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Louvers

roscoe

Jedi Knight
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Does anyone have the specs. for the 100M bonnet louvers? I'm in the experimental stage of screwing up my courage, or perhaps my bonnet, to louver it myself with hand tools and dies. A complete layout would be nice but I'd settle for some dimensions of the louvers themselves. I can probably make some good approximations from photos but the more detail I can get the better. The aftermarket louvered aluminum hoods are nice but why spend a grand on one when I am absolutely capable of messing up the steel one I have and then buying an aluminum one to cover up my folly. Mud season lasts another 3 months so I've got a bit of time. Thanks.
 

Michael Oritt

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I think we talked about this fairly recently but in any case I distinctly remember a fellow who used to advertise in the classifieds of either "Healey Marque", the AHCA magazine, or "Austin-Healey", the one put out by AHCUSA. His first name was Paul and he was from the Denver area. He claimed to have the proper dies for the M louvers and assumedly if you sent him your hood he would do his magic. He also advertised some of the harder-to-get tools in the 100 kit.

I have no for info and do not save old magazines but if you have a roster from either national club perhaps some inquiries as to folks in the CO area would be productive.
 

Keoke

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Yeah I remember that too:

Maybe Reid can point to the guy or article as it became a AHCA listed source for the info or the modification.?
 

RAC68

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Hi All,

I just looked at a couple of M pictures and realized the louvers are pushed up and not down as I had initially thought from a friend's arrangement. My TR7 has a the louvers pushed downward and I wonder if there is a difference in air extraction performance. Another 67 BJ8 owner is intending to add louvers to his bonnet in 2 rows across the back to eliminate the high pressure that forms their and blocks compartment air flow.

Any thoughts,
Ray(64BJ8P1)
 
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roscoe

roscoe

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Thank you for the replies. I barely had time to go out to the shop and cogitate on the matter. I suspect that the louvers in addition to just being openings letting some hot air out also act as airfoils. By putting the curved skin on the outside you take advantage of the smooth fast air creating a low pressure area to help suck out the hot inside air. If the louver surface were on the inside it would still obviously work but I'd think there could be a small tendency to actually pull outside air in against the flow of the pressurized air in the engine compartment. Plus, the air would have to almost reverse direction to exit. Who knows what the airflow inside the engine comparment is but I'll bet it is turbulent. Besides, I think I'd get tired of people asking " hey, ain't them louvers backward?". Perhaps inverted louvers combined with folding down the windscreen would give me that needed extra 2 or 3 MPH I've been desperate for....I'll do some digging in the archives.
 

HealeyRick

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Here's a layout and pics I received from Kent Lacy:

louvers.jpg


DSCN0450.jpg
 

RAC68

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Hi Roscoe,

The TR7/8's downward louvers have their openings facing forward within the engine compartment (compartment side of the bonnet) and the air flow entering the compartment is easily extracted at slow or no speed and, at speed, greatly assisted by the low pressure created by the outside air flow across the louver openings in the flat outer side of the bonnet. As I see it, it seems potentially more efficient but counter to traditional Healey design.

Ray(64BJ8P1)
 
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roscoe

roscoe

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Rick, I cant thank you enough. Is it possible that there is anthing you have on the dimensions of the louvers themselves? I can get close enough from the scale drawing in terms of length and I know they are flat topped louvers but iI don't know the louver height. I'm not a concourse guy but if I can get something to look proper I will. If I can obtain the louver drawing I'd consider making a die. Thanks again.

Jon
 

HealeyRick

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Rick, I cant thank you enough. Is it possible that there is anthing you have on the dimensions of the louvers themselves? I can get close enough from the scale drawing in terms of length and I know they are flat topped louvers but iI don't know the louver height. I'm not a concourse guy but if I can get something to look proper I will. If I can obtain the louver drawing I'd consider making a die. Thanks again.

Jon

Jon,

I don't have any further information, but I've PMed Kent Lacy's email to you and he should be able to help. I do know the proper "M" style louvers have a different profile than American ones. Good luck on your project. I opted to have a local hot rod guy punch them for me in the hood of my BJ7. Still working on all the hand sanding that goes along with getting it ready for paint. Tedious.
IMG_0798.jpg
 
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roscoe

roscoe

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That looks very nicely done. Yep, it's almost all in the prep work. It is almost scary how little time it actually takes to shoot a project if you only consider spray gun time.
 

gladhill1937

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Does anyone have the specs. for the 100M bonnet louvers? I'm in the experimental stage of screwing up my courage, or perhaps my bonnet, to louver it myself with hand tools and dies. A complete layout would be nice but I'd settle for some dimensions of the louvers themselves. I can probably make some good approximations from photos but the more detail I can get the better. The aftermarket louvered aluminum hoods are nice but why spend a grand on one when I am absolutely capable of messing up the steel one I have and then buying an aluminum one to cover up my folly. Mud season lasts another 3 months so I've got a bit of time. Thanks.


Do you have what you need?

Kent
 
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roscoe

roscoe

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Absolutely, thank you. I think I sent you a PM. I will probably make my my own die set but you have supplied what I need to get started.
 

Bob_Spidell

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Just curious, Rick: Are you going to install a leather safety strap, like the one used on 100Ms? If not, is there any need/purpose for the 'blank' spaces in the rows?
 
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That looks very nicely done. Yep, it's almost all in the prep work. It is almost scary how little time it actually takes to shoot a project if you only consider spray gun time.
There was an old hot-rod guy in Toledo that stamped everybody's louvres. 1950's prices, something like a couple dollars a strike (he drove the delivery truck for the local autobody paint store).

THE ONE criteria, was that he would only punch them on stripped/smooth-sanded panels; I'm sure that was for the benefit of the novice that didn't understand the gravity of the situation, though I didn't question him on it (it already made plenty of sense to me).

Sure, you'd still have some follow up work, but the panel was a close to paint as you could get it before the obstacles were installed.

Just sayin'...
 

HealeyRick

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Just curious, Rick: Are you going to install a leather safety strap, like the one used on 100Ms? If not, is there any need/purpose for the 'blank' spaces in the rows?

Yes, the bonnet strap is already on the car. Hopefully, the louvers will help with cooling but I have to confess I just like the louver and strap look of the Ms,

IMG_0205.jpg


There was an old hot-rod guy in Toledo that stamped everybody's louvres. 1950's prices, something like a couple dollars a strike (he drove the delivery truck for the local autobody paint store).

THE ONE criteria, was that he would only punch them on stripped/smooth-sanded panels; I'm sure that was for the benefit of the novice that didn't understand the gravity of the situation, though I didn't question him on it (it already made plenty of sense to me).

Sure, you'd still have some follow up work, but the panel was a close to paint as you could get it before the obstacles were installed.

Just sayin'...

The gentleman that did mine wanted the same, stripped bare. If it wasn't stripped, the old paint would just crack where the louvers were punched so it would be more work to prep than if it was stripped to bare metal. Probably makes it easier to see the layout lines as well. I think I have 62 louvers and I got a one-time only rate of about $3.50 a louver.
 

Michael Oritt

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I'll be surprised if the louvers do not help a bit with engine temperatures as I can clearly see heat-distorted air coming out the louvers of my hood on a hot day.
 

pan

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Michael, as you know I live in a warm climate (South East Queensland, Australia). I am sure my louvred bonnet helps keep my engine temperature down.
Like you I can see hot air rising from my louvres on any day here. Well, except during winter. Ah, winter. What a nice thought!
 

Michael Oritt

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Pan--

Right now you can have winter and I am already looking forward to spring. However in frigid weather the hardtop really comes into its own and I have enjoyed taking the Healey for rides on those cold days when the temps are just above freezing so ice is not a problem and the roads have been washed clear of salt.

I was fortunate that my hood was correctly louvered when I bought the car. I have seen cars where someone designed their own louver pattern, usually to the detriment of the car's appearance.
 

pan

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Michael,
I was in England last year and went to the Goodwood Revival in a BN7 one day and a BN1 the next so I can understand about Healeys in cool climates. Both trips were with the roof up.
My bonnet (hood) is not louvred in the correct pattren as you can see from the attached photo. I have seen at least two other 100s with this pattern so I assume that someone was making these modifications here in Australia.Rally 2016 (180).jpg
 
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roscoe

roscoe

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This how I imagined retirement. Not digging trenches, working on farm equipment, or dealing with one of the 6 toilets on my property. Thanks to the generous help of those who responded to my inquiry about hood louvers I have banged out my first prototype using only the tools and materials I had on hand. My shop is pretty low tech compared to some of the BCF regulars.
The first ones I made using the die in the photo were using .020" steel because I figured it would be easier to find the procedural errors. They did not end well. Forming the basic shape was not too bad but both ends cracked. I was pleased to find that issue went away when I used a scrap of a dogleg repair which is about .040" and essentially the same as the bonnet material. The die is 3/8" plain steel screwed to some oak. This is essentially the method that is found on the Mad About Morgans web site. I regret I can't tell who wrote the piece but the louvers shown in the short article were beautifully done in the same manner. I did use an aircraft rivet gun with a brass set in it to do most of the forming and reverted to a body hammer and an assortment of bits and pieces for dollies that I shaped to get the corners close to what I want. The only thing I am not pleased with is the method of cutting the slit that replaces the punch cutting edge when a press with matching louver dies is used. I made the slit using a very thin cutting wheel in a dremel tool; it is about as thin as you can get, short of using a sharp chisel to chisel the slit. I didn't want to do that to avoid deformming the metal but in thinner steel people do that. The steel is forgiving. Anyway, I will chronicle any further developments and I hope to have a louvered bonnet by the time really good driving weather rolls around. I figure by the 35th louver (there are 40) I might be pretty good at this.
IMG_20180121_152501721.jpgIMG_20180121_143942068.jpgIMG_20180121_150751051.jpg
 
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