Louvers

[roscoe]

At least we're not running castor oil in our engines like the WW I fighter pilots. The oil fumes and droplets not only covered them with the stuff but it made them nauseous. One thing that mitigated the sickening nature was often some adult beverage before flying. I am sure there were other reasons to drink as well. Ah, those were the days, a shot of whisky and the smell of oil and leather. If you were lucky you could avoid the smell of vomit or of not returning.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Castor oil is also an effective laxative. I wouldn't want to be the guy cleaning their flight suits after a dogfight.

 

[steveg]

The kind of stuff that shows up on the underside of the hood would be on your windshield. But who cares? It's all performance art, anyway.

 

[steveg]

At least we're not running castor oil in our engines like the WW I fighter pilots. The oil fumes and droplets not only covered them with the stuff but it made them nauseous. One thing that mitigated the sickening nature was often some adult beverage before flying. I am sure there were other reasons to drink as well. Ah, those were the days, a shot of whisky and the smell of oil and leather. If you were lucky you could avoid the smell of vomit or of not returning.

Interesting picture - the Red Baron at 20,000 feet in his Fokker DR1 with a load etc...

The Spad pilots with their Hispano-Suizas had it easier.

 

[mwagon]

I'm looking for dimensions of the Dies or original Louvers. There is a nice layout sketch showing the spacing, but not how wide, high, long the Louvers are. I want to duplicate the original Louvers

 

[gladhill1937]

I'm looking for dimensions of the Dies or original Louvers. There is a nice layout sketch showing the spacing, but not how wide, high, long the Louvers are. I want to duplicate the original Louvers

Louvers 5'' long 11/32" high and 5/8" wide across top. plus metal
thickness...............

 

[mwagon]

Gladhill1937, Thanks for the dimensions

 

[roscoe]

I shot the paint today. I made a joke earlier about making my own bonnet strap and it turned out to not be a joke. It might be the nicest part of this project. Yesterday I stopped by to see an old friend who is in the parachute equipment repair and manufacturing business. He has some very cool sewing machines and is as good at using them as anyone I've seen. He sewed the buckle assemblies up for me. The leather and buckles came from a Tandy Leather store near me. If you are in the States and have never been to one it is worth the trip as long as you are not a vegetarian who also eschews leather. It almost made me want to take up a new hobby, especially when some of the other folks shopping were happy to show us some things they made. My wife had to drag me away from the alligator hyde display. I just have to make the hold down brackets for the buckles and it'll be done.

Truth be told, I wish this had been the second time I louvered a hood by hand instead of the first. I made a few choices I would do differently if I had it to do over. Needless to say I could have done a better job of producing smoother louvers and I know if I had taken more time and refined my die a bit that aspect would have been a little nicer. But here is the thing, I am pleased with the outcome and I am really the only one who counts. I have already shown it to some people who don't know any better and they thought I did a fine job. Those are the folks that you can't let walk away without pointing out all the flaws. I prefer to think of it as a louvered hood that has been around for a while and seen some of the rougher sides of being an Austin Healey. So per my signature, I did it almost all myself and I'm mostly glad I did. Now all I have to think about is what happens when I wash the car. Taking the strap off is quick but the buckles would take a few minutes to pull off. I guess that is the price I'll be paying for all the times I've envied louvered bonnets.

 

[Michael Oritt]

Jon--

Sure looks good to me! Congratulations on a great job.

I never take the strap off when washing the car, much less the buckles--the one that came with my car lasted about ten years and I had the present straps made by a local tack shop who had a nice grade of saddle leather that stands up well to the elements.

 

[Editor_Reid]

Congratulations. That looks like great work.

I'm also impressed that it looks like the buckles are correctly positioned. It seems that when the short belt sections with the buckles are positioned as original, they are an "interference fit" with the bonnet, guaranteeing paint damage if not metal deformation if the bonnet is dropped with the main belt removed and the buckles lying on the shroud, partially into the "trough" of the shroud.

On the original cars I've seen, this has been consistent. Seems odd they never noticed and adjusted the position of the belt mounting points, or adjusted the length of the belt sections.

 

[roscoe]

Thank you Reid and Michael. You are too kind. I don't know how the leather has been treated but there were people there buying materials to build saddles when I selected the belt material. I'll treat it with the best stuff I can find after I do my due dilligence. Reid, funny you brought the buckle position up as I have been struggling with exactly where to place them due to the fact that probably half of the photos you can find on line show either way. I honestly had not thought of consequences of letting the bonnet drop as that is not something I'd ever do short of having a spasm. It is a good point though as I am getting older (actually we're all getting older, I mean I'm getting old). I will take your advice and mount it just clear of the bonnet edge. Thanks again and thanks to whoever is out there in virtual world who makes the internet work.

 

[HealeyRick]

Excellent job, Jon. You should be very proud.

 

[Michael Oritt]

Though I have never dropped the bonnet I guess the pattern of the buckle straps on my car is incorrect as they do not project into the gutter--maybe the Concours standards need to be revised to allow the buckles' being shortened as a safety consideration.

Jon, if you have a tack shop or saddlery anywhere near where you live I would suggest bringing him your leather and asking him what can be done to make it last.

 

[elrey]

Looking good! You have proved yourself brave, capable, and resourceful. Bravo! Enjoy these fruits of your efforts. So few folks these days do their own work. "Hire a professional," they exclaim. From music to cooking we feel inadequate. So instead of playing or singing we put on a C.D. or reach for a ready made meal instead of cooking, thinking that we are not worthy. We are capable and our latent talent must be fostered. Thank you for reminding us how, with effort and tenacity, we can achieve success!

 

[roscoe]

elrey,
I live on a farm and part of that is working with what you have. You can only drive to town to get what you think you need so many times during a project and then you just have to say "enough" I'll make it work. I can't discard anything unless I have rediscovered it at least 3 times and agreed with myself each time that I really will never need/use/repair or give this away. Then and only then will I recycle it if possible or or bring it to the landfill with a guilty conscience. It isn't as if I banged the work out with fire, a tree stump, chisel and wood mallet as the people who built armor in the middle ages seemed to have done. However, I do feel they are kindred. In another life I probably should have been a smith. On the one hand I have to admire the perfection with which things are made by modern techniques but on the other hand I am drawn to the roughed in functional look that comes from the need to get things done with the available tooling. So, thank you for the kind comments. I can absolutely assure you that you wouldn't want to hear me sing. I do bake pretty good sourdough bread tho' and I bought a ukulele when I retired last year but haven't devoted nearly enough time to fumble out much yet. I really wish I'd been more into learning an instrument when I was a kid.

 

[RAC68]

Hi Jon,

I am very impressed that this is your first attempt at installing louvers. They look absolutely GREAT and much more then a first attempt. Your previous statements reflect my own thinking of making things work with creativity and what you have around.

What did you find most difficult and what do you feel would make the job better (in operation and appearance)?

Again, I am totally impressed with the results of your "First?" attempt,
Ray(64BJ8P1)

 

[roscoe]

Probably the most foolish thing I did was to not accurately make the female die to the exact shape and depth that would allow for the louver shape and accounting for the metal thickness. That is the whole point of making a die after all. I more or less made the die deeper than it should have been so as I hammered the shape into it I just stopped where I thought it looked right. I could have made some flat shims to put in the bottom,of the die that would have allowed me to be sure the height of each louver was exactly the same and they were flat across the top. I did end up doing this but it was after most had been formed so I was limited in what I could rework because of the compound curves at each end. I kind of knew this would be a problem when I started but when I used the die on a practice piece I was so pleased with how they came out that I steamed on ahead and didn't realize I just been lucky with my practice piece. I've been in that space many times, where you are sure the practice is done and you start the real work on the part you do not want to goober-up and all of a sudden you have something that has been touched with the ugly stick. Practice does not make perfect, practice makes better. Repetition of the specific task makes perfect (if you are even just a little talented).

The other thing had to do with paint. My painting skills are fair to middlin'. The paint by the way was the most expensive part of this project at about $160 for primer, base, clear coat and reducer (and the associated activators). I lucked out with a warm spell up into the 70s so it was perfect temperatures but because I hadn't used my gun in a very long time I ended up with some orange peel in the primer which I thought would flow out but didn't. Now I know why in some posts here and elsewhere people said that their louver guy wouldn't touch a pannel unless it was absolutely ready for paint before the job. Normally sanding out minor orange peel is not a big deal but with the louvers already punched it was a real pain. You don't want to have to do any detail work like that once the louvers are done. I had better luck with the base coat and clear which are not completely fool proof but they have always seemed possible for me to get decent results with. In my book the job is a 10 footer. Get too much closer than that and there would be no mistaking it for a press punched set of louvers. On the other hand they are not so bad that some insensitive person would say "what gorilla made your louvers and did you have to pay him?" It would have been a dream to do this with aluminum but it wasn't as hard as I thought to work with the steel. I also think the alloy of my practice piece may have had slightly different properties than the old steel bonnet.

 

[HealeyRick]

Jon,

Thanks for the explanation of your process. It pretty well illustrates what goes on in the mind of what I like to think of as "Healey Guys". Healeys were never meant to be the "concours d'elegance" kind of guys. They belonged to guys that could scrape together enough money to purchase something a bit better than a MG and a little under a Jag. And once a few years went by, they passed on to owners that wanted a Healey from new but couldn't afford it. So repairs and mods were done at a level that weren't winning any concours trophies. But we're very proud of the marque and we make our "personalizations" in a manner we think DMH would approve. I wish I could do every mod on my car on my own, but a man has got to respect his limitations. I think DMH would have approved of your work and admired you for giving it a go.

 

[RAC68]

Hi Jon and thanks for the details.

If and when I decide to place a few louvers across the rear of my bonnet, from what you have explained and since their presence would not reflect an original choice, I would seriously consider pressing the louvers down (as in a TR7/8) with opening facing forward. This approach would provide the engine compartment air escape I am looking for but would provide a flat appearance beyond the 10' viewing distance you mentioned. Additionally, any paint issues would be less obvious.

Although my Louvers are still a "To be or not to be" question, your experiences have been very helpful. As an amateur, It takes a great deal of courage to follow through on a substantial DIY non-critical and obvious body modification

Thanks and all the best,
Ray(64BJ8P1)​

 

[HealeyRick]

Hi Jon and thanks for the details.

If and when I decide to place a few louvers across the rear of my bonnet, from what you have explained and since their presence would not reflect an original choice, I would seriously consider pressing the louvers down (as in a TR7/8) with opening facing forward. This approach would provide the engine compartment air escape I am looking for but would provide a flat appearance beyond the 10' viewing distance you mentioned. Additionally, any paint issues would be less obvious.

Although my Louvers are still a "To be or not to be" question, your experiences enlightening and helpful.

Thanks and all the best,


Ray(64BJ8P1)

Ray,

I freely admit I'm all about appearance in my louver layout while hoping they provide some cooling benefits. But if you want to focus on how well they operate, you should probably do some investigation in where to place them and in what configuration. Lots of guys have messed around with that, particularly for those doing V8 swaps in MGBs. I think the rear corners of the bonnet are pretty popular.