• NAXJA is having its 18th annual March Membership Drive!!!
    Everyone who joins or renews during March will be entered into a drawing!
    More Information - Join/Renew
  • Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

keeping cool...

br1anstorm

NAXJA Forum User
Location
United Kingdom
I've been reading the thread about Herculining an XJ roof. The comments about whether that would make the interior hotter when the sun shines got me thinking (and that's always dangerous!).

Has anyone seen (does anyone remember) how Land-Rover tried to keep their vehicles cool in the days before aircon? The ones I remember in Africa had an extra roof panel - essentially a sheet of aluminium - usually painted white, which was fixed with rivets or bolts above the regular roof panel with a gap of about 1/2 an inch between them.

This gave two advantages: in effect it shaded the main roof panel, which then didn't get the direct heat of the sun so didn't radiate into the interior. And when going along the road, the movement of air through that 1/2 inch air-gap produced a cooling effect. I'm not an engineer, so I don't know if this was venturi-effect, aerodynamics, or what. All I know is that it worked pretty well...

I tried a mod on these lines on my XJ when in the Gulf using a piece of aluminium sheet fixed to the stock roof rails/bars, but it wasn't close enough to the main roof panel nor fixed solidly enough, so it caught the wind and made a noise (and eventually came off!). But I still think a proper equivalent to what Land-Rover did would improve comfort and cooling, and ease the load on the aircon if you have it.

Anyone else think this is worth a try?

br1anstorm
 
looks like everyones reading what you got say but no ones commenting. the summer heat here in florida is hot and with no a/c i think its a good idea. hell i'll try anything. im about one more summer away from taken my perfectly good doors off.
 
the key would be to attach it to the front of the roof and put some vent holes that allow the air to get in. cleaning mud out from in between would need to be taken into consideration.
 
at the price of a big piece of metal these days, its likely cheaper to fix your a/c
 
I used a foil covered sheet of 3/4" foam and cut and mounted it to the inside of the roof on a bare metal cargo van. It was amazing in the summer and winter. The foam is common Home depot stuff with the foil backing so it was a cheap mod too.
 
Back
Top