road the airflow through the radiator suffices and this has effectively been reduced. Now on a conventional automobile the shroud is deep and curved and the fan is rated for the particular radiator's capacity. But this shrould is rather shallow with very flat surfaces. Seems the air would just stagnate in the corners. I took a copy of your photo to a engineer friend of mine who has an HVAC business and he said the radiators capacity has been decreased with this design, the only effective cooling area is that circle that the fan operates in. Of course that's his opinion. I sure would like an engineer to explain to me how a shroud helps. Time will tell, I guess once you get it on the road.

Bill

Bill,
Thinking more about this, with all the other aluminum duct work around the radiator maybe we all have a shroud already, pulling the air in through the nose and passing it out ahead of the engine. The opening in front if the engine was one of the features that made me go for the coupe in the first place. I think I'll take the shroud off.....anybody need a good cheap shroud?? :)

[xlr8or]

Putting the shroud on the back of the radiator makes the fan more efficient when the car is stopped or at slow speed by only allowing air that has been sucked through the radiator to be pulled by the fan. The pulling fan effectively creates a low pressure area inside the shroud so you will still get air circulating through the corners but not as much with that flat shroud. When at speed the airflow is forced through the radiator by intake shrouding and the fact that it is in the way of the moving air. Obviously to maximize this you want some shrouding in front of the radiator to direct it through instead of over and around it. The fan shroud really isn't going to hurt this as the air that makes it through is far less than what hits the front of the radiator, not to mention how much the air gets slowed down by the A/C condensor.

[Fluge]

Bob...I like your work! It all looks good to me but then again, I do ask a lot of questions.... ;)

I used the Breeze shroud for my install. It is a little thicker and it has the tapered sides. I would think that would improve airflow. Adding the shroud is more work than deleting it but now I have the option of using it or not. Removing it is easy and requires no other changes. In fact, the next time I have things apart, I may even mount the fan to the rad so that the fan mounting holes are there should I decide to delete the shroud later.

Tough call for me at this point but I can try both ways and see what the difference is. I do like the cleaner look with the shroud.

Marc
http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss56/DDOVERDT/2012030443.jpg

[Stengun]

Howdy Bob,

The shroud looks great!

It's not going to restrict your airflow at highway speeds enough to make any difference plus it will pull all of the fan's air through the radiator while stopped or at low speeds.

I like the aluminum angles that you used to trimmed your shroud for a neater look.

Paul

[rj35pj]

Paul,
I used the aluminum angles because I don't have access to a sheet metal break and I knew I wouldn't be happy wtih my bends. I took the shroud off today....I can put it back on...now I'm just wondering which way to go.

[loeffler1]

rj35pj

I would suggest to get the car on the road and find out whether or not you have an over heating issue. If not drive it and enjoy it!! If you do, address it at that time. I ran mine for about a half an hour when I had an air bubble in the system that I finally got rid of (another story) and never had a problem with overheating and without a shroud. Fan came on normally and everything was OK.

Bill

[rj35pj]

rj35pj

I would suggest to get the car on the road and find out whether or not you have an over heating issue. If not drive it and enjoy it!! If you do, address it at that time. I ran mine for about a half an hour when I had an air bubble in the system that I finally got rid of (another story) and never had a problem with overheating and without a shroud. Fan came on normally and everything was OK.

Bill
That is good advice and that is what I'll do. Thanks.