Cost Efficient Mod's That Won't Void Warrenty

[Culprat]

why all the concern about the warrenty?
if you are worried about breaking something
or causeing some damage, and getting over
on DC. thats like having your fun and having
someone else pay for it.when you choose to
make a change you have to be willing to
take the heat in my book. just a thought.

Culprat

[CREWZIN]

Well, I don't know if it will do any good, but I've read this thread and went into the garage and cut the weatherstrip molding off the drivers side. I cut it half way so as to stop the hot air going into the cabin. I have an aftermarket air-induction filter that seals on the top with the hood and draws cooler air from the wheel well and bottom part of the engine. But, I can't see the harm in keeping the engine 20 degrees cooler, especially in the heat of Florida. I used 3/8 inch radiator overflow tubing, cut down the middle lengthwise to cover the metal edge of the lip without the weatherstrip. It fit right down onto the lip so I still have the gap to let out the hot air.


Trade your GAMES & MOVIE DVD's at: www.gametradingpost.net

[mich_132003]

Hi All - Anybody know of a good air injection for the Turbo. Had a K&N in my Black 01 5 Speed and loved the performance and the sound. Why arn't there any available for the Turbo yet. I asked K&N if they were planning to develop a unit for the Turbo but haven't gotten a response yet.<img src=icon_smile_cool.gif border=0 align=middle>

GT Inferno Red - Loaded AutoStik (Fun)

[Mean Green]

quote:
Hi All - Anybody know of a good air injection for the Turbo. Had a K&N in my Black 01 5 Speed and loved the performance and the sound. Why arn't there any available for the Turbo yet. I asked K&N if they were planning to develop a unit for the Turbo but haven't gotten a response yet.<img src=icon_smile_cool.gif border=0 align=middle>

GT Inferno Red - Loaded AutoStik (Fun)

PT Tuning and Airaid are working on one, probably a couple of months away. Moss Motors has an Air Max but it is $340 w/o shipping. That's a rip off.<img src=icon_smile_evil.gif border=0 align=middle><img src=icon_smile_angry.gif border=0 align=middle>

'03 Onyx Green GT 5 speed

[2sb]

Jeff, you're getting me in trouble. I don't want to start an arguement and I have the upmost respect for earringboy's engineering knowledge. Under most circumstances the air flows in the cowl not out. The air directly above the cowl is stationary and not moved by a venturi effect. It blows in as a result of the Bernoulli effect as an extension of The Law of The Conservation of Energy. That's why it's called a cowl induction hood not a cowl exhaust hood. NASCAR agrees. Air can only blow out from positive pressure under the hood or car or as hot air rising. This is while sitting still maybe while the radiator fan is blowing. Most race cars have good enough ground effects to prevent high pressure under the car. A noticeable exception was the Superbird which had fender vents to let it out. The PT's rounded nose will blow as much air around the sides as over the top and you won't be going fast enough to worry about pressure under the car.

[earringboy]

....on 'stock cars' NASCAR allows the air from the cowl area only because it is a 'clean air' area. Meaning it is the best place too draw air into the carburetor that is non-turbulent. The air is not forced into the carburetor but rather pulled into it by the engine vacuum. One of Carroll Shelby's old tricks was to adjust the hood hinges to hike the back of the hood up about an inch on his Mustangs...Junior Johnson also used this trick to extract the heat from the engine on his early stock cars. The term 'cowl' induction never intended for the air to be rammed into the car, if it had it would have been turned around called a scoop! My engineering started when I was quite young hanging around my dad's garage and junk yard. I was experimenting long before I could drive on the street...I used to have a dirt track outback and build old cars and drive circles all day...every time I blew up the engine smoke always came out the back of the hood and so did the water...if you watch NASCAR notice how when the engines blow smoke and steam come out the back of the hoods, that's why they can't see! If you will notice driving on a foggy night you can see the fog roll right out of the rear hood seam. If you really gotta know and see for yourselves pour some oil on the exhaust manifold or use a smoke bomb and test it...but please use something other than these beautiful PT Cruisers to experiment with. Trust me on this one...it exhausts out...do the windshield washer jets of water get sucked down into the rear hood seam? Jeff V as for the friction, it will be of no concern..just picture it like this. If air builds up under the hood and can't escape it creates an 'air brake' but by allowing it to escape out the rear it makes the drag coefficient of the whole moving mass much less. The coefficient on a PT Cruiser is about .38 (not to good) that's why it takes horse power and gear to get much past 120 mph. This one little modification can lower that to about .36 and when we lower the Cruiser about 1 1/2" it drops to .34 and that is about where most cars of today are at from the factory. Take a paper cup and hold it out side the window while running down the road...notice that you can't hardly hold it when it's opening is facing forward..now punch a hole in the bottom with your finger and try it. It will just glide with no resistance. Now transfer that thought over to the hood vent issue and you got it...

Inferno red GT/R-package/rear wing/5-speed

[Ian-PT-GT]

My two cents.

The strip removal works perfectly! I keep it inside the trunk so I can put it back when going to the factory. I tested the car in the strip this weekend and there was a slight positive difference with it removed. And the best part of it, the fan turned on and all the hot air exited the engine bay with no problems you could really feel the hot breeze exiting the car. I cracked the hood open just to let the weather-strip on the side and front break the seal and felt the hot air escaping everywhere around the hood. I closed it back and again the air came out only from the back of the car.

Take this testimony for what it is worth, but for me anything that you can do to get the engine air cooler will be an improvement no matter what Also my numbers in the track improved overall. 15.74 first test. 15.37 second test.

By the way I saw the potential of the engine in a quick test but, "Kids, Don't Try this at home" I pulled the Westgate vacuum line and charged the turbo in "Drive" without letting the car move and WOW!!! You can really feel the engine making power and the turbo really whining but because the waste gate was not regulating it can destroy the Turbo in a minute. Now I am desperate for an electronic Boost controller and start playing with boost. Any recommendations?

Ian

[Jeff V]

So you guys are saying (the paper cup example) that removing the weather strip not only reduces the heat buildup under the hood, but also lessens resistance?

Count me in!... (uh, the manifold issue WAS put to rest, right?)

Thanks very much.

[strangelove]

Hey Jody,

Thanks for the offer to post the modification pics, finally figured out where to put them and how to post pics here. So you can save the server space for more links<img src=icon_smile_tongue.gif border=0 align=middle>
Like I said I am still figuring out how to post pics so the following images are kind of hard to see. Can't re-shoot, cuz the mod has already been done, but I'll try to make the image sizes bigger next time.

The following pics are the modification I did to the fender well to allow more cold air to the air intake. It's my feeling that the pathway to the stock air intake port is too long, with too many turns. Here's what I did.

To give you an Idea of where I am working this is a pic of the air intake box


Remove the air filter box to see where your working


By removing the box you can see where the air port leads; in reverse-air filter box-silencer-above fender well-behind passenger headlight-behind fog light-begining just behind the air damn. Looking down the port you will see a bunch of wires, thats the headlight connections. As you can see there isn't a direct path for air to flow to the filter box.


the fender well is the easiest place to access the panel to remove it. You do need to pry it from above to wedge it out, but a good tug will do nicely, but be carefull the panel is made out of plastic.


This is what the panel looks like when you remove it. I have drilled five holes 1/2 inch in diameter. I figure that is more than enough to draw in cold air.


I then stapled and tapped a strip of window screen on the back side of the panel, to block debry such as rocks, etc.


Placing the panel back into the fenderwell is easy, just pop it back in.


What are the gains? How much horsepower + or -? Don't know... All I know is the airbox stays cooler when you drive. Must be good for something and besides it's a free modification i.e. cost efficient mod, i.e. cheap<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>

Next up I'll be posting pics of the under carriage air scoop I've been working on. Need to let the fiberglass/resin dry before I test it out. Also if someone wants to see pics of the weatherstrip mod let me know. It's pretty easy to do though.

Later

[strangelove]

Seems like there is a little controversy brewing on the strip or no strip subject, hope this clears things up a little.

The other day I tapped 1 foot strands of red sewing thread in the inside of the hood, under th wiper blades, and on the windshield. I drove for a whole day like this, obviously looking like a fool to passing motorist who kept staring at the red thread on the windshield. My results are as follows. Wind flows out as well as in the back of the hood. Not a very difinitive answer, but an answer none the less. At speeds of under 20 mph air seems to do nothing to the red strings, they would just flap back and forth, which leads me to believe that hot air in the engine bay is still exciting out the back of the. As soon as speed increased above 20 mph the red threads began to disapear under the hood, except the strings attached to the windshield and a few under the wiper blades. This leads me to believe that air is being inducted slightly in the back of the hood. Between errands I would pop the hood, observing the red thread which had been pulled into the engine bay. Repositioning the threads out the back of the hood, I did this for three more stops and the red thread reacted the same way, they always ended up being pulled into the engine bay.
This is my "Hypothisis" As the PT gains momentum so does air pressure, 20 MPH seems to be the diverging point, where air pressure above the car (above the windshield) is greater than the air pressure underneath the car(below the engine). 20 mph + air is drawn from the back of the hood from the high pressure and through the Venturi/Bernoulli effect travels between the engine parts into the lower air pressure underneath the car. The amount of air is so minimal that lift does not occure. I have gone 120 mph and have not felt any lift. And I think Ian-PT-GT can attest to this since he has taken his car to the speed track.
Hope this experiment clears anyones questions, now back to the laboratory, Mwa Ha hahaha<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>