Hood Cut-Out?

Venom 1000TT

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I tried doing a search with no results. Has anyone ever cut out their hood under the driver side " Speaker Grille " to allow more cooling of the engine? It seems like a good idea for it's right above the header. If anyone did please explain how & maybe pics?
 

BADVENOM

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Asked Chuck Tator about that and he told me that if you cut it out for more air you would have to ducty it to prevent water from getting onto motor.

Adam
 
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Venom 1000TT

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Thanks for the reply. That's no problem 'cause my car never sees rain. When I wash it I'll just put towels underneath like I do now for the Naca duct & fender vents.
 

FE 065

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Speaking of getting things wet, wouldn't the vented windshield cowl (Autoform) let water in right on top of your coils/sparkplug wires? I was going to do my own vented cowl, but the thought of water dumping down on that area has me giving it second thoughts.
 

BADVENOM

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I also don't go out when its wet but that might be true. However again the towel method underneath might be the answer. I'll have to check my autoform cowl when my car comes back from the paint shop with my new elite hood and racing facia.

Adam
 

ViperJoe

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Saw a few Vipers today at VIR that had the cowl vent and cut out drivers side grille. Drivers said you can see the heat escaping with these mods
 

jcaspar1

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Here is a write-up I saved on this. I take no credit other than having cut and pasted it:

"After reading this post from Leonard from TX, I decided to go ahead and cut a hole in the driver side grill of the hood of my 95 R/T. Leonards suggestion seemed to make a lot of sense and since there was already a water drain hole in the grill, I figured that if Dodge wasn't worried about water entering the engine bay, I shouldn't worry either. After surveying the situtation, this is the procedure I used:

1. Remove the grill - 4 screws from the unerside. Cover the engine bay and the balance of the car with a drop cloth to keep off the work dust.

2. Cut away the hood insulation on the drivers side to match the insulation cutaway on the passenger side. You can make a template from the passenger side and use this if you are anal like me.

3. Use a compass or other round object 4" - 5" in diameter to draw a circle in the grill opening on the top side of the hood to match the location on the other side. I used a 5" circle figuring....bigger is better! Be careful to locate this circle so that it allows at least 3/8" clearance or more from the edge of the grill cover.

4. Drill four 1/16" pilot holes (12, 3, 6 & 9 o'clock) on the edge of the circle from the top side of the hood to use as referance points from the underside. Be careful not to let your drill bit skip over the paint!

5. From the underside, locate the four pilot holes. Take a piece of white chalk to draw the circle using a template to match the diameter of the circle drawn on the top side. You may need to use a free hand on the uneven portions of the underside when drawing the circle. Take your time on this step ensuring the circle is not outside the grill area! Check 4 or more times to be sure you have it right. A mistake here would be a hard pill to swallow!

6. Drill a hole just inside the chalk line circle using progressively larger drill bits until you can easly fit an electric sabre saw blade through the whole. Sharp drill bits are a must!

6. FROM THE UNDERSIDE OF THE HOOD, carefully cut just inside the circle with the sabre saw (medium tooth blade) from both directions until the hole is completed. Take your time, stopping occasionaly to check your work from the top side. You may need more than one blade to complete the job. Wear eye protection and a dust mask - VERY dusty and messy!!

7. Use a half round wood file from the top side to even out the circle so that it is perfectly round. Again, be sure not to go outside of the grill cover area.

8. Use quick setting two part expoxy to coat the cut edges from the top and bottom. Not sure if this is recquired, but felt it couldn't hurt to strenghthen the edge and to keep any moisture out of the freshly cut edge.

9. Cut a piece of 5/16" black rubber hose to length and carefully slit it down one side using a razor blade. (I found this part to be the trickiest part of the job!) Good thing rubber hose is cheap and readily available at the local hardware. Fit the rubber hose over the edge and cut it to length so that it fits snugly around the cutout. The hose seemed to easily go over the thinner and thicker portions of the cutout with no problem. The hose finished off the edge giving it a factory appearance.

10. Use black silicone rubber sealant by 3M to secure the rubber hose from the underside. In addition, seal the opening between the hood and the insulation with the black sealant so that the heat from the engine compartment will flow directly through the hole and not between the insulation and the hood. This step also finishes off the underside of the hood area nicely.

11. Clean the grill area and install the grill covering using the 4 screws. Take your time as these screws tend to fall into the openings, have a few extra "black screws" just in case.

The job took about 3-4 hours taking my time to measure once, twice, three and a fourth time time to ensure that I was drilling and cutting in the correct area. The finished project looks great (sorry no pictures available). The outside temperature was in the 30's and the heat from the engine bay was definately exiting this hole. It seemed that the temp guage was also registerring lower than normal.

I am hoping that this will help lower the heat in the footwell area. If not, the drivers side grill area definetly looks much better!! THANKS FOR THE TIP -Leonard from T "
 

RT/ED

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Jamie,

I am the author of the instructions listed above for cutting out the driver's side of the hood grill. Now that I have been through several weeks of very hot weather, I can honeslty say that this definitely helped reduce the heat under the hood. In fact, you can see the heat rising from the opening (does not obstuct vision as some may think). This also helped reduce the heat in the footwell area as I hoped it wood. In regards to water in the engine area, when you look through the hole, it is directly above the clutch resevoir. I cannot imagine any problems if watter were to fall into this area. Several viper owners have done this and are happy with the results, just follow my directions carefully and you will be happy with the results as well. :usa:
 

ViperJohn

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I wish some one would post pictures of this mod, possibly add it to the "how to" section.

Did you take any pictures during the process RT/ED?

This mod is very appealing to me.

First, it will help heat escape and second because the second speaker grill will actually have a use.
 

kARLUG

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I also did this mod to my gen1. Have uncoated SVSI headers that
used to literally fry my feet on long trips. This made a world
of difference in reducing the heat in the drivers side footwell.
The hood material is very easy to cut. Used a dremel with a cutoff
wheel to make the cut. I made a simple cardboard template and taped
it into place and cut around it with the dremel. Also put 3 layers
of duct tape around the area to be cut in case of a slip to protect
the paint. Sanded the cutout for appearance and painted the edges
black (can also use a black marking pen). Looks factory. Also remember
to completely cover your engine with a sheet to catch the dust.
You can also remove the aluminum footwell heat shields, very easy, and pop rivet some good heat shielding on. This also makes
a big heat reduction in the footwell. DEI has some great heat shielding
products. I used their floor and tunnel shield. Their phone # is
1-800-264-9472 or www.designengineering.com. These mods are easy to do.
Best of luck.
 

RT/ED

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I will try to shoot some photos of the finised product and post. Tried this once before, but was not able to make the photo connection. In addition, I recently changed the side exhaust over to the high flow round cats and 3" stainless side exhaust system from Roe Racing. WOW! huge improvement in sound and the side sills never hot enough to cause a burn. Temp in cockpit is 100% non-issue!! :usa:
 
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Venom 1000TT

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Hey thanks guys for all the info. That's exactly what I was looking to do. I think the drummel might have a little more control than the sabre. Yes, the headers do throw a lot of heat & my feet get a little warm. Thanks!
 

picflight

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I wish some one would post pictures of this mod, possibly add it to the "how to" section.

Did you take any pictures during the process RT/ED?

This mod is very appealing to me.

First, it will help heat escape and second because the second speaker grill will actually have a use.

Me too, would love to see pictures of the mod.
 

RT/ED

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Have the photos, but still having trouble uploading to the gallery/site. It appears that the server is temporarily down. In regards to the Roe Racing HF cats and 3" exhaust, no dyno stats before or after, however the SOTP is definitely improved. Not sure if it is a perception due to the improved and louder sound. :usa:
 

SPARKY

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I would try and use some type of metal ring placed around the hole where you want to cut out, for a guide when your cutting. When i did this it was hard to keep the drimmel in a perfect circle cut, it wanted to jump around. I spent more time trying to make the circle symetrical than cutting the hole out. You will be very pleased with the result. I dont think it helps with engine running much cooler but it definetely helps with the heat in the footwell.
 

Dave Adkins

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I did this modification to my '94; I highly recommend it. I found the Roto-Zip tool to be *perfect* for this job. The standard rotozip bit that came with the tool cut through the hood material with great ease. I cut from underneath and the paint on the top around the perimeter of the new hole was virtually unaffected.
 

WCKDVPR

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Don't worry about the dremel, etc. Go buy a hole saw the same diameter as the hole on the right side (fits in a hand drill, with pilot bit) at home depot for $15. One cut and it is perfectly round and sized. This is what I did and it worked great.

Regards,
 

Hissses

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Thanks for the input. Ordered the DEI floor and tunnel shield and am going to modify my hood this weekend and install the shield on the outside of the foot wells and along the area between the HF Cats and the body. Has anyone done the inside of the car also and what did you use?
 

2001 Sapphire Blue

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I tried doing a search with no results. Has anyone ever cut out their hood under the driver side " Speaker Grille " to allow more cooling of the engine? It seems like a good idea for it's right above the header. If anyone did please explain how & maybe pics?
You might want to check out my post this morning. It's about 4 underneath this one.
 

Hissses

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Thought I would let you know...
Talked with Tim Cox at QuietRide Solutions in Stockton Ca. He is aware of our Heat problem and wants a Viper to use as a template for a Heat Shield kit for the Viper. It will go under the carpet. He will provide the kit for FREE to the owner of the Viper used for the template. So if you are interested call him at 209-477-4840. This way he will have a ready made kit for the rest of us. You can check out the product at http://www.quietride.com
Good luck
 

GTS Bruce

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The engine and cockpit used to run warm.Especialy in stop and go traffic.Cat back reduced both temps.Headers and no cats made a big difference.Vented cowl makes a difference.Save the orig and get a vented cowl from Jon B to match your car.Car runs at middle mark of the 190 group.After a drive having to sit in traffic fan comes on when temp goes above rt 3rd mark and drops back to middle mark.Never moves from the middle mark when driving even on a track.The painted vented cowl from JON B is only 270 bucks or so and you can save the original and keep the hood original.Looks like it should have been that way on the car in the 1st place. Bruce
 
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Venom 1000TT

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Got the hole cut in & everything done in less than 3 hours today. I used a drummel with cutout wheel. I took the hood off the car. Much easier to work on & no mess! Only 4 bolts. Need 2 or 3 people to take off. I didn't test it yet but will soon & let you know. The 5/16" black fuel line hose looks great & hides all your little imperfections on cutting the hole.
 

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