Aluminium Bonnet?
Discussion
mrmaggit said:
Anybody know anybody in the Warbird field, they do pretty good tin-bashing IIRC.
maggit
Hawker Restorations in Monks Eleigh (deepest Suffolk) and there's a place at Earl's Colne too - they were working on a Spitfire last time I called. Must be folk who know up at Duxford too - there's a whole hangar-full of stuff being worked on.
Maybe get a Merlin engine too?
Not quite sure why everybody so far seems to think the aero route is the way to go. There is plenty of this expertise in the vintage car restoration field. These guys for example can produce a complete 1950's sports car body with all those beautiful curves etc.using a combination of a wheeing machine and hand formed sections all welded up so you wouldn't know it.
KDNGRIFF said:
There is plenty of this expertise in the vintage car restoration field. These guys for example can produce a complete 1950's sports car body with all those beautiful curves etc.using a combination of a wheeing machine and hand formed sections all welded up so you wouldn't know it.
Too true. I've seen a guy panel beat by hand the entire set of outer panels for an old Jaguar XK 120. He would be no good to you though as he's retired now and he was doing this for his own personal resto project. It was amazing to watch it take shape over 6 months. Pure skilled craftmanship.
KeithS said:
Given that Griffs tend to push out ridiculous amounts of heat under the bonnet, would an aluminium bonnet help much in dissipating heat? Are there any real panel beaters out there who could make one? Could be expensive I know. Just a thought.
Might want to consider how the paint finish would stand up to the heat and whether you would end up with a Turin Shroud picture of a V8 on the outside.
Funny you should say that, I suggested the idea of an aluminium bonnet to the guy helping me with a couple of jobs on the car today and he said more or less the same thing. I expect the ally bonnet would be so attractive to all that heat that the paint would deteriorate very rapidly. Oh well, scratch that idea I suppose.
shpub said:
...a Turin Shroud picture of a V8 on the outside.
Wow!!!
Or you could put a clear cover over and show off the inards like an over clocked PC, and add some neon lights and, and, and.....
.....er, no Doctor, I haven't been taking my medicine now you come to mention it. Yes alright, I'll come quitely. Gosh that's a nice white coat you have......
Err sorry guys I dont see the point in spending the money on a aluminum bonnet sorry. I dont think that it would be worth it.
If you want the cooling to be better on a griff buy a bigger/better radiator, stage the cut ins of the fan, run a lower temp stat, air gun the crap out of the fins of the rad, take the font number plate off and maximise the surface area for the air to go in the front and cut some more vents near the back of the bonnet to help the air escape.
I dont think that tvr ever calculated the cooling opening surface area for the cold air required to cool the engine or to that fact the require exit area for this now hot air (remember that air expands when hot so needs more vent surface area). If you were to be really scientific you would calculate this and work out what size of vents on entry and exit that are required. My hunch is that the giff is difficent in vents to discharge the hot air.
Hope this helps and doesnt start and argument!
Cheers
Alex
If you want the cooling to be better on a griff buy a bigger/better radiator, stage the cut ins of the fan, run a lower temp stat, air gun the crap out of the fins of the rad, take the font number plate off and maximise the surface area for the air to go in the front and cut some more vents near the back of the bonnet to help the air escape.
I dont think that tvr ever calculated the cooling opening surface area for the cold air required to cool the engine or to that fact the require exit area for this now hot air (remember that air expands when hot so needs more vent surface area). If you were to be really scientific you would calculate this and work out what size of vents on entry and exit that are required. My hunch is that the giff is difficent in vents to discharge the hot air.
Hope this helps and doesnt start and argument!
Cheers
Alex
Surely keeping a decent flow of air to the rad will only keep the engine coolant at the correct temperature.
Ancillary failures due to heat soak aren't cooled by the rad, so any way of conducting heat away from starter motor / etc. and lowering underbonnet temperatures would be good for longevity.
The standard heat shield under the bonnet just reflects the heat back into all the components. Perhaps a couple of small fans in the engine bay would be helpful.
Ancillary failures due to heat soak aren't cooled by the rad, so any way of conducting heat away from starter motor / etc. and lowering underbonnet temperatures would be good for longevity.
The standard heat shield under the bonnet just reflects the heat back into all the components. Perhaps a couple of small fans in the engine bay would be helpful.
cyberface said:
Surely keeping a decent flow of air to the rad will only keep the engine coolant at the correct temperature.
IMHO temps only rise when the car is going slowly or stopped, ie no ram effect. I've heard that part of the problem might be the rad getting hot air from the engine instead of cool air from the front, and that this can be reduced by some sort of shrouding. Can anyone explain exactly how/where to do this?
simpo two said:
Surely keeping a decent flow of air to the rad will only keep the engine coolant at the correct temperature.
IMHO temps only rise when the car is going slowly or stopped, ie no ram effect. I've heard that part of the problem might be the rad getting hot air from the engine instead of cool air from the front, and that this can be reduced by some sort of shrouding. Can anyone explain exactly how/where to do this?
Not quite what I was getting at - ignoring the engine coolant temperature for the mo, it's pretty clear that some engine ancillaries suffer from the heat in the Griff engine bay (e.g. starter motor).
Since the starter motor / alternator / etc. aren't cooled by the engine coolant, they suffer from heat-soak due to the high underbonnet temperatures.
The ally bonnet would conduct and radiate some of this heat away, however may not be practical.
Equally I could be talking shite - best way to test this would be to compare the failure rates of ancillaries between the Griff and the Chimaera (which has bonnet vents and should have lower underbonnet temperatures)... Anyone here with the info???
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