Hillbilly cooling mods

[SapphireGTS]

An easy, do it your self, 0 cost mod. For those that dont mind taking a saw to their precious $70,000 car. You may laugh but it really works!

Reduces under hood heat pressure. You can see the heat dissipate through the hole. When finished will have a door that seals the hole when wipers (or another switch) are on. Working on another setup to draw more air into the engine compartment and flow out of the new hole.

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Below. Helps in cabin heat by allowing air to flow through the sills.
BEFORE:

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AFTER:

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yes my car is that dirty.

 

[Snake Bitten]

...yes my car is that dirty.

OH MY GOD!

 

[SapphireGTS]

Thats what a weekend in Motor city will get you. All that dirt and 2 broken exhaust hangers.

 

[plumcrazy]

Im not a fan of cutting like that in the hodd but the screens in the sills are nice. Im curious to heqar how ya like them after awhile on the street. Do you drive in the rain?

is it me or is that sill crushed on top near the screen?

keep us posted on this one.


nice going

 

[SapphireGTS]

is it me or is that sill crushed on top near the screen?

Man. You got a good eye. That is a reflection and dirt. It sure does look crushed in that pic.

I dont make it a point to drive it in the rain but if I get caught in the rain I dont think anything too bad will happen. My motor may just get a little dirty.

Cutting in the hood was a little nerve racking but I had a HUGE hole cutter that I just put on the drill and it was done in 1 min. The body trim piece sure cleans it up.

 

[Russ M]

I think your Viper privalegs need to be revoked. There is no excuse for the condition of that poor car.

VCA is sending a hitman after you as we speak, and they come armed with ZAINO.

 

[SapphireGTS]

that was after a trip to detroit
Here is how it looks as of 1 hour ago.

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Girlfriend spent 2 hours polishing the wheels. What a woman. I tried the 3 stage McGuires for the 1st time. Works really well. Easier than Zaino.

Hope that makes you feel better!

A little dirt never hurt anything. Right Chucko?

 

[plumcrazy]

""Hope that makes you feel better! ""...yup, sure does..lol

gotta love a gal who wil spend time like that on a set of rims....granted those rims are great looking.

 

[SapphireGTS]

VCA is sending a hitman after you as we speak, and they come armed with ZAINO.

Bring them on. Ill beat them into submition and they will be my car wash slaves. Ill lock them up in my garage - Rick James style

 

[Snake Bitten]

SapphireGTS...How wide are your fronts?

 

[99 R/T 10]

How did you trim out the top?

 

[garolittle]

If you are really careful with the saw you could turn that GTS into an RT/10. Now that would be cool.

 

[SapphireGTS]

How did you trim out the top?

It just door trim from Pep Boys.

 

[genXgts]

man your car looks great in those pics, what a color!

are those not Ohio plates though??

that first shot shows off the lines that only a GenII can pull off, I love it.

 

[DChan415]

So have you actually noticed any difference with those mods?
If there was any difference in cabin heat... I'm all for it.

 

[FE 065]

What kind of rims are those?

 

[Ron]

Don't try this sill mod on a 1996 or 1997 Viper (and maybe others) as the sill insulation is not backed with metal, i.e. the raw fiber is pressing up against the inner sill. The result is that it never dries, (gets wet even when you wash the car) and sill corrosion will occur from the inside out.

Later Vipers have fully encased sill insulation that should make a mod like this feasable, though I chose to accomplish a similar effect by funneling air from directly behind the radiator fan into the sills. Enables flow when in traffic as the rad fan blows some into each sill even when stationary.

 

[SapphireGTS]

So have you actually noticed any difference with those mods?
If there was any difference in cabin heat... I'm all for it.

Helps in cabin heat quite a bit. Also when I open the hood after driving its not so insanely hot in there.

are those not Ohio plates though

They are Ohio plates. Im in Illinois right now. Cops dont hassle me for not having a front plate (i guess they dont know ohios laws) Also Ohio does not have emission testing. Comunist Illinois does.

What kind of rims are those?

forgline SX3. 18 inch. I put new springs on which helps the wheels look good. They are a great wheel and not very expensive.

 

[YouWish]

If you are really careful with the saw you could turn that GTS into an RT/10. Now that would be cool.

Why would you want to downgrade a Viper?

 

[SapphireGTS]

If you are really careful with the saw you could turn that GTS into an RT/10. Now that would be cool.

Why would you want to downgrade a Viper?

I have some extra door trim left. Ill probably do T-Tops. I always liked the lines of the mid 80s IROC

 

[zoomie]

Ron,
details on how you funnelled the air ?? photos ??

 

[SapphireGTS]

Don't try this sill mod on a 1996 or 1997 Viper (and maybe others) as the sill insulation is not backed with metal, i.e. the raw fiber is pressing up against the inner sill. The result is that it never dries, (gets wet even when you wash the car) and sill corrosion will occur from the inside out.

Later Vipers have fully encased sill insulation that should make a mod like this feasable, though I chose to accomplish a similar effect by funneling air from directly behind the radiator fan into the sills. Enables flow when in traffic as the rad fan blows some into each sill even when stationary.

Good point Ron. I did not know earlier cars had a set up like this. The newer ones have fiber encased in a metal shield.

 

[Richard K]

We Detroit drivers don't mind you out of towners driving on our pristine highways, but we draw the line at taking home our dirt!

 

[SapphireGTS]

We Detroit drivers don't mind you out of towners driving on our pristine highways, but we draw the line at taking home our dirt!

Robocop made me do it.

 

[Ron]

Here's a shot of the 1996 ~ 1997 sill insulation. Easy to see why it holds moisture:

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These next images are of how I got air into the sills. Less volume perhaps, but also less moisture and works even when idling as long as the engine fan is on. Sean Roe's fan timer would make this even better.

More of a prototype... if after I take temp measurements I find that it really works (rather than just make me feel good) I'll redo it properly. Follows my rule of "do no harm" i.e. no drilling, cutting or anything done that can't be completely undone.

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[REDSLED]

Wow, that's the cleanest underside of a Viper engine I've ever seen

 

[jcaspar1]

Must have been a late 97 upgrade as my 97 (built 11/97) has the metal insulation.

 

[slaughterj]

Must have been a late 97 upgrade as my 97 (built 11/97) has the metal insulation.

So does that mean all 98s have the metal insulation?

 

[genXgts]

Interesting Jeff, my 05/97 has the paper insulation as Ron posted, we have it pinned down to 6 months then!

Ron, what an idea, does seat of the pants (pun intended) notice a difference of heat levels with your cooling system?

Would your setup not dig into cool air available for the motor, point for point or is that splitting hairs? Doesn't look as if the "intake" is that far above the shroud that far at all? An inch or so?

nice setup, I would consider that.

 

[Ron]

Ryan,

I see virtually no impact to cooling system efficiency as the obstruction is small (2 inches max at the tallest point) and rather than a blunt obstruction, it's just funneling the air elsewhere, post radiator. Some resistance, yes but IM unscientific O minor overall.

Seat of the pants is yes it works. The sills are considerably cooler on shutdown than before and even when idling warm up more slowly (assuming the A/C is on, driving the fan full time or less so if the fan is cycling on engine cooling demand).

Wasn't planning on posting this until I blocked one side and measured temps on both for real temp variances, but the after affects of a flooded basement has delayed the official documentation process. Will post real numbers as soon as I can.

Redsled, Though it not as clean as it seems, having a full rise lift in the garage certainly helps keep both sides shiny....