I reckon this would be a useful mod to stop fan air escaping but not really interested in the SS bling (and the price that goes with it!). I was thinking of knocking one up in ply or something but need the dimensions. Can someone with one PM me the dimensions please??

Fans are in their own enclosure though. You need some ventilation there as heat rises?

are you saying you want to make a slam panel in wood?

 

i wood think it wood look a little odd not sure the ply would handle the heat very well...splitting and warping etc :D

im sure it would be ok. The heat is not that great. if it snaps is will just make another one or use a thin sheet metal that can be cut.

 

Si, Not sure quite what you mean. Are you saying that the slam panel is there is allow some air to flow over the engine to ventilate it? I guess that would be useful to push that warm air around the engine out as it would be acting to further insulate it, but im sure it would be more effective to have better cooling of the coolant in the rad and let that take the heat away.

 

by the way i realise this is a bit cheeky to nick one of smithys designs but i think it is a good idea and would happily buy a cheaper, non-bling version from him if one was available. same rules apply to the BMC stopper which i have used a piece of bent iron to slove the problem at a fraction of the price!

Well, the fans don't work all the time, if you're fitting an enclosure over the top of the rad, then you're trapping air in. Also, there will be heat at the top of the rad which will be trapped if you've blanking the top of the slam panel with wood. I fear you'll keep more heat in that actually expel it. The fans only cool the centre part of the rad. Fair enough I understand that you're trying to keep heat out of the engine, but by covering up the radiator with wood, will lessen then effect of the radiator cooling. So whilst you're cancelling one thing out, you're drawing an issue to another.

 

The fans have shrouds round them as well, so they blow directly to the radiator. They'll force the hot air out. But the hot air now has less space to move.

 

IMHO, giving the rad space to breath is just as important.

 

I dunno, maybe what I am saying is incorrect. But personally don't think it's a very good idea.

The idea behind the radiator slam panel is to force air through the radiator rather than having it go out the top. At a certain speed the air hitting the radiator will be forced back on itself and up (simple aerodynamics of air hitting a mesh object). This acts as a "wall" which prevents more cold air from entering the radiator. If you block the gap between the top of the radiator and the cross bar then you're effectively forcing more air through the radiator which would otherwise escape over the top of it.

 

Techtom and ConZult tests have proven that with a slam panel fitted coolant temperature levels dropped between 3~8 degrees C. Not exactly an awful lot but still a reduction of sorts.

 

Also, the big fan placed between the radiator and engine block actually "pulls" air through the radiator, not blow onto it. The electric fan at the front pushes air towards the radiator.

 

HTH

 

Dan

I saw a 5C drop in water temp after fitting Smithy's center SS slam panel.

I love it when Si is wrong! :nono:

 

nothing personal you understand, it just puts a smile on my face... :D

I still don't buy it though. Only at speed will that theory work. When the car is stationary/slow moving traffic, it'll be detrimental surely.

Did you know that Bristol vr's (bus) used to have a sealed engine bay and a massive fan in an enclosure about the same size as a Z engine. It used to cool and blow air through and out the other side !