First off this isn't stupid stick on ones like you see covering everything these days, I'm talking real vents. Secondly I've been wanting to do this long before that became popular with either OEMs or the public. The GNX and other higher performance vehicles really is what motiviated this project on getting the heat out from under the hood and with a turbo motor planned thats doubly good. I've done up some photoshop work on my favorite white Riviera target. The options are BMW M3 fender vents which are black plastic with chrome ribs and open to begin with. Modified BMW M5 vents which are simular to the M3's but non functional and would require opening up to be functional. Finally Buick "post modern portholes" as seen on the new Lucerne and Lacrosse opened up to actually be vents instead of trim . Check out the pictures and please vote or comment. Thanks,
CTX, I voted for the M3 vents. I think style-wise it is important for the angle of the front of the vent to be similar to the angle of the front end. The current Buick vents look too small and look out of place on the fender.
Something else-I'd go for leaving the fenders alone and vent out the back-exiting out the cowl/wiper area
The problem with a vent in the cowl wiper area is the same effect as people capitalize on for a Cowl Induction scoop. There is a high pressure region at the base of the windshield which would cause the hot air to either meet resistance or be pushed back under the hood with speed. I'm pretty sure it would still be able to get out but it would be fighting the pressure zone. The ideal spot is right behind the front wheel well because of the low pressure caused by the wheel opening in the body. This actually helps evacuate the hot air and lower underhood pressure.
I have a '89 tta pace car. To further drop underhood temps, I removed the rubber hood-cowl seal. Running down the road, the heat pours out-stick your hand out and cook it. The tta windshield is raked back a bit more than the old cars
yeah, just a bit. I think you have like a 60º windshield angle while I have closer to a 40º. I'm sure I'm building more pressure since its nearly flat and closer to verticle. I might try it, seeing as the cowl seal is currently shot anyway, but I'm leaning more towards the fender vents. I love the comentary though; I like discussion.
Many of the turbo guys manually control high output electric radiator fan(s)- and run them on a long duty cycle. The heat will exit somewhere-down(especially)up-sideways
true, I'm more talking about the waste heat though coming off of the plumbing making your intercooler less effective and heating your fuel up. I'm going to be running the largest radiator I can get in there within the constraints of the core support as I don't really want to start chopping it up for a wider radiator and the car currently runs a downflow which I might have to keep to get the max core area. The fans will be a pair of Spals most likely hooked up to the ECM and a manual override. In addition for things like powertour I might install a sprayer to cool the whole system down wired to an idiot light sender to kick the sprayer on when it get too toasty under there, but I'd have to disengage it for the track.
do the gnx vents or modern port holes...i've really sick of the beemer vents...every bonehead puts them on wether its a cavlier or w/e...it's like seeing a ford of chevy at the carshow..everyone does it..
I have been looking into something like this on my 67 as well, on the side of the fender, but nothing I have tried so far looks like it belongs there. It is even harder on a 64 Riviera, because you have the "U" shaped trim pieces on the rear quarter panel, and anything you put on the front fender will be hard to match to that trim. That and the fact that all the chrome (grill, rocker panels, etc) have closely spaced horizontal lines, so for the portholes to look like they could have come from the factory, they would have to follow that same style. You might look at the chrome 65/66 big block Corvette hood vents (not the 67 L-88 style) as they are long and narrow with the horizontal chrome similar to the 64/65 Riviera styling, although they might be too long for the Riviera fender (not to mention EXPENSIVE!). The Buick Wildcats of the mid to late 60's had some interesting front fender louver/vent chrome pieces that could possibly be modified to actually vent the fenderwell, but that probably isn't what you are looking for. Let us know what you finally decided on, and include some pictures. Later, Randy
what about the oval vents off of a mid/late 50's buick special?.. they even have removable plates in them so they can be functionalo No: o No: you still gunna sell that exhaust to me?ray:
To me, the vents fight for attention with the fake scoops on the rear fenders. It's such a sleek, clean design that it doesn't call for extra detail. I would suggest old school with 50s Ventiports.
'50's ventiports are round... don't match the style of the car. These will be totally functional, a requirement for me adding them. The rear "scoops" I've considered opening up but since they are so shallow it really wouldn't work unless you deepened them to around 1" atleast and I think that would mess with the styling of the car and make the interior noisy since thats pretty much in the arm rest area of the rear seat. I'm not sure about passing that exhaust on since my Riv budget is a bit smaller than I had hoped due to a new house and the Turbo6 isn't ready for install yet. The nailhead is potentially sick so it might have to go in early though. I'll keep you updated on it.
i meant the oval fender ports like on the '56 buick special... the ports have a removable plate inside so they could be made functional... yes please keep me updated on the exhaust issue wes
My vote is for the late-model Buick ports. I think they compliment the car nicely and well, they're Buick! Devon
Randy, have you checked the '67 LeSabre/Electra vent design? I always thought they were pretty sharp, and they do show up on ebay every now and then. Devon
I voted "Something else" because you didn't have an option for do nothing. None of the 3 strike me the right way. I can't put my finger on it, other than to say you can't improve on perfection. Maybe if they were more of a thin stretched oval. I don't know. o No:
I vote for none.Part of what made the early Riv so beautiful was how clean it looked.Those vents just clutter it up. Tim
Well none isn't an option. This isn't a stylistic addition, its a functional one to get the heat out from the engine bay. I'll have to look up those '67 vents and see if I can photoshop them on.
