Getting cool air into the footwells

[Patrick67BJ8]

No room for an A/C compressor under hood so Ive had to rule that out in the past.

Well Ian, if you use one of the modern compact compressors there is plenty of room to install one under the hood and its operation will not feel like someone is hanging on the rear bumper.--Fwiw--Keoke

I agree with Keoke! I use a small rotary compressor that cooled my BJ8 quite well before I decided to do a fram=up on it. The bracket to mount the compressor with alternator is fron Blades Design. I paid for the developement of the bracket which repalces the original Generator bracket. How does 44 degrees coming from AC vents sound??!!
Patrick

 

[Frankenhealey]

Guys,

Thanks for all the ideas.

Cheers,

Ian

 

[RAC68]

Hi ALL,

Sorry for my slow response but I just returned. The article has been submitted to Austin Healey of America and the Positive Earth Drivers Club’s news letter and will be posted to other websites shortly. Please let me know your interest and I will e-mail a copy.

In short, a 4”bilge blower has been installed on the foot well platform forward of where the cold air duct enters the firewall. This 12V fan produces an air stream of up to 240CFM (See next response - Civilizing the blower)

 

[RAC68]

Hi ALL,

To continue:
At 240 CFM, the blower must be civilized through the implementation of a speed controller based upon Resistor-Pack (standard heater switch) or, more modern, Pulse-wave Modulation technology. Additionally, the output of the vent must be directed toward the foot well rather than toward the back of the dash. To address these objectives, a deflector was created that included the speed controller and attached via the wiper connectors.

 

[Cottontop]

RAC68,

Neat installation.

I looked at in-line bilge blowers when I was figuring out how to feed fresh air into my footwells. The two that I tried out had a very loud and high-piched whine. The noise is usually not noticed in a boat as the vent exits through the transom and usually only runs when the motor is running.

How is the noise level on your fan ?

Now that I have A/C, I have currently closed off the vent holes into my footwells.

I'd still like to have fresh footwell air on days when it is too nice for the A/C to be on.

I am investigating opening them up and constructing fender top vents somewhat like the early Corvettes.

I sure would like to come with a set of glass fenders and shroud. It'd make things much easier...

We'll see how it goes.

Tim

 

[RAC68]

Hi Tim,

You are correct, when left on high the sound is a little loud (but non-intrusive when under way with the top down) and the blower’s longevity was also at question as the unit was designed to run for short periods at high speed. The speed control was added to address those questions and to provide a further degree of comfort, as a hurricane breeze is not always needed.

This setup has proved very successful, within limits. On a 90+ degree day you are still moving the ambient air into a 100+ foot well for a marginal, but relevant, amount of relief. Again, it is not air-conditioning.

As a further on this project, I was thinking of experimenting with the introduction of a water mist into the air stream. My thinking is to use a windshield washer container and pump (switched on when desired), fitted with a fine nozzle, to provide a cooling water-evaporating mist into the air-stream. I would mount the unit onto the left wheel well access panel and route the filler tube to the left side of the radiator. I would be using a mixture of water and alcohol to eliminate any chance of producing a germ incubator as well as enhance mist evaporation. What do you think?

The corvette-type vents you are thinking of implementing would be very effective. Over the years I have been trying to come up with a way to introduce cooling air into the foot well and have not found a way that didn’t require the modification of bodywork. I liked the idea, mentioned previously, of ducting air from a side fender vent, however, I would expect the vent fin angle would need to be modified for this approach to be effective.

A very simple and effective approach you may want to try is one used by a friend on his non-BJ8. He mounts an old inexpensive dash fan on his under-dash tunnel to move the air. It works amazingly well and is easily installed and removed.

All the best,

Ray 64BJ8P1 (original owner)

 

[Michael Oritt]

Ray--

Nice installation, and interesting concept of introducting water vapor into the airstream though now you'll need a small water tank or a condensation/collection/recirculation system!

Tim:

You said: <span style="font-style: italic">"I sure would like to come with a set of glass fenders and shroud. It'd make things much easier..." </span>Why don't you work out a swap with the guy who was recently looking at the 100 with FG wings and shroud? It would make his car worth more and you happy!

 

[Cottontop]

Why don't you work out a swap with the guy who was recently looking at the 100 with FG wings and shroud? It would make his car worth more and you happy!

Hi Michael,

I went back and read the post about the FG wings & shroud. He was looking at a 100-4. My car is a 100-6.

I would LOVE to have a 100-4 front end. Since I'm already V8 and auto trans, swapping wouldn't devalue my car any, but I doubt that it would enhance his.

B-T-W... I LOVE your Elvas.

I was at a north Texas track a couple of months ago. A guy was up from Houston racing this little beauty. It's a '58 MGA with a Devin FG body.

Tim

 

[Cottontop]

Hi Ray,

I was thinking of experimenting with the introduction of a water mist into the air stream.

I'd quit thinking about that one... In addition to my Healey I'm also into old Mustangs. Here's my 66 GT FB.

I have a friend here in Dallas whose Mustang would heat up when caught in traffic. He used a high pressure EFI fuel pump with a ring of real mister nozzles to spray water onto the front of the radiator.

The idea worked like a charm, BUT almost immediately, the unpainted and unplated things under the hood started to RUST.

I fear that with the vast amount of untreated and exposed metal behind the dash of a Healey, you would suffer the same fate. Alcohol would only make things worse.

by a friend on his non-BJ8

HMmmmmmm... What is a non-BJ8. It could be a Chevy...

The corvette-type vents you are thinking of implementing would be very effective.

I have a friend in Pheonix who does old Vettes. Those fender top vents are available for about $250 ea. WAY too rich for my blood. The vents that I was considering fabrication would sit lower, in the groove between the hood opening and the fender top. Although I'm not sure that they'd be worth the trouble.

My A/C is probably the ultimate solution. I can add add heat if it really gets too cool to bear (yea, like THAT is gonna' happen).

Thanks for the suggestions.

Tim

 

[Michael Oritt]

'He was looking at a 100-4. My car is a 100-6.'
-----------------------------
Hi Tim--

Yes I was aware of that but I figured that to a guy like you who never lets originality stand in his way it might be an interesting concept to give your car a facelift and make it into a look-like 100 Nasty Boy. BTW there is a fellow in our DC club who has a nicely done 100 NB with a small-block Ford in it. My only complaint is that he went for an automatic transmission but it is a nicely done conversion and is quite fast.

 

[HealeyRick]

I have a friend in Pheonix who does old Vettes. Those fender top vents are available for about $250 ea. WAY too rich for my blood. The vents that I was considering fabrication would sit lower, in the groove between the hood opening and the fender top. Although I'm not sure that they'd be worth the trouble.

Tim

Tim,

Back about 1969, there was a very fast 3000 running in our college autox. The owner had a front end collision and when he returned to the track after having the bodywork done, he had a vent much as you described. It covered the area from the rear of the bonnet forward almost to the grille. Viewed from above the forward opening was an "S" curve. This formed a little tunnel that forced air directly into the throats of the triple Webers he had installed. Always thought it was one of the coolest mods I had ever seen on a Healey.

 

[RAC68]

Hi Tim,

Thanks for the input. Your concern is valid, however, only a very fine controlled stream, which should evaporate well before reaching the dash, is intended. Maybe it would be better to direct the mist at a humidifier-filter mounted within a frame located over the entrance of the cold air duct. I have no doubt that this moist filter would provide some level of cooling but may not provide sufficient evaporation to lower the stream temperature enough to make this project worth doing.

When stating non-BJ8, I am referring to all Healeys except the Mark III. As you can see form the picture below, the BJ8’s tunnel-located console isolates driver and passenger foot wells and eliminates the use of a trans-tunnel fan. Yes, I see no reason why this could be used on other cars.

 

[Cottontop]

Hi again Michael,

I figured that to a guy like you who never lets originality stand in his way it might be an interesting concept to give your car a facelift and make it into a look-like 100 Nasty Boy.

You are correct, Sir.

A couple of times, I have posted in this forum wanting to buy a 100-4 grille to do just that. I have looked at 2 locally, but none of there were quite good enough. My 100-6 grill is in excellent/pristine condition and I am looking for a 100-4 grille that is the same.

I have also done an overlay of a 100-4 grille over my 100-6 grille.

The 100-4 grille is the same top-bottom/side-side curvature as the 100-6 shroud and since the 100-4 grille sits flat on the shroud and the 100-6 grille is inset into the shroud, there is plenty of excess metal to be flattened to support the 100-4 grille.

Since I have a 100-6 with a V8, it seems to me that if I put in a 100-4 grille, I'd have an Austin Healey 100-4-6-8.

Tim