Put in Lebaron hood vents!! What about the rain?

[tcm glx]

Ok, so I put in the lebaron hood vents, and what a difference, I can see the temp gauge reading 10-25 degrees lower than before on my typical daily drive. Anyways, supposed to start raining here for the next couple of days, what should I do to avoid the raing getting inside the engine bay??

[JeepFreak21]

Ok, so I put in the lebaron hood vents, and what a difference, I can see the temp gauge reading 10-25 degrees lower than before on my typical daily drive. Anyways, supposed to start raining here for the next couple of days, what should I do to avoid the raing getting inside the engine bay??

After installing mine, I procrastinated about protecting it from the rain, and then I worried about it (and kept procrastinating) and then it started to rain, and nothing happened. It's been raining for a couple months and no problems.
Billy

[jrsxj98]

I have no problems what so ever. Nothing mounted under the vents.

[Wil Badger]

last time i checked water is going to come in from the bottom of the engine bay anyway while driving through rain filled streets whats the difference if some comes in the top .hell it helping to rinse the puppy off if anything

[Sterling90XJ]

.
I'm installing a set of Grand Prix vents in mine (one of these days), and bought the drip pans for underneath.

http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/7/web/247000-247999/247924_91_full.jpg

For those who have done the mod, what was your tool of choice to cut the holes out of the hood? I know if I end up using a cutting wheel, to be sure and cover the windshield up. But I think the cutting wheel will put off too much heat and blister the paint up.

.

[TLange]

I installed old New Yorker turbo hood vents (same thing) on mine a couple of years ago. It's not the rain you have to worry about, it's the ice forming around your throttle linkage. Trust me on this.
I just made some trays out of soft aluminum and hung them about a 1/2" under the vents using #10 bolts and nuts. The trays have a notch were the water drains away from the throttle linkage and the distributor/coil area.

[tcm glx]

Excellent recomnedations...thnks to all!

[Wil Badger]

now that i can see happening .freezing rain would be intresting

[TheManch]

i have had this idea for a while but haven't found what iam looking for. If i could find a vehicle with big enough AC or heat vents i would mount them in the hood and then just close them when it rains. Anyone know of a vehicle with big enough vents?


Mike

[xxxj-va]

Here's what I did for cutting. Did this back in the early fall. Been raining like hell here, had some snow. The freezing rain thing could be interesting, we'll have to see. I haven't done any additional waterproofing.

http://www.kofira.com/jeep/Hood%20Vents/index.html

HTH

P

[Starboard M]

What do the drip pans look like? Does anyone have any pics of theirs?

[tompatjr]

.For those who have done the mod, what was your tool of choice to cut the holes out of the hood? I know if I end up using a cutting wheel, to be sure and cover the windshield up. But I think the cutting wheel will put off too much heat and blister the paint up. [/COLOR] [/B]

.

I haven't done it yet, but I bought a nibbler in order to trim my fenders. You should look into one for the hood mod. I got a nibbler powered by a drill (air is much more common) from the Eastwood Co. It shouldn't cause any heat and should leave a nice edge. I'm not sure about how tight a radius it will make though.

[Uglygreenxj]

I installed the Lebaron/New Yorker turbo vents on mine. I first figured out where I wanted the vents to go. Then I laid down masking tape on the hood and traced out the cuts I needed to make. I made the cuts with a peanut grinder and a 1/16" fiber wheel. Worked great and left the hood nice and straight. Just work fast or the paint will burn and peel back a bit. I didn't do anything for waterproofing the engine and have had no problems for almost two years... even in our Arizona monsoon storms!

[sidriptide]

when i install my lebaron hood vents i will probably cut out some matching shaped covers from some plastic/plexiglass that will just cover the vent.. drill a few holes in them and secure the covers thru the vent with zip-ties when the weather will be wet.. paint them body color and they should blend nicely..

[EricsXJ]

What do the drip pans look like? Does anyone have any pics of theirs?

http://www.ericsxj.com/vents/vents24.jpg
http://www.ericsxj.com/vents/vents25.jpg

full hood vent write-up is here --> http://www.ericsxj.com/vents.htm

The drip pans are easy to make but hard to get the angle just right to get the water to flow where you want it. I attach mine with wing nuts and remove them for trail rides in the summer for maximum heat release.

Like someone else said, the water isn't as concerning as ice. I park the jeep outside and if it rains and then freezes overnight, I could see why that is bad. Plus, I'd rather keep that sensor as dry as possible thats on the intake manifold.

[tcm glx]

Well, going on 24 hours of rain, and sure enough, as everyone mentioned, not a problem. I will continue to keep my fingers crossed.

[Motornoggin]

If you need to make drip pans, why not just use the sheetmetal you cut out of the hood. SHould be about the right size.

[bjoehandley]

If you have Lebaron vents, why not just take the factory trays off the donor hood(s)? My '85 GTS (sorry, no under hood pics) had an offset vent and a tray with a spout directed over the power steering pump and turbo for water drainage. Had some problems when water would get on the p/s pulley and I'd lose power assist first thing in the morning trying to leave the drive way, but the car was more than 15 years old at that point too.

[thooogy]

I put Lebaron vents on my '89 2 years ago - no drip pan, etc. Only once, after a HUGE downpour did it fail to start. I meant to seal up the distributor, etc but never got around to it.

Rusty's Airtube posed no problems - the intake is too far foward of the vents to get wet.

[tcm glx]

i have a rock-it airtube, so i had to cover that, but the driver side vent is right over the tps, a month or two after i put the vents in, the tps went, i don't know if was from getting wet or not, the new one has been fine for a few months.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v488/jeeper821/intake.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v488/jeeper821/frontwithvents.jpg

My TPS went tonight, as you all know, we have had about a week of really reallly bad rain in So Cal. Anyways, my TPS went out, replaced, evrything is back to normal. FOr now, cut up some clear plastic floor mats in the shapes of the vents and tie wrapped them to cover the vents. No worries now...when it stops raining, will take them back off.

[MC-92]

Has anybody tried something like a magnetic sign.... I'm sure you could have some covers cut and the same color for not much... then just stick em on...

[EricsXJ]

I tried making covers out of plexiglass and a strip of magnetic tape around the edges. It was a lot of work, didn't look very good, and is a hassle to take on and off and/or store in the jeep. I scrapped that idea and went with the drip pans instead.