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Spare Hood - LeBaron Vents - new Paint...

Hammered

Hammered

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Jeep Fiend Club
I recommend using a cut off wheel if you do the Cut outs for Lebarons. My Sawzall made havoc with the sheet metal heh heh.


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I'll try it on for size when rain isnt in the forcast. I'll have this as a Summer Wheeling only hood. What do you guys think?... I like the Flat black with the Gloss red.
 
I was a big fan of flat black until I discovered satin black; its a good middle ground, but to each their own. Why only summer? Is enough water able to enter through the vents to be a serious concern?
 
I like the black and red and Lebaron vents too. I kind of like the black on the hood like that. I want to see it installed. I agree, cut with a cutoff wheel. I started with an airsaw and it would hang up every half inch and bend the sheet metal. I switched to a cutoff wheel and was done in 15 minutes. A large amount of water does get into the engine bay, but I haven't had any major issues because of it yet. A little miss here and there because I think the cap got moisture in it once.

doorless1004.jpg
 
nate.lewis said:
So you're saying your sawzall just buckled the sheet metal bad or made rough cuts?
Click to expand...
I cleaned up the rough cuts with sheet metal shears. but the sawzall dimpled the metal both upward and down... It was all I had, and it worked great. But if you want "perfection" I suggest a cut off wheel, and maybe some die grinding the radious corners.

For the dimpling I could straighten the worst of it out by handand with pliers along the cut edge. It looks good to me.

I'm actually kinda proud of myself... :clap:


As for the Paint, the Junk yard hood had a few Clear coat issues. Nothing major, but I figured it would need some attention later on so this was kind of my planned experiment.
 
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After I put my hood vents in I went the junkyard and got a distributor boot off a late 80s mustang gt. I think Ford also used them on the big cars with v8s. So far it has kept the distributor dry. I also use an angle grinder with a cutoff wheel, the jig saw just wanted to buckle the metal.
 
where are you guys getting the lebaron hood vents? From what year lebarons? I google searched the net for them and came up blank...or maybe I just suck at searching.
 
I think those are the ones from Summit Racing that a lot of people were talking about....

Looks interesting...I like how he ended up "blending" it into the hood. Not sure how much cooling they actually do.
 
If you want to keep water out of the vents hit a sign type print shop and get some of the magnet vinyl they use for signs. Just get a big enough piece to totally cover the vents. The stuff comes in a bunch of colors.
 
that would completely negate the purpose of the vent though
 
asp387 said:
that would completely negate the purpose of the vent though
Click to expand...

Obviously he means only when the rain is coming. It would be a quick cover. I am thinking of building a catch pan that sits 2" below the vent to allow heat to rise up and over the pan and out of the vents, but allow most water to catch in the pan and drain through a hose to a point lower than happy electronics are.
 
RichP said:
If you want to keep water out of the vents hit a sign type print shop and get some of the magnet vinyl they use for signs. Just get a big enough piece to totally cover the vents. The stuff comes in a bunch of colors.
Click to expand...
Simple and quick.
Great Idea. ;)
I like the idea of vents on the hood but.....
This is what I want....
http://go.jeep-xj.info/HowtoBonnet.htm

BUT... $$$$$$$
So if I ever get to it, some kind of vents will work till then.
icon12.gif
 
The magnetic vinyl works great - used some on a cowl vent on my '66 stang and they sealed it up enough to keep warm in it running in 20* weather. The interior seals on the vents were totally gone.

Great pics - looks like I need to get honey do's out of the way to work on this.
 
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