Another XJ Hood Vent Install

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A few may remember that I bought a set of Pontiac Grand Prix GTP hood vents to install on my old XJ. Well, never got to it. But, that was good, because I still have them to install on the new XJ. I finally found time to hack up a perfectly good hood on Sunday. Here's a few pics...

First, I laid the vents on the hood to determine the location they would be at. Originally I planned to install them in the same location as the Euro XJs and 5.9L ZJs. But, after giving it more thought, I decided to go with the more center, more rearward position instead. This way, I wouldn't have to cut into the bracing underneath. Most choose to mount them here too.

Next, I masked off the area, and then measured a billion times to make sure they were in the right spots. Only one chance at doing this right. No turning back or making corrections. I made a template out of poster board, and transferred measurements to the hood. Then took drill and saw into hand, and made it happen.

Here's how the hood looked last weekend. I still needed to file the edges and touch up with paint before setting the louvers in place. Then, once done, I'll remove my shims from the hinges.





Username should now be 'SilverstoneXJ'

'00 XJ 'Freedom Edition'
6" Lift and 33" MTRs

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Now done…

This one shows the difference of having the drip pan installed and not. Obviously, more hot air will be removed without the pans in place, but I think having them during the winter months would be smart. Plus, I've got to fab up pieces that would take the place of the pans in order to hold the vents in the hood.




Here's a few pics of the finished hood vents. I still have to remove the hinge shims...








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Looks nice, another option for a hood vents, but I think unless you can put them on the sides of the hood like that of the 5.9L 98' ZJ, then get some Lebaron hood vents and put them in the back/center position you have your grand prix vents in. The lebaron vents are as large as they can be without cutting into the hood bracing and look awesome. Here's a pic of Eric's XJ:



Just a thought, but they still look nice, if you aren't getting as much cooling as you want, I'd sell them and cut those holes a little bigger for Lebaron hood vents. Also many people running the drip pan take them off as they are to restrictive and haven't had problems with water getting on their motors. With those small Grand Prix wents, you need all the vent you can get. You only have 1 vent totally open so the mod doesn't help as much. Look at all the open area of the Lebaron vents from an underneath the hood view:



I'm not trying to rip apart your idea here, just stating what I have used and many others have done here. The Lebaron hood vents are the king of hood vents for the XJ, they look awesome, are as big as they can be without cutting into the hood bracing, and do a great job cooling a XJ that are prone to getting hot with all the stuff they have crammed under the hood.

Troy

Sterling90XJ said:

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Now done…

This one shows the difference of having the drip pan installed and not. Obviously, more hot air will be removed without the pans in place, but I think having them during the winter months would be smart. Plus, I've got to fab up pieces that would take the place of the pans in order to hold the vents in the hood.

Here's a few pics of the finished hood vents. I still have to remove the hinge shims...

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Looks good. When you bought the vents, did it come with the drip pans? Or did oyu have to get them elsewhere?

Has anyone tried putting a piece of metal or something with magnets over the lebaron hood vents when not in use? This would probably create a seal and wouln't leak water.

DBenz said:

Has anyone tried putting a piece of metal or something with magnets over the lebaron hood vents when not in use? This would probably create a seal and wouln't leak water.

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I have not installed (or bought) hood vents yet, but they are a future mod and I had the same idea. I also found that you can get home air vent magnets used to close off old vents very cheaply at Home Depot and I think this would work great. It would also be extreamly easy to put on or remove as needed.

DBenz said:

Has anyone tried putting a piece of metal or something with magnets over the lebaron hood vents when not in use? This would probably create a seal and wouln't leak water.

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Water isn't a problem with hood vents. Many people are paranoid about it, but there aren't any reports that I know of, where too much water got into the engine through there.

xjj33p3r said:

Water isn't a problem with hood vents. Many people are paranoid about it, but there aren't any reports that I know of, where too much water got into the engine through there.

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Agreed. I run Lebaron vents and have had zero issues with water, even with all the rain that San Diego has seen in the last few weeks (alot for San Diego and some of it very heavy rain too).

imma honky said:

Looks good. When you bought the vents, did it come with the drip pans? Or did oyu have to get them elsewhere?

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Imma Honky - I bought both the vents and the drip pans from Pontiac at the same time. I bought the last R/H drip pan available in the US. Anyone else will have to score one from a salvage yard, sorry.

Big Red - Just thought the GTP vents were closer to the look of the 5.9L ones. I chose to change my mind on where to mount them right before cutting... plus, I don't really care for the Labaron ones a whole lot... personal preference. Thanks for the input.

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