On a cmc louvre deck lid there is not an inlet for air to get to the engine. Is there any benefit in cutting or drilling holes to allow for air intake flow through the louvres or is it not necessary? If it is a good idea then I need suggestions on where to cut or drill the inlets.
Thank you,
Renfrance
Replies sorted oldest to newest
If you were to measure the square inch of the grill vs the square inches of the left and right openings under the deck lid the openings are larger. You could do additional opens. 
Do you mean louvers like this lid? (Don't recall CMC offering them back in '90s).
Yes - you could leave the rain shield (center portion) and Dremel out the lower portion of each louver.
Renfrance.....post a photo of the underside ofyour engine bonnet........Bruce
Under the grill on the engine cover is what's called a "Rain Tray".
If it was properly made during the car build, then there should be big openings on either side (left/right) of that rain tray to allow air from the grill into the engine compartment. If they are not there, then it's relatively easy to cut them out, using a Dremel tool and a 3/16" rotary hasp. It's probably best to just free-hand it, if you have a steady hand, but I would expect you to find them, instead.
Let me know if you need a photo of what they're supposed to look like and I'll take a shot for you.
@Gordon Nichols posted:If they are not there, then it's relatively easy to cut them out, using a Dremel tool and a 3/16" rotary hasp.
Important to note to anyone doing this: Make sure you use an honest to goodness N95* mask or, better yet, a true ANSI-approved respirator to do this. Inhaling glass fiber is extremely harmful to your lungs. AFAIK, it’s not a carcinogen like Asbestos, but like asbestos once it gets in your lungs it stays there.
After I watched the safety films at school, I wear an N95 mask even when I drill fiberglass.
*There are numerous YouTube videos about how to insure your mask is fitted properly and doing what it’s supposed to do. Pointless to wear one if it’s not fitted and properly sealed.
Wish I'd have known that yesterday when I was sanding fiberglass (gelcoat).
@Lane Anderson posted:Wish I'd have known that yesterday when I was sanding fiberglass (gelcoat).
Sorry. Sanding is (slightly) less dangerous, because of less airborne particles than a rotary grinder, but still.
I think gel coat might be less dangerous than airborne glass particles, but inhaling anything other that fresh air is a health risk.
I failed to wear a mask when drilling a couple of holes a few days ago. I must have inhaled some because I could smell it.
Thanks for the reminder.
Don't do as I did by not giving serious though about the effects of casual body work, primers and finish coats. For a quick coat of primer on a fender etc. I would hold a shop rag against my face, for big applications I'd upgrade to a near worthless paper mask. Do wear a mask even hand sawing or buffing a small piece in a vise, sweeping the floor ( mask on) and do hose the garage floor clean often. Forty five years later it has, caught up with me. Sucks to have coughing spasms when you're trying to have a conversation or laughing and when it gets bad enough, have to breath into a wet hot wash cloth to calm the coughing spasms. Then there's the Rx inhalers even with insurance are costly but do help.....some. Everyone has cleaned parts (and our hands) with brake cleaner, lacquer thinner etc. Skin tissue absorption has serious health consequences too. Keep in mind that both lung & organ damage are irreversible ... Period !
good advice, dont forget ur ears too,,plugs are cheap insurance
I'm still on a life-long study program thru USC. I get checked every 5 years. The study started back in 1979 when it was thought that Stoddard Solvent is a hazardous material. Now it is. Anyway the only thing they think I may have developed from using that stuff daily for parts washing is a first stage heart block. It hasn't gotten any worse in 10+ years. When I die they will do a very thorough scientific autopsy. There were 30 of us in the original group. Half are already gone. They don't tell us what they find.
I kinda think that a lot of us are still here in spite of all the dumb things we did when much younger.
Personally, I look back on dumb stuff I did and am AMAZED that I've lasted this long.
@aircooled Bruce just reminded me of some solvent I used to clean ink platens on old, mechanical cash registers when I was in my teens working for National Cash Register for a year. I can't remember the name of the stuff, but any callouses on your hands just dissolved over time to smooth skin. Made my high voltage RF burns from my Ham Radio transmitter just melt away. Only decades later did they ban the stuff for being carcinogenic.
Carbon tetrachloride? I remember playing with mercury - coating pennies to look like dimes. Melting lead to make fishing sinkers and toy soldiers. Playing with lead toy soldiers (don't recall chewing on them). Living in 150 year old house with lead paint and asbestos. Replacing brake components using air compressor to blow out dust. Both parents smoked Camels when I was young. Washing out my sail boat cabin (mold/dirt) using bleach and laundry detergent (nasty chlorine gas cloud inside). Washing engine parts bare handed with gasoline/kerosene and eventually Varsol. I was going to paint a car with IMRON (but they wouldn't sell it to me - takes full body suit and pumped in air respirator). Remember grinding off pounds of Bondo body filler with no mask. Cutting pressure treated lumber with no mask or gloves - burning left over wood. Cough, wheeze, sniffle.
I could have been a Carl Sagan or Albert Einstein --- save for these mis-steps.
When I was a kid, every time we went to the dentist he gave us mercury to take home and play with. We too coated pennies.
