Running a rain tray. Options

[Olympic 914]

Question on running a rain tray in the heat.

Temps here are pretty high right now, (nothing like Arizona etc. ) But once when my car overheated in traffic I pulled over to let it cool off and when pulling back into the slow traffic I left the engine lid up. I was surprised how much cooler the temps were with the lid up. So today I decided to remove the rain tray to see how it behaved in the predicted 95+ heat expected tomorrow in Pittsburgh on the way to the PVGP.


I understand on some cars, the rain tray interferes with the air cleaners. and in states like CA where rain is infrequent it may be superfluous But for the rest of us, do you still leave the rain tray on?

I can easily control the head temps either by slowing down or shifting into 4th to bring the revs up. when I do that though the oil temps rise. more than once I have seen 250 oil temps.

The engine is a 2056 D-jet with all the cooling flaps and seals in place and a new thermostat. I believe it is adjusted correctly. I will double check when it is hot to be sure I have slack in the cable. The AFR is in range and it seems to runs strong.

Back in the 55mph days it probably was fine but now rolling at 70-80 it does heat up a bit. especially with higher air temps.

I am considering one of the GT engine lids a member on here make and switching it out in the hotter months. Or maybe I will have to go to aux cooler mounted under the rear trunk. I will NOT cut up the front for a cooler.

Guess we will see what tomorrow brings.

[Racer]

imho, I have a split decision on the tray.

I've run with and without. Without cause I thought it was "cooler".. plus it gave more access to the engine compartment.

I've run with, to keep rain out.

I've not noticed any real impact on engine performance either way, hot or cold.

Let us know what you learn!

[jvmarino]

I tried a similar experiment and found that it maybe helped a little bit. I found the biggest improvement in cooling was when I installed the deflectors on the underside of the floor pan (factory design in the later cars). My engine temperature never gets really high anymore.