I'm just in awe of your work as usual. That plumbing solution is incredible. Only thing is... what's the deal with that buggered rivnut?

A few thoughts having gone through a few iterations of this.


Consider moving the bend points further up the vane. You don't need to have much, if any of it sticking up above the hood: air flow from the front will still find most of the face due to rake of the hood.

Use large radii on the twisted points to reduce tendency to tear.

Be aware of the crown of the hood and where that will put the trailing (upper) edge of the vanes. With the curvature in the direction you have it, the trailing edge of each vane will be proud of the hood on either end and low in the middle.


This is what I am running, with the trailing edge of each vane the same height from the hood, uniformly 3/16" higher than the top of the surrounding frame. That required I run the vane curvature in the opposite direction from what you are.

Click to view attachment

Thanks again, I owe you one...

With my current focus seemingly "all things radiator", I went back to thinking about venting. I really don't want to open up the fenders so I figured I'd better prove out the hood vent, one way or the other.

No offense to the approach of "cut the front and sides then bend down the flap to create the vent". I just wanted something different from that so it was back to CAD to see what I could come up with.

The first pic is a piece I made just to get a REALLY rough idea of what things might look like.

The CAD drawing is what I'm going to cut later today. Note the vents remain attached to the frame via those small-ish connections on each side. The vents will be twisted at those points and set to the proper angle.

The small notches at the front edge of the vents is where a piece will fit in that locks them to the desired angle and adds stability.

The whole contraption will attach to the underside of the hood.

Let's see how this works out.

If I may offer a point of criticism (or at least, an opinion): The square shapes and 90 degree angles of the 914 don't lend well to triangles or curvy accents. I used a more brutalistic square shape for my front hood opening and, as simple as it is, the straight lines lend themselves to the rest of the body features. Scoopes, bezier curves, triangles, anything 'organic' really goes against the taxonomy of the design, in my humble opinion.

more fuel

Chris you are an inspiration. The quality of your work and your creativity are top level.

It really takes on a totally different look once the vanes are tipped.

Now to cut the opening in the hood. And before you give me a hard time about sacrificing a hood, the one I'm using for this was in an accident that bent its support structure, it's got a bunch of filler on it and it has rot in a number of places.

Why don't you just put your hood on the plasma table and have at it!?

Why don't you just put your hood on the plasma table and have at it!?

Bonus points if I can use it as a mold to make it in carbon and bond it to the carbon hood!

Yeah, like that. But I mean, I can't just BUY one! You guys would never let me get away with that... poke.gif

Previous version (top) vs latest. The latest has:
- wider frame dimensions because the previous frame looked a bit "light"
- trailing edge radius flipped. This is the element that's giving me the most trouble. I'm struggling with what works best with the 914's design elements. I think I like this better but it may be that a simple, straight line is the way to go...
- leading edge radius modified to better match the hood leading edge
- fastener/rivet holes

This whole "design" thing is soooo time consuming. I second guess every change.
And the whole "I have to make it and see it on the car" isn't helping!

Chris,

What about welding/flushing it into the hood so the outline isnt there?

I always kind of liked what byndbad914 did with his hood vents. They are somewhat flush mounted (really lower mounts with rivets, but frameless). A bit more agressive than yours though.



http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=204965
http://www.negativereinforcementracing.com/update.htm

This whole "design" thing is soooo time consuming. I second guess every change.
And the whole "I have to make it and see it on the car" isn't helping!

I wonder if engaging @Optimusglen might be a good idea? He is hugely talented and great to work with.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/lofiversion/i...hp?t281607.html

That is coming along quite nicely especially once those strakes are installed. Compound angles like that throw by brain for a loop so that's very impressive.

How would you feel about moving them outward towards the edges and adding a third strake in the center?

P.S. I'm tempted to take that one off your hands to put on my stock -4 just cause it looks so cool

I was thinking the same thing. That is such a great looking piece ( ) that I was thinking how cool it would look on the garage wall in the event I ever got another 914 and ran a front oil cooler or radiator.

@Nogoodwithusernames - I worry it'll get too busy looking with more strakes. In the end, they simply stabilize the vent blades and, functionally speaking, I could likely get by with one per side, but I'm liking the way it looks with two. Again, I need to look at it for a few days and see if I change my mind.

I'm liking very much what you're doing! Yeah, a third strake will likely make it too busy. The vent I created for mine just doesn't go well with the car, and have definitely warmed-up to the louver concept....just been struggling with how to configure it around the existing hood opening (don't want to cut/weld/repaint). I don't recall his business name, but there's the guy that started making these for the GT40's replicas a few years ago, and has expanded offerings to other cars.

Masterful work overall! Car will be a showcase of fabrication prowess. Good on you!
Andys