Hood Vents

[Chino 240Z]

They worked great! Sorry about the nasty barf taste in some of your mouths, babies seem to do that often.

Anyways, they were simple to install in fiberglass hood using dremel tool. Probably little more patients cutting in metal but do able. They let the heat out good with the electric fan on even sitting in the pits. They dropped the air pressure way down at 120MPH. And I like the looks too.

Not so sure some people would like cutting up a hood, or adding aftermarket parts on vintage cars, but I worked great for us.

Cheers.

[FastWoman]

Jan, those should make a huge difference. I used to live in Texas and had a '75 there. It had a louvered ('78 model) hood on it when I bought it. When that hood perished in an accident, I replaced it with an unvented '75 model hood, which I felt looked better. Unfortunately there was more heat build up, and I do think I had a bit more difficulty with fuel vaporizing in the FI rail after engine shutdown.

It might not make much difference in AZ, but keep in mind that the stock lefthand vent (on later years) has a rain deflector to keep rain from coming down directly on the intake system. This blocks much of the needed airflow.

FAIW, I don't find the replacement vents that objectionable, but I sure wish I could find some aftermarket OEM style vents to replace mine. Mine are only barely holding together. I think you could make these blend a bit better with some paint that's close to your body color. It wouldn't even have to be an exact match -- maybe a complementing shade in the same color family.

[inmocean]

I had noticed these vents at MSA awhile back, but decided against them...just not the look i was going for.

fast woman, MSA sells stock hood vents, http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/SBC1A05B/30-7091, i had thought about ordering a pair to paint black, and keep my originals in the correct color. I still might, just down on the list of priorities...

I had been having issues with starting the engine when hot, so i removed the drip pan from the driver-side vent, and installed the manifold cooling fan from an 83 280zx turbo. the fan bolted right up to existing points on block and valve cover. i bought a thermostat/relay sensor and set it to run a little above operating temperature, so when the car is running the fan doesn't, but after shut off and the radiator heats up a bit, the fan kicks on, cools the fuel rail, and if i go to start the car when still warm i don't have any of the vapor-lock-rough-idle i had been having.

[Pomorza]

Thanks guys for the feedback. At the moment my suspension is in dire need of attention so I'm pretty sure I'm going to start there. As winter is on its way and temps will drop (I hope) this shouldn't be much of an issue for a bit.

I'm thinking of wrapping the FI lines in some sort of heat resistance material to keep them cool and see if that helps in the time being. Any experience with this or concerns?

Jan

[jmortensen]

Thanks guys for the feedback. At the moment my suspension is in dire need of attention so I'm pretty sure I'm going to start there. As winter is on its way and temps will drop (I hope) this shouldn't be much of an issue for a bit.

I'm thinking of wrapping the FI lines in some sort of heat resistance material to keep them cool and see if that helps in the time being. Any experience with this or concerns?

No direct experience, but on my carbed Z I couldn't touch the fuel rail on a hot day. I replaced it with rubber and also got rid of the mechanical pump which is bolted to the head, and between the two mods I never had vapor lock again. If you had an IR temp gun you could find out how hot the rail is and then determine whether it is worth addressing.

[steve91tt]

No direct experience, but on my carbed Z I couldn't touch the fuel rail on a hot day. I replaced it with rubber

I slit a rubber line up the middle and used it to wrap my metal lines. That way you have the rigidity of the stock lines with less heat up

I daily drive my 240Z in south Texas and I have had no issue with vapor lock.

[jmortensen]

I slit a rubber line up the middle and used it to wrap my metal lines. That way you have the rigidity of the stock lines with less heat up

[ATTACH]37431[/ATTACH]

I daily drive my 240Z in south Texas and I have had no issue with vapor lock.

It's still bolted to the head though. Might be a good idea just to check how hot the fuel lines are underneath the rubber hose. If it's not a problem then it's not a problem, but I think getting rid of the connection to the head was an important part of what I did.

[Z Speed]

Any reason why my post on 08/10 was deleted. It pertained to the vapor lock issues in this thread?...

[sblake01]

Any reason why my post on 08/10 was deleted. It pertained to the vapor lock issues in this thread?...

The site was experiencing some problems that day. Here's a thread that talks a little abot it. http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39416

[Z Speed]

Thanks sblake01. I was just talking to EScanlon about the issue as well. I found the thread listed above a little while later after I posted in this thread. Thanks for your response and link to the thread....

[Shade133]

I am interested in learning what this vapor locking issue is. what are the symptoms, i know it is because the fuel got to hot, and i know the ZX's apparently had this issue which is why they installed that good for nothing fan that just blows more hot air onto the injecter rail.. but what is vapor lock?

[sblake01]

I'll address the ZX cooling fan first. They weren't added to prevent vapor lock. They are an emission control device. Look it up. By definition, fuel injected cars can't vapor lock. The fuel pressure would prevent that from happenng.