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Considering a mod to increase under hood ventilation / decrease temperatures on my lumped Series 1, specifically when stopped or after car has been parked. Seems that when the ambient temps are above 85F the fuel boils off and creates a situation where the car starts but then starves for fuel and usually dies. Sometimes if idling to long it will hesitate on hard acceleration (fuel starvation). I've already added carb thermal separation spacers and some fuel line insulation, but problem persists.
I've been pondering creating a powered vent out of my Fresh air intake plenum. I thought that I could add a 12V crossflow type blower inside the fresh air plenum https://www.alliedelec.com/product/e...8-12/70371759/
I could regulate it with a thermostat to turn on and off as needed.
I have an optima deep cell battery so it may be sufficient to run for some time after engine is off. If not I could add a solar charger that sat on my dash board to either run the fan or keep the battery charged, or both.
Since I never use my Fresh air intake anyways it would be disabled via removing vacuum line.
Has anyone tried this? Would this not help my situation? I've always worried about under hood heat soak destroying other electronic components under the hood, i.e.. battery, HEI distributer.
Yes, I've installed an aluminum radiator and electric fan. It's controlled with a thermostat and runs after ignition is off until thermostat is satisfied. I don't have a problem with engine cooling while running. The temp gauge stays in the middle. However, my thermostat is not optimally located. It's currently in the upper radiator hose and the fan will usually run for less than thirty seconds after shutdown.
To improve on engine bay cooling after shutdown is why I wanted another active vent, but I'm not interested in cutting my hood or wheel wells. Perhaps just getting my radiator fan to run longer after shutdown would suffice?
Currently I just pop the hood when i return home, but that's not always feasible when out and about.
To improve on my issue of acceleration loss, I can try insulating the fuel lines better. They run in fairly close proximity to exhaust manifold. This may also be the source of the problem of starting and then stalling due to fuel loss caused by an air bubble (vapor lock).
I think I would still benefit from evacuating hot air from engine bay after shutdown though.
Cuts easily with scissors along the length for installation on existing installations, it comes in silver and black.
As a side benefit, far less vapor lock in hot city traffic.
(';')
1. I like Elinor's suggestion as to the fuel line in the engine bay.
2. I suggest that the issue is under the car. the fuel line being close to the exhaust. Wrap one or both?
3. The cowl vent repurpose is interesting!!! Last option in my book!
4. Drastic. Ditch the carb. GO EFI!!! Vapor lock issues left in the dust.
My lump recovered from it's no crank issue. Long effort by son fixed. A basic?? The cure.
But, son opines that my down pipe is too close to the starter. cooks them. Wrap in the future...
Alas, it had a hissy. Again!!! fired up perfectly, backed in to drive. New starter and 100 percent charge!! Very healthy crank, immediate fire. Cleared shop space to clean up.
Time to put it away. heathy cranks. No fire. About three crank efforts, no fire. Nope, don't run the battery down. Popped the bonnet. Messed around in the area of the ;last failure, the coil module and HT coil wire. Nothing loose or adrift??? Cranked again. Immediate fire???
Actually, I put Thermo-Flex on ALL fuel lines where they were near any exhaust pipes. Haven't had a vapor lock situation since I did that.
However, I still had a hard-starting problem because, as Carl mentions, the STARTER was so close to the exhaust, especially while sitting at a gas pump for example, that it would hardly spin the engine. Husband found a small, modern GM gear reduction starter, about 2/3 the physical dimensions and half the weight, and after I put that one I have not had One instance of hard to start while engine is hot! Spins that engine Right up, hot or not!
I have my own opinions about EFI which do not follow the Orthodox thinking of most of the rest of the automotive world.
I will say I have 2 Fuel Injected engines and 2 naturally aspirated engines, and while Addie and Trucklet (both FI) take requests for power and acceleration under advisement and get back to me, Nix and my work truck give me Instant performance when I want it.
(';')
Way back when, I did have hot crank issues on past critters. 51/56 ****** 4x4 pickup, lumped with a 283 SBC. Only solution known to me me at the time was to wait til it cooled!!
Next up. 79 IHC Scout II. Same big AC Delco GM style starter. Thought I was stranded in the Sierra t a PGE job. The wait til it cooled thing worked. But, leaned something!! Added a relay to the crank circuit. Mopar sourced. No more hot crank issue.
My LT1 has the "little" GM starter. Not a hot crank issue, ever.. But, is the heat "cooking" the little ones??? The center dump ram horns place the down pipe closer than the original rear dump manifold that the LT1 left Detroit with.
Elinor, your senses gotta be sharper than mine. I sense no "delay" in my EFI critters to throttle command?? But, true, it's been decades since I last drove a car with a carb. well the last was my Hot rod. It's dual 94's kicked in fast....
Decades ago I had a Pontiac Bonneville convertible that we had to let it cool down after we stopped for gas. Finally found a sheet metal heat shield GM made that bolted onto the starter and that fixed the problem. 400 cubic inch with a 4 barrel, boy would that thing fly. White body, white interior and white top.
The muffler pockets introduce tremendous amounts of heat into the fuel. Attached is what I did to reduce this heat transfer into the fuel tanks. Also, I have covered my fuel supply and return lines that are under the bonnet. I've got a lot of pig iron under the hood (462 BBC iron block and heads), and I still am running a carb. Starter is also wrapped. Headers are ceramic coated inside and out, as is the entire exhaust system, not wrapped. My previous post mentions the radiator and fans, which you say are installed on your car. I run a 180 stat and a high flow water pump.
I don't have any hot start issues ( he said with his fingers crossed), from heat soak situations.
Last edited by lickahotskillet; Aug 4, 2019 at 08:27 PM.
Greg,
Just remembered, I also added a power steering cooler. When I pushed the car hard at Mid Ohio, it forced P/S fluid out of the pumps breather. It has not been a problem since adding the cooler. Every little bit of heat removal helps.
Power Steering Cooler:
I found a genuine Power Steering cooler in a wrecking yard, Ford Giganto truck I think, and mounted it just under the radiator/AC condenser and tied it up with Zip-ties. It has extra heavy duty fins that will withstand just about any errant road rock.
(';')
Under Hood Ventilation
