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Posted by: Highland Aug 14 2021, 08:57 AM

I'm guessing it's been tried, but is there a downside to forcing fresh oncoming air into the engine compartment? I've read that removing the rain tray does not help cooling which tells me the 2 engine compartment side vents are more than adequate to feed the centrifugal cooling fan; so perhaps increasing engine compartment air pressure and reducing relative air temperature would help.

So don't laugh too hard at the pictures It's a first pass attempt.

I did a couple of runs on my normal joy ride and am qualitatively seeing about a 5 to 10 degree head temp reduction and quicker cooling to normal temps after an uphill grade. Also cruising at 65mph in 5th I'm seeing about a 10 degree reduction in steady state temperature. I have a big hole in the back due to a 3D print problem and my duct tape keeps on flying loose so not getting full duct air. I just have a VDO head temp gauge on #3 plug. As many of you know the VDO has 50 degree hash marks; so not real accurate reads.

So is it correct that head temps are not affected by outside air temp, that's an oil temp thing?

Has anyone tried this? The stock grating is still in place. Can I be doing any harm?

Posted by: SO.O.C914er Aug 14 2021, 09:06 AM

I’ve been trying to think of ways to bring more air to the motor but was looking at coming from the underside….Paul

Posted by: Craigers17 Aug 14 2021, 10:13 AM

Kinda reminds me of the old swamp coolers.....only for your engine.

Posted by: arbitrary Aug 14 2021, 10:35 AM

Years ago I played around with a data logger and a fairly sensitive air pressure sensor - would be interesting to see if the air pressure in the engine compartment is affected by removing the lid completely.

Posted by: Mikey914 Aug 14 2021, 11:05 AM

I think he’s on to something here. The area is a lower pressure, so simply removing the lid would change airflow, but forced air from the edges would really add movement in areas that should benefit from it.

Posted by: Chris914n6 Aug 14 2021, 11:22 AM

The rain tray is not a tight fit so plenty of air flows thru that section too.

The MR2 aftermarket has a nice looking air duct.

It is a general consensus of opinion that the area over the engine lid has slightly lower pressure.

Posted by: Highland Aug 14 2021, 11:25 AM

I think Jake R said removing the rain tray made no difference to engine temps, so I doubt removing the lid would improve fresh airflow through the fan.

I'm just guessing here but my assumption is the airflow over the engine fresh air intake area does not provide an efficient supply for the engine compartment. By forcing air into one intake port, I'm hoping to provide a flow of fresh air to constantly evacuate the engine compartment (through the opposite port and seam leaks) and provide positive pressure to the fan intake.

I do need to redesign the intake for better fit, mounting and printability. Still learning the capabilities and limits of the 3D printer.

Didn't want to reinvent the wheel if someone has already tried this and has results. Also wanted to get opinions if I could cause harm to my car of which are not obvious to me

Posted by: Montreal914 Aug 14 2021, 11:32 AM

I would use a temperature compensated thermocouple setup on your #3 spark plug instead of your VDO gauge.

The VDO gauge, although good looking, has the connections between the K-Type TC and the voltage leads in the engine bay which will basically give you the temperature delta between your engine bay temperature and your head temperature, which is not accurate.

Using a new ring type TC with longer thermocouple wires would allow you to make that connection in the cabin which would be cooler and closer to room temperature (temperature at which the gauge is factory calibrated) but still hotter in the summer time than room temperature.

Having a temperature compensated gauge will ensure your head temperature measurement is accurate no matter what your surrounding temperature is.

In your current setup, changing the ambient air temperature in the engine bay may affect your reading independently of the head temperature.

The results of your investigations are only as good as the quality of your measuring setup. Good luck with your project!

Posted by: Olympic 914 Aug 14 2021, 12:01 PM

Although I have no scientific evidence, My personal experience differs.

One day my engine was overheating sitting in stop and go, to mostly stopped traffic on a local interstate highway. I had pulled over to let the engine cool, and opened the engine lid to facilitate that.

When pulling back into traffic I neglected to close the engine lid and being on the highway I just continued driving with the lid up. I was surprised how much cooler the engine ran with the lid up. ( I did have a rain tray installed)

Since then I installed one of Sergio's GT lids and have noticed that my head temps stay much cooler in the hot summer weather.

In the winter, I reinstall the regular lid with rain tray.

Posted by: 914werke Aug 14 2021, 12:38 PM

Perhaps Im dense. What are you trying to accomplish? Reducing head temps by adding/forcing cool air to the top of the engine (presumably to feed the impeller fan)?

Posted by: barefoot Aug 14 2021, 02:20 PM

Here's a much more accurate thermocouple set-up.



Components: J type TC with 14mm spark plug ring & 10' extension, Cold junction compensated digital readout all very inexpensive, look on E-Bay

Posted by: Highland Aug 14 2021, 02:37 PM

That's good to know. Thanks for the information.

I know the VDO gauge is not that accurate, but at least for the year + I've been using it it has been consistent. My understanding is that higher engine compartment temperatures would cause the VDO to read low. I can't imagine forcing fresh air in would lead to higher ambient, so at least my gauge will error "conservatively".

As to what I'm trying to accomplish: Just trying to find another way of improving our cars. I actually don't have an engine temperature problem, but lower head temps is always better. I guess the bottom line is I'm just playing and thought I'd share

Posted by: JamesM Aug 14 2021, 03:18 PM

Are you running a pair of these?

https://914rubber.com/floor-pan-air-deflector-for-914

Rather than addressing the low pressure on the top of the engine, these are supposed to make the pressure lower under the engine to help pull the air through.

If I recall its been tested and having these in place does make a difference.

Posted by: moto914 Aug 14 2021, 05:00 PM

+1 on Sharing cooling ideas.
+1 on bringing air from below.
+1 on having the air deflectors.

Posted by: maf914 Aug 14 2021, 05:16 PM

Highland,

Interesting approach to forcing more air into the engine bay with your 3D printed scoops. I would think that well shaped scoops would help as it has been stated before that the area behind the 914 roof and targa bar is in a low pressure area. I am surprised the original 914 design did not include some form of ram air intakes for the engine compartment. The scoops you have made remind me of a more extreme idea, that Joe Sharp 914 Ranch has been developing in his build thread. Check out his scoop design beginning on page 16 of his build thread.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=315484&st=300

Posted by: wonkipop Aug 14 2021, 06:16 PM

biggest problem a 14 has got is getting rid of the hot air out from underneath it when it is sitting running in stop start traffic in hot conditions? man it builds up under there in aus on a hot day. turns into a bubble of hot air under there all the way to the tops of the rear guards. engine tin seal rubber needs to be in very good condition to keep it under the car and out of upper engine bay where the fan can suck it straight back in - would be a bad feedback loop.

ok on the move with the air deflectors doing their job mentioned above.
almost like you need an extractor fan underneath some days in australia?

no getting around that the car was designed for european and north american climate.

standard vws with rear engines could start running notably hotter down here on extreme days - and they could discharge exhausted cooling air straight out the back and not trap it underneath. always used to back off in my old bug and squareback, drive it at 50 out on the highways in high summer super hot days. thats when they all blew up.

i avoid driving in high summer here. UV/southern hemisphere ozone depletion will get you anyway, so no fun. australia. if the spiders and the snakes don't get you the sunburn will.

-----

wondering if anyone in the USA has ever had that experience of sitting at the lights, on a warm day, and puff of wind blows and then a bubble of hot air dumps into the cabin if you have the roof off. just having been blown out from under the car. if you weren't sweating allready...........

Posted by: JeffBowlsby Aug 14 2021, 09:29 PM

Read these 914 aerodynamics papers:


Attached File(s)
 zTN_GEN_AerodynamicAids.pdf ( 276.51k ) Number of downloads: 100
 zTN_GEN_AerodynamicAids1.pdf ( 1.4mb ) Number of downloads: 93

Posted by: Chris914n6 Aug 14 2021, 09:53 PM

Not a good idea. The air on the street is 20F hotter.

Posted by: Krieger Aug 14 2021, 10:18 PM

I've been thinking about this too for my track car. Maybe placing a deflector on the aft end of the roof. Something maybe 18 inches or so wide that sticks up about 4" above the roof line and spaced 3-4 inches behind. Not a scoop, but just brings air into the engine area

Posted by: Chris914n6 Aug 14 2021, 10:55 PM

There is a flaw in that paper. It is physically impossible for a significant amount of air to flow upward on a stock car.

Posted by: wonkipop Aug 14 2021, 10:57 PM

good stuff mr. b. you have some good gear/research you have accumulated.

air flow along flanks of 914 confirms vw thinking on the old type 3.
the long louvre vents on rear guard flanks of those were into plenums that then fully seal ducted cooling air and induction air into the engine. they never had any tin-ware separating lower engine from upper engine. just a separated ducted cooling intake.

you want to keep your cooling air intake as far from your heated air exhaust as possible in everyday conditions of stop start go slow traffic. i reckon porsche got it right for the 914 as an everyday car (except when it comes to something like death valley/and or/australia). fortunately you don't get caught in traffic jams in death valley?



as an aside, 917s just had a dirty big hole in the top and the fan sucked it straight in.
and they were going at 230mph. no ram tube etc for cooling. they might have been trying to ram induction air in later on.

Posted by: nein14 Aug 15 2021, 08:32 AM

What about these on a quarter with GT flares

Posted by: Mikey914 Aug 15 2021, 08:33 AM

I'm interested. We could thermoform some ducts that could be easily installed and removed without damage to the body. As noted in the aerodynamic studies there is a backward flow of air on the deck. Ducting to the sides would allow for cool air to displace stagnated air at a much faster rate. This should help with cooler Temp air supplied to the intake and fan housing. Resulting in a higher air density and cooler air over the head and cylinder fins.

As another member noted the aerodynamic quiet spot just past the firewall needs to be broken up. The air deflectors do this quite well. We added tip vortex generators to maximize the efficiency.

These are a pretty simple add to any car.
https://914rubber.com/floor-pan-air-deflector-for-914

We include the hardware too.

The LE spoilers also help.


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Posted by: Superhawk996 Aug 15 2021, 09:02 AM

The papers are very cool - thanks to @http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showuser=104 for sharing them. I have not run across these before.

With respect to which way air flows, that is a limitation of the modeling. No effort appears to have been made to account for the flow into engine compartment induced by the crankshaft fan and I don’t think I saw sufficient model detail to account for actual underbody geometry and the underbody air deflectors on OEM. Focus of the paper real was on determination of Coefficient of drag. I may have glossed it too quicky and will re read later.

Overall I guess I’m still confused by the OP purpose of wanting more air flow on a strrret car. If it is in trying to make an air-cooled engine run at the same oil or head temps as a water pumper, then it’s just tilting at windmills. Air cooled engines simply run hotter due to the cooling dynamics involved.

If his car has some sort of overheating problem, it would be wise to find root cause of that rather than trying to re-engineer the air flow. But I applaud the experiments!

Posted by: mlindner Aug 15 2021, 09:08 AM

Mikey, just installed your air deflectors on my 6 GT Tribute, very nice product and easy install. Also having good engine tin and rubber seals to body keeping lower engine heat out and all top cool air coming in going over cylinder/heads. Best, Mark

Posted by: Literati914 Aug 15 2021, 09:52 AM

Seems to me that the main heat issues (on a street driven 914) is when stopped at lights, traffic jams, stop-go traffic - ON HOT DAYS. As was mentioned, that heat really builds up under there. So the scoops to me wouldn’t be as important. Getting heat out from the underside of the tin might be nice though… what about some small fan arrangements under there that help to expel some of that heat? Maybe programmed to run off the oil temp sensor? And/or some modern type of heat shielding between the exchangers and engine? Just my thoughts on the subject, ymmv.


.

Posted by: 914werke Aug 15 2021, 10:22 AM

Posted by: Literati914 Aug 15 2021, 10:37 AM

Did y’all miss the above statement? Nothing wrong with trying to improve the situation right?


.

Posted by: 914sgofast2 Aug 15 2021, 11:32 AM

Anyone tried gluing strips of yard to the top and sides of targa area where the low pressure spots are located so a scoop or spoiler could be used to direct air into the engine grill?

Posted by: JeffBowlsby Aug 15 2021, 12:21 PM

Next question? Thse are al found on my 914 Classic site under Vintage Photos.




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Posted by: 914_teener Aug 15 2021, 02:29 PM

Wow..never seen these before. Just goes to show you that they knew what they were doing when they originally designed the body in white car.

When I first read the title of this thread...I don't think you want "higher pressures" in front of the fan. Like Mark said...you want lower pressure as this is a forward curved scroll fan. If turbulence is created around those tips, the fan becomes less efficient at doing this. Thiink of an airplane wing here. You might get cooler air but I seriously doubt you will get cooler engine temperatures by doing that as fan efficiency will be sacraficed. This is why the deflectors are there at the end of the body pan.

I had a side project where I was going to use exothermic paint on the cylinder bores and heads where the tips and exposed surfaces of the fins were not. I was also going to insulate the HE's exteriors and use exothermic on the tubes. My thought was to gain the difference in the exhaust and make the HE's more efficient and gain heat at the same time. Sold everything to Rob -Beat Navy and I think he went a different route with his car.

I think as designed the car does pretty well disapating heat. I used to drive mine over 100 degress often and never had any issues. I did run without the rain tray though during the Summer becuase of idling in traffic.

Posted by: BeatNavy Aug 15 2021, 03:01 PM

Hey Rob!

I put an external ceramic coating on those HE's and have been meaning to put them on my ride. I don't know whether the welding repairs or ceramic coating cause a fitment issue, but I could never get them to seat on my heads. Just wouldn't go over the head studs, so rather than fighting it I just kept using my SS HE's.

Just before I recently dropped my engine (to fix a failing oil pump ) I gave them another test fit. I aggressively ran a rat tail file thought the ears, and I think I finally have them so they'll work. I'm excited to see how they work and if the ceramic coating reduces heat transfer directly under the car in any appreciable way. Should get them on this week.

I agree with Literati914. My car's head temps are great, even when not moving. But my car's oil temps really spike without significant air movement under the car on hot days. I feel like the oil "cooler" is just cooking the oil over the HE's.

Posted by: 914werke Aug 15 2021, 03:18 PM

It does. I did the same thing some 10 or more yrs ago with a NEW set of SSi's. It both reduced the the under car temps...some, & noise associated with the thinner construction SSI's but also DRAMATICALLY increased cabin heat production to the point even with the best sealing I could muster Id get some radiant bleed through the tubes into the cabin when off/closed.

Posted by: BeatNavy Aug 15 2021, 03:26 PM

Sweet, good stuff Rich. Except the part about putting heat in the cabin when you don’t want it!

I’ll follow up with my observations at some point.

Posted by: 914_teener Aug 15 2021, 04:48 PM

Hey Rob:

Hopefully not a thread de-rail....but good to know you are still doing it and hope to collect on that beer...hopefully Springtime. I'll send ya a PM if I and when I make an East Coast tour. Love to see you new engine set up.

The idea was to exothermicaly coat the inside and outisde of the exhaust tube and insulate (ceramic coat) the outside of the stock HE's shells. Like insulating your house you would get better thermal scavaging in the cylinders and while at the same time getting less heating in the engine bay during hot weather....and maybe better heating from the stock set up. Don't know but that was the thought.

Posted by: wonkipop Aug 15 2021, 05:15 PM

a detail i used to notice about vw type 3s was the difference between air grille intakes on a notch versus a fastback. the fastback had them on the flanks and shared its rear guards with the squareback. it would have made mass production economic sense to also share the rear guard set up for the notch but they didn't.
it must not have been aerodynamically good for the inflow into air intakes on the flanks.

the 914 is similar to the notch in a way. its a blunter rear to the cabin turret.




there was no difference in the rear profile rake of a 4 door 411/412 or a 2 door fastback.
somehow that rake must have better suited intake vents on the rear deck lid.
it is interesting where they position those vents on the various cars dependent on rear profile.

having said that, a 911 is a fastback shape and has the intakes on the lid, so the type 3 fastback is a bit of a mystery to me.

they didn't have any choice with the squarebacks, no other place but the flanks.

Posted by: djway Aug 15 2021, 09:21 PM

I have contemplated the same thing for my T4 powered Notchback. Low pressure zone behind the rear window is the location for the air inlets. Think 70's F1 for inspiration

Posted by: Shivers Aug 16 2021, 05:58 AM

Seems to have good air flow on the rocker and they come in fiberglass. Could pick up some cool air with a scoop and think brake cooling ducts. That size from each side would bring in some air with out over pressurizing the engine bay. (someone mentioned fan issues) Maybe like this: Red is exposed, blue is inside with start collar and orange is the flex tube to a small collar added to let air into the engine bay.

Posted by: Jamie Aug 16 2021, 09:42 AM

Works well on a Cayman!

Posted by: Mikey914 Aug 16 2021, 10:21 AM

Honestly,
The best cooling is probably obtained by increasing oil quantity. The 72 I bought out of Reno used to carry a canoe on top and drive up to Tahoe. It has an external oil cooler mounted behind the trans axle. Good for 2 more quarts of oil+ cooling.


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Posted by: JmuRiz Aug 16 2021, 10:35 AM

And worked well on the Ferrari BB

Posted by: johnhora Aug 16 2021, 11:06 AM

Another pic of the engine lid airflow...



the quick and easy is to:

add 914 Rubber's air deflectors (what factory did for 914-4)

add one of Sergio's GT engine lids (what factory did for 914-6 GT)

and if it's still a problem.. the as mentioned oil cooler which also adds capacity (what the factory did for 914-6 GT)

Posted by: Superhawk996 Aug 16 2021, 05:56 PM

There really is no need for guessing what is possible.

Spent a few minutes online to help frame the scope of what could hope to be accomplished.

Here is the defining equation for convective heat transfer (air cooling) and the associated cooling coefficients for air vs. water.



Now let's look at how much the heat transfer would increase if you could get a 50 40 degree decrease in inlet temperature vs. what you currently have. Assumed a head temperature of 300F and ambient air of 110F as baseline.



Now let's look at what the increase would be if you could go from 110F right into a refrigerated box at 30F.



And most importantly - lets look at what happens if you have poor engine sealing and start recirculating hot air from under the engine back to the fan intake.



The end game should be obvious. More to be gained by ensuring the engine is properly sealed vs. trying to bring in cooler air.

Likewise, the switch from air cooling to oil cooling (or water) is a 30 times more efficient solution as far as heat transfer goes.

Still applaud the experiments and agree some improvement is bettering than none. Just wanted to put some numbers and percentages to what is feasible rather than speculating.

Posted by: Maltese Falcon Aug 17 2021, 12:22 AM

I tried this simple air scoop attached to the right side targa sail panel in the early '80s; it worked well enough to feed cold air into an intercooler mounted near the battery tray.
After the (undersized) intercooler blew its hats, I just mounted the largest available Spearco/Blackstone intercooler, popping through the rear trunk. At speed that brought an intercooler temp differential of over -100°f between inlet and outlet of the cooler.

Posted by: wonkipop Aug 17 2021, 01:26 AM

@http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showuser=22428

great set of figures, good explanation.

tells partly why VW kept moving the inlet vents on kombis higher.
sitting around in stop go traffic you don't want to be sucking exhausted hot air straight back in the fan, even from outside the car. feed back loop is possible.
(though there is some aero stuff going on too, the early louvres would not have been so great at speed, not that speed was something kombis could achieve).



@http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showuser=50
the sexy ferrari flank vents aren't necessarily there for cooling. might be for induction air? or brakes. don't know enough. but the main cooling stuff is up the front as per even model Ts. same goes for the boxster.cayman. different problem from air cooled car where a lot more air volume is being moved in and exhausted out from a not so great location in the car - about half way down the sides.

re suggestions for rocker intake vents for cooling 914s.
ok on the move. but would be not so good in stop and go traffic.
perfectly for exhausted cooling air blown out underneath to get sucked back in via feedback loop at ground level when stationary. just like having leaky engine tin?

an oil cooler a long way from the engine with maybe a fan assist is more effective than anything else after good engine tin seal. my old german vw mechanic back in the 80s used to say, zis is not an air-kueled kar, zis is an oel kueled car. he was kind of right. he offered that as an explanation for why type 3s always blew up more than beetles in australia. the oil cooler was very compromised where it was positioned in the type 3 engine. its not compromised in a type 4, they actually thought about it properly by then.

EDIT - i've remembered there was a fad for fitting aftermarket fibreglass/plastic scoops on type 3s in australia in the late 70s/early 80s. you put them on over the long flank vents on the fastbacks and squarebacks. turned out they were a not so good idea in city traffic aus hot summer driving. word was they inhibited air flow intake in stationary conditions. wasn't like the propellor fan on a type 3 was a work of genius either trying to draw air through a smaller cross section opening.
might have been ok on the highway as a ram intake. probably forced cooled harder than the dumb fan.
thats not to criticize the side grill vents suggested in this thread, they are not reducing the cross sectional area of the intake.

Posted by: stownsen914 Aug 17 2021, 06:05 AM

Aircooled engines need all the cooling help they can get. 914s are a bit more compromised than 911s due to the engine placement and not getting great airflow there. Aircooled engines depend a lot on oil cooling, including for the heads. Granted they are essentially "splash cooled" by oil, but keeping the oil cool prevents the convective head transfer to the cylinders and heads that would otherwise occur, and type 4s run pretty hot.

But air does help too. On the racecar (mine has a 6), I put a NACA duct in the front hood and ran a 7" diameter duct through the cockpit, and I get noticeably lower cylinder head temps. This is a common mod on raced 914s. Not practical for a street car, I realize ...

Posted by: Literati914 Aug 17 2021, 11:30 AM

I wonder to what degree this effect is diminished, if at all, when running with the top off. I understand that these cars don’t run hot with the roof off but it’d be interesting to see what the yarn does. Maybe no difference but you’d have to think that the long roof run helps with the low pressure swirl of air.


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Posted by: 914sgofast2 Aug 17 2021, 01:08 PM

Seeing that picture, I am wondering if a small lip spoiler mounted to the rear of the roof would encourage more air to flow onto the engine compartment.

Posted by: arbitrary Aug 17 2021, 02:04 PM

Apologies if I’m missing something but isn’t low pressure over the engine lid of limited use? Wouldn’t low pressure there tend to reduce the air pressure in the engine compartment which is counter productive to cooling and engine air supply?

Posted by: brant Aug 17 2021, 02:05 PM

2 cents from my experiments with added air.

We used the air feed to run to a cooler

version 1 was a scoop below the firewall
version 2 was this scoop out the passenger side window

Version 3 was an electric fan


all 3 were measured with a temp gauge on the cooler, run on the track, multiple weekends...


the electric fan out performed both ram air scoops

I'm just saying... add an electric fan if you want to on the engine lid
but these are not likely to make a big difference on your head temps
I think the ram air from the front (big 6inch pipe through the length of the car) would be the only one that would show a significant improvement.





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Posted by: PCH Aug 17 2021, 04:06 PM

Maybe the hell hole is just the poor over heated car trying to cool itself.

Posted by: PCH Aug 17 2021, 06:12 PM

Superhawk996 is right on. The most important thing is that engine tin is well sealed and there is no pressure loss from the high pressure area which is the area between the cylinders and the engine tin. Air leaks can occur around the spark plugs and through the holes that are present for the spark plug cable holders and any other holes or joints. These unsealed holes will rob the cylinders of the high pressure cooling air that the fan has forced in.

Posted by: wonkipop Aug 18 2021, 03:43 AM

right on @http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showuser=22772
and @http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showuser=22428

there is a fan in there...........
and it doesn't want to be sucking in anything hot, or blowing anything hot where its not supposed to be, because....... its a pretty good fan. and its supposed to be a ducted cooling system, there is nothing passive about it.

Posted by: KSCarrera Aug 18 2021, 08:02 AM

At the last hillclimb event 10 days ago, it rained (well, it is the UK). I had a pair of GoPros fitted, one facing to the rear, allowing me to watch the way the water droplets moved as the car picked up speed. Those on the decklid were drawn forward towards the grill but those on the panel ahead of the grill remained pretty well static except when cornering. Max speed on the hill around 70mph.

https://youtu.be/shsi-iYdO-8

Posted by: Highland Sep 10 2021, 04:40 PM

Even though my scoop experiments to date have been yielded poor results, I felt like I should give an update; mostly cause all the input I received was useful in trying to improve what already is adequate cooling.

Based on your input I put thermocouples at the fan inlet and between the tin and engine where the stock CHT is.

Today the ambient temperature was about 75F. I ran with and without the scoop. My fan inlet temperature was about 100F and the CHT ran between 110 to 120F depending upon rpm.

With the engine off and parked in my garage the temperature started to climb. I didn't watch it till the temperature rise reversed, but the fan probe (basically engine compartment) got to 135 F and the probe by the CHT got to about 270F. I took a mini leaf blower and blew into my scoop getting my fan probe to drop about 15F (to about 120F); and yes, it did rise back to 135F after I removed the leaf blower.

The scoop I used was resigned for better flow and directed air to the fan, but I think it still lacks efficiency and capacity to make a difference. Those side vents are awfully small for 914's fan compacity and based on some of the comments it seems the air flow from the vents to the fan are poor.

Oh well, back to the drawing board.

Posted by: bbrock Sep 10 2021, 05:43 PM

I disagree. I would call these excellent results. Okay, so the result wasn't what we hoped, but you had an idea and tested it with actual data! How rare is that?!! My hat is off to you for providing useful data to build on. Thank you.

Posted by: r_towle Sep 11 2021, 03:16 PM

The fan will only move a fixed amount of air, or CFM
Adding air won’t change what the fan can push.

Adding flaps underneath, like the factory did, creates more suction which helps the fan work better.

This is an oil cooled car, air assisted.
If you live in a hot climate, I would focus on oil cooling.

Consider the newer Boxster and 911 with split coolers up front underneath each headlight,
Look at the real estate you can get under those areas with a two row or three row cooler, then add “finned” tubing to route the oil up and back, and best the tubing inside the outer rocker cover.

You would be amazed how adding oil cooling, and like Mark said, adding the additional oil capacity, will dramatically help cool the motor.

Posted by: Superhawk996 Sep 11 2021, 04:20 PM

the fact that you're gathering and analyzing the data!

Posted by: brant Sep 11 2021, 05:30 PM

Posted by: Dave_Darling Sep 11 2021, 07:22 PM

One point that some seem to be forgetting is that the air in the engine bay is usually pretty hot. Getting cool fresh air in there can only help.

Demick did some tests and found that air at the side of the engine bay was significantly cooler than air in the middle of the bay. He was able to drop his intake air temps by 10F or 20F by building a different intake snorkel, and he said he could get most of that benefit just by turning the stock air cleaner half around so the snorkel pointed off to the side of the bay.

Anecdotally, we have seen improvements in some cases. John Rogers (see some of his Tech Articles over on Pelican) put a deflector across the back of his roof panel, and saw cooler engine temperatures on his race car.

Charlie Davis looked into different cooling setups in terms of oil temp, and documented his attempts and findings here: https://members.rennlist.com/chuxter/TempTests.htm

--DD

Posted by: Rand Sep 11 2021, 07:44 PM

I'm late to the game so flame me. #1 You cannot force air into a type 4. No, I don't mean you can't turbo one, because that you can. But you cannot force air into an engine bay and hope for results. Duh, it takes a pressured chamber.

You can direct cooler air perhaps. But it's been measured before.

I love it when new people try old things. One of these days, somebody's gonna make a breakthrough! But not if you are talking about air flow in a 914 engine bay.

Remember, it sucks. MUCH harder than you can blow. So bring cool air to the intake. Don't expect to pressurize it with "aero effects."

Posted by: wonkipop Sep 11 2021, 09:52 PM

interesting remarks and data.

all the type 3 and type 4 vws ran cold air induction intake via ducting.
no snorkel drawing engine bay air like 914s.

when type 3s went over to dual carbs in the mid 60s the engines ran cooler than the single carb 1500s. even the fuel and air intake has an effect on cylinder head temps and cylinder head valve train cooling in an air cooled engine. small effect admittedly but i understand significant enough to cure some of the overheating problems the early single carb versions of the 1500 pancake motor.

regarding @http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showuser=13418 measurement of the fan shroud temps after switch off.
the fan shroud gets very hot. its because its magnesium. the heat in the aluminium crankcase, iron cylinders etc flows into the magnesium and radiates from there. the fan shroud is basically a heat sink after switch off. heat flows from iron to aluminium to magnesium via conduction cascade. i'm not sure it means much for engine operation because as soon as air starts being blown through it, it cools very fast.
if you put your hand on the fan shroud just after switching off its in fact very cool.

i'm sure the fan shroud is the principle reason 914s suffered from so many hot start, fuel vaporization problems early on. that fan shroud sat there radiating intense heat right at the fuel pump and fuel lines after you parked your car. a great deal of the heat in the motor was drawn to the fan shroud and then lost through radiation from there.

Posted by: emerygt350 Sep 12 2021, 05:42 PM

Having cooler air in the engine compartment can only be better, however,you should have an in and an out. I would suggest in on one side (ram) and then an out on the opposite (over the battery). One ram facing the air flow and the other getting pulled by the slip stream. Cycling the hot air out of the engine compartment will give you cooler air over the engine and cooler air into the intake. No need for any crazy physics or pressure differential equations. Fresh, cooler air, cycling through the engine bay is better than passive flow. That said, how much of a difference it makes? I dunno, give it a try and see. Easier than mounting a fan perhaps.

Posted by: emerygt350 Sep 12 2021, 05:44 PM

Dbl post