DIY-Enlarged Air Intake Hole in Radiator Cooling Plate

[SS2CRZ]

Hello again everyone.

I've seen a few posts about possibly enlarging the factory Air Intake feeder duct that is already in the "radiator cooling plate". Curiosity got the best of me last night, so I bought some supplies and modded mine. It is now 30%-40% larger than stock, and is now as wide as the top area of the OEM air duct / scoop underneath (that feeds cool air into it).

I think it'll be a welcome addition to thenew AFE/Takeda intake I may ask for at Christmas!







I used stainless steel gutter mesh from Lowe's. I cut-out a flat pattern and bent the sides down (like a small, shallow upside-down box shape) and drilled holes in the plastic "ribs / stiffeners" that are molded into the back side of the plastic cover. Then I installed screws through those holes (and through the mesh) to hold the mesh in-place. I wanted an ultra-clean install without the screws showing from the outside. I WAS going to paint the mesh satin black, but I like the way the metal mesh looks. Kinda adds a small amount of wow factor when you pop the hood.

I think it turned out really nice, and should definitely be functional.

Total Mod cost: A whopping $3.00

[Synapz]

I would paint the grill black to make it more subtle.

[Willard]

Nice tasteful mod. I like it, looks good in bare metal too.

[Verch]

Looks great....looks like the mesh itself has a decent amount of airflow blockage though...I will be doing this mod as well, thanks for sharing.....

[SS2CRZ]

If you look closely, all the little holes in the mesh are slanted a certain way from the machine that punches them. I oriented the mesh so that they are all angled in the same direction as the OEM "louvers" that used to be there. This mod STILL has to be more significant airflow than stock.

Sure, anything blocks a small percentage of airflow...just like having any kind of grille on a speaker blocks a certain amount of sound. I guess the goal is to have the finished product as acoustically (or aerodynamically in this case) transparent as possible, while still looking "complete" and aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

I still reserve the right to paint it satin black. Still deciding.

I am about to order 2 yards of 2x2 Twill weave Carbon Fiber cloth, and some epoxy resin to laminate my OEM front lip, shifter trim, etc.( I've done CF work for the USAF for over 20 years). I may laminate the entire cooling plate in real CF as well--which would definitely call for satin black mesh.

[Jakecrxsi]

Looks great.

[Verch]

Thanks for the explanation of the directional hole pattern...looks great.

[SS2CRZ]

Wait until you see the rear diffuser vent -or- reflector replacement inserts I'm fabricating. Molding the same stainless steel mesh around the honeycomb-patterned plastic diffuser inserts (where the optional reflectors go). I have the left side done already tonight, and it looks sweet! I'll finish the right side tomorrow and post pics.

[bluezipper]

I love it when guys do one off ,in my opinion "true custom" work. Looks great!!! I'm definitely going to do it. I have an old IHC Scout II with tons of one off welding, and body work. Everyone asks what catalog or supply house etc... I got it from. I take it as a compliment that people think it is aftermarket manufactured stuff. When it's really just some elbow grease, know-how, and enginuity. Great job!

[tsh]

Don't believe your assumptions about air-flow unless you actually build a flow-bench. Turbulence is a tricky thing to model, you could trivially measure this.