How-TO: DIY Ford Escort GT Grill Vents...
 

If your looking for a little extra cooling to maybe your radiator or an oil cooler that you recently mounted behind your bumper and don't want to fuss around with a naca duct and all the body work that goes along with it. Here is one viable solution in my opinion...

We need to combine this bumper:
http://i37.tinypic.com/2rm4bhu.jpg

With this:
http://i37.tinypic.com/bhzl8n.jpg

To get better efficiancy out of a setup like this:
http://i38.tinypic.com/ok4i94.jpg

Print out a life size picture of that grill. Decide how many slots you want and create a stencil.

My stencil is Located here:
"Save Target As"
When you got to print it just select size to fit entire page. The slots should print out around 3 3/4" long from tip to tip.

Next head over to the car and tape on the stencil. With a dry erase marker your going to color in your stencil and step back to make sure it is straight and in the proper location. (Notice the final cut bumper has grills slightly higher and over to the right more. That is the reason for the dry erase marker.)

http://i34.tinypic.com/2lo6iq9.jpg


Next step is to cut out the round edges with a 3/4" hole saw:
http://i36.tinypic.com/ih5fk0.jpg

Once that is completed, take a box cutter with brand new blade and begin to connect the holes:
http://i38.tinypic.com/nck38l.jpg
http://i36.tinypic.com/1yu3de.jpg

Take a peak inside and see where your cooler is and think about all the fresh air it will be getting:
http://i38.tinypic.com/16892y1.jpg

Finally color in the yellow that is left inside your newly formed holes with a paint marker of your choice. You could go body colored or black as i did.

After your done you should have something like this:
http://i36.tinypic.com/sfuk55.jpg

Good Luck and I'm not responsible if you cut your hand off or blow up your car...

Well I'll be damned.

RMM Grille would provide better airflow though:

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...icEGT/egtx.jpg

Haha, ya i guess it would but that would look ridiculus on a miata...

now the question is does it really flow air in. Remember TSI do nothing

That will be tested once the car can actually drive. What about a leaf blower at about 8ft. and some ribbon on the back of the oil cooler?

(I respectfully remove the contents of this post)

that sir, looks pretty good. post up your stencil! I may do this...

I personally think the vents will need to be bigger. Maybe only a little. Either that, or throw one or two more in the lineup. What's the overall area of those vents? Calculate how much air would travel through them at 50-75mph. Would turbulence or tumbling pockets of air become an issue? I wonder about pressure build-up outside of vents that size, and how it would effect the ability for air to pass through.

In case the few of you that posted pics of different styles of vents didn't notice. This is a DIY for an Escort GT grill. I took the time to take pics and make a small writeup. Please have some respect and keep it on topic. I would appreciate a post edit to remove the pics. You can create another thread with pictures off any car you please. Theories on flow characteristics and criticism are welcome.

Thank you

First, I have two things to say. Props for having the balls to cut on your bumper. Second, it looks a lot better than I thought it would. Looks pretty damn good actually.

Only thing I would have done different would be to put more of them closer together. It may not look as good, but it would function better. Maybe add a few more. Dumb, but I think it would look better with an odd number of slots.

You might also try doing a little duct work or shielding to increase flow through the oil cooler. Or test it and see if there's a problem before trying to come up with a solution. It may be just fine.

You cut 4 holes in your bumper. How much explanation is really necessary? And who are you, the thread police? :eek5:

Updated first post with stencil... If you don't have anything use full to say STFU and stop padding your post count. (SloS13)

Thanks "supercharger boy"

I simply suggested my idea, which would also be simple DIY, depending on your vent choice and level of intricacy. No need to have 18 people post 18 different threads on their own vent design. Better to consolidate it and let people decide which style they want.

This is a DIY thread with instructions on how to make ONE specific style vent. Its not a thread seeing who can work google images better and find pictures of vents...

The OP didn't start this thread asking for 18 opinions on what the best vent would be. This is a DIY how to thread. A write up. Now he said he's open to criticism and all that. So it's a fine line. But the OP has now made it clear he wasn't looking for examples of what others did. He's already done it anyways.

Just a note as far as function goes: those slots on the GT grille are there for looks, as we get airflow to the radiator from the opening in the front bumper. Even the RMM grille that I posted has only a negligible effect on cooling- temps are the same with both grilles, and with or without the FMIC.

Maybe in stock form the grill doesn't do anything. But if you where to remove your radiator and mount an oil cooler directly behind the grill then replace the radiator you would have a better idea of how my setup is now and see it's effectiveness. ;)

+ 1 for Patsmx5. It looks a whole lot better than I imagined from the early pics. Will be interesting to see if it functions. I, like many here, put function just ahead of form. Works great but is butt ugly doesn't cut it with me. Looks great but just works OK, nope.

Looks good works better is the right balance. I hope your's works great. Good job having the nerve to do it. I keep doing stuff easily reversible but that only takes you so far.

Intuition means nothing when it comes to aerodynamics. This is proven by how horrible the 928 was years ago. That said. I think your vents should function better than those on the Escort. My thinking is the escort grill is almost vertical. Air just smashes into it and goes around. Your placement is more laid back. I would think the less disturbed air would be more likely to flow into your cutouts. Also wouldn't be creating quite as high pressure area behind the openings.

I'm an old hand at cutting bumpers. I also cut the rear skirt off my rear bumper but never took any detailed pictures of it. I just can't wait to get this thing back on the road. Thanks for the praise guys.

Think putting some sort of black screen or mesh behind it would be well advised? I just dont want any rocks going in and finding my tbelt seeing as im using the ricer protege valve cover on my next setup...

I removed the pics and post.

My personal opinion as long as were being honest here: These vents can't possibly be that functional as is. They look like cooling vents. That's where I think their function ends. They cover the area of a Large drink lid from Mc Donald's. If they were to be functional, they'd have to cover the bumper from headlight to headlight. Otherwise, they're aesthetic. The vents need to be A: bigger, or B: more plentiful, to see real benefits.

Holding a leaf blower 8 feet from the vents isn't going to prove anything. You need a big warehouse fan, moving air over the entire front of the car. Why? Because when the car is traveling through the air at 40+mph, there are high and low pressure zones created, even inside the bumper area. Something as simple as pressure build-up in front of the rad is going to kill this effectiveness of 4 little vents on the nose. Also, if you were to flow enough air through a vent in the nose, it'd need to be a lot bigger than that.

On the flip side: Its nice to see someone attempting to improve cooling on the car. I think various vent designs should be tested, but at least you're making a move at it. They don't look bad, or really out of place, but I guess even if they did, they'd go right along with your tow hook, sticker and modified rear bumper. Looks like you enjoy being a little different. I think the idea has validity. I just think the execution should be planned out a little more.

I think it looks great and oem. I'd do it assuming it has fxn to it. Thanks for the idea Mike.

Well, the thing is he doesn't need as much frontal area for the oil cooler as the oil cooler itself has. So while more is better, what he has may be sufficient. (Mike, could you post the area of the vents and the area of the oil cooler?) Ducting will make all the difference in the world. If he built something that directed any air that went through those vents directly through the oil cooler then it would probably work pretty good.

Then again, he could have just built a smaller scooper that went from the mouth to the oil cooler and that would have worked the same way.

So true. I think his idea in the first place was to have vents. I'd like a scooper (super duper). Now, I posted the pics and whatnot earlier, because like your observation, I thought it would work better. As long as we're drilling holes, I'm down for all sorts of ideas. I love honing a good hole.

Like patsmx5 said about ducting. If you could make some sort of ducting with some ABS plastic, or cardboard and fiberglass, the vents would probably work great for directing a stream of air right over the cooler. Other than that, I stick with my last observation. Size or quantity would help the vents as they sit now.

Someone who finally gets it! Have a beer! :beer: Almost everything has been done. I'm trying to find small ways here and there to make mine unique without being cast apart.

Ill try and get some area calculations for you. Making a small "behind the scenes" duct is definitely doable. Any comments on the black screen or mesh behind to keep large debris from finding my tbelt?

doing something to be different which is not functional is pretty stupid.

However, they look cool as fuck. I don't think they're going to be functional, but if they turn out to be I'm going to follow suit for my oil cooler...if I don't buy the carbontrix kidney's instead.

Timing belt? What?

1 hole unobstructed will flow more than 5 with mesh or screen. So don't put anything behind them. Just duct it all tight to the oil cooler and then it will appear black as no light will be behind it.

The area thing is gonna be different cause they're at an angle. So really we'd need the area and the angle from vertical. Even that won't be perfect, but it will be close enough. In short, this mod will be 5 times more effective with proper shrouding then without.

There are 4 slots that measure 1" across and 3 3/4" from top to bottom. The face of the oil cooler measures 10"x3". Not really sure what to do with those numbers to answer your question. Also the slots are at a 45 degree angle.

I was saying the thing about my timing belt because it's going to be exposed via the protege valve cover. Just went out there and there is plenty of room to make a proper duct and a shroud.

Thanks for posting this. I'll be attempting this next week :-)

I hear they make covers for the timing belt, specifically to keep debris out. Just a rumor though.

Count me in the "they need to be bigger to have much function" club. Then again, oil coolers don't need much flow unless this is a pretty serious track car. Try moving the cooler itself closer to the holes, and shrouding it. The added benefit of the shrouding is that it would have the same function as a screen without blocking airflow.

Props for having the balls to cut up your bumper and post the results here of all places. They look good, but they can probably function better. :)

I figured if I could get at least a passing grade from one of the toughest Miata communities then i did good.

However saying this is the toughest Miata community is actually contradictory because i remember a time when we had rainbows and bunnies for our site banner. :bowrofl:

Good Luck... Post pics when your done...



Fight amongst yourself for a while. I'm going to run to loews and check out the heating duct area...

I'm in this crew and from what I've seen at the track, the little holes don't work. That's why I'm feeling the carbontrix kidney vents.

Yours counts as a "pretty serious track car".

TSIs flow air in. It would be pretty much impossible for them not to. The problem with TSIs is that it adds air/pressure behind the radiator, thus decreasing the pressure differential across the radiator and defeating the purpose of increased cooling.

These vents on the other hand, from what I can see, add flow in front of the rad/cooler so more pressure is added on the correct side. If anything, maybe making some shrouding with abs to direct more flow thru and not around any coolers would make this mod even more effective. Nice clean job in getting all vents even and parallel.

lol, 21 track days in 1-year = win

I'm trying to decide if I want to get those kidney vents for brake ducts, put two next to the rad mouth on the pass side, or one right under the escort GT one goes. I wish the openings were bigger, so I plan on cutting them open some.

Right now I'm leaning toward cutting my r-pack lip for the begi scooper (and making a splitter), using the r-pack brake duct vents, then cutting 3 horizontal vents beside the mouth (like machismo) for my 36-row oil cooler.

Good point. There is also going to be an area of negative pressure behind the oil cooler when the rad fans are blowing. The oil cooler is pretty close to the rad when it's mounted so the air being sucked through the rad will also suck fresh air from the vent into the oil cooler then to the rad.

Also, nothing usefull in the duct isle. Everything is way to big. Maybe going with abs or thin sheet metal. I would make a full shroud for the cooler then cut a 3 1/2" hole in the middle. Do something similar for the vent. Then run maybe flexable dryer hose between the two and seal it with epoxy or silicone... Rain and day light will have to make me postpone this part for another day. Once that is done I'm going to seal the 1" gap between the cooler and radiator with that insulating foam that has one side that you peel off a strip and it's sticky. That way when the fan turn on it has no choice but to pull air from the front vent...

Machismo's car looks mean as hell.

I'm only basing my suggestion here, on the fact that I want to learn how to fiberglass:

I would personally take measurements and look at the dimensions of the cooler, the vents and the surrounding area. Then I would take thin cardboard (like the stuff they use to cover the corners of a refrigerator in its box), and cut/ bend it to the desired shape. I'm actually pretty good with cardboard, and I figure getting the right shape shouldn't be that hard. Then I would look at the best way to fiberglass it and finish it.

With aluminum, ABS, or some sort of sheet metal, you're limited by the material's ability to conform. With something like cardboard, you can cut and re-cut all you want for the desired effect. And after fiberglassing it, you can sand and paint it for a smooth clean finish. Maybe... Just maybe, you could pull some molds and make a few for people that want to do something like this.

Also, to seal the ducting to the bumper and cooler, I'd use double sided foam tape and rubber.

Multiple air entries isn't necessarily going to do a better job of getting air through the extractors. As mentioned- the first thing to address (with the mouth sealed up) is to reduce the underhood/engine bay pressure. Look at any GT production based raced cars and the exit area is always heavily focused on compared to the entry. For example this corvette has a near stock entry:
http://www.968.net/racing/images/200...orvette_00.jpg

You could make a small scoop directing air towards the oil cooler from below and the holes you made could act as an exit.

I think the holes (or slits... whatev) are a little too far forward and wouldn't be in a low-pressure area, suitable for extraction. Now if he made extractors behind the cooler, via ducting or similar means, you could take better advantage of possible air flow. All you need to do is find an area that's common to low-pressure at operating speeds. If you could create a lip on the top side of the vents and a chamfer on the leading side (bottom) of each vent, then you could help channel air into them. I know it sounds retarded, but vortex generators are good for controlling small amounts of air. I'm not saying you need to make a bunch of little "Shark's Teeth", but a few small fins at odd angles, an inch or two in front of the vents, would dramatically help in directing air into the vents.

I'm saying all this while completely disregarding this as a street car.

There are some pictures and background info on VG's here, although some of you won't need any education on the subject.

Vortex Generators: Band-Aids or Magic?

Insight on the idea of VG's?

OP: Nice writeup! Looks pretty good!

I beg to differ and have self documented temp tests to prove it. We took my friends supercharged car and went for a hard drive down the highway, full throttle 3000 - 7000rpm high load pull on a 90 degree ambient day. Under hood temps at the passenger side firewall where the A/C Bulkhead fittings were increased from 110 degrees to 136 degrees by 7000. Removed the signals and put in TSIs and the max temp was 118 degrees at the exact same position under numerous heavy heavy load conditions. Raising the headlamp doors lowered it another 3 degrees.

Thanks Guys. No updates on the ducting. I did just pick up my new engine the other day and may wind up putting it in before the ducting is complete. I know, I Know, but i really miss this thing already.

944 good idea with the fiberglass covered cardboard ducting. Way easier to form than using sheet metal. I will have to find some empty soda boxes or something...

I just bought a bunch of fiberglassing stuff yesterday. I still need a roller and wax but I got chop mat, resin with hardener and all the other goodies and I haven't hit my 50 dollar budget yet. Close though. I'm gonna try to do something with foam and then cardboard. I might try to do a "How to get started for less than 50 bucks" thread if I remember to take pics and write down my steps. But basically I'm teaching myself the basics and am going to make a write up from an amateur's point of view.

So far it looks like it takes time and that's about it. Aside from cutting the excess FG and wax or sprayable stuff, it doesn't take many special tools or skill. Just patience.

FWIW I've done a good bit of fiberglassing. Probably 100 hours experience working and laying fiberglass. Granted most of it is working on boats.

You gotta use a certain powder on the foam if you plan to glass over it or the resin will react with the foam and melt it, ruining your mold. Also, if you use a wax you have to use the right stuff, and use it liberally. Might wanna pick up a book on it before you make a mess.

And I'd recommend using cloth as opposed to matt. Matt is hard to work and hard to bend, make corners, etc and still get it to lay down flat. And matt will break at corners. You'll never get it to lay right. Just use several layers of cloth. Don't use too much resin either. Common mistake. More resin does not add strength, more cloth does. You want just enough resin to make the layers of cloth stick together. Do 5-6 layers of cloth at once and you'll have a nice piece.

Yeah, I've downloaded a couple PDF's on it, have watched a few videos and have a separate bookmark for fiberglassing with a few different links already placed in it. I'd lay cellophane over the foam or gloss it with a release agent before laying the resin on. The resin will make short work of whatever effort you put into your design. I invision what gasoline would do to Styrofoam. The cardboard wouldn't be a bad template to work off of. I'm going to try to make a duct this weekend. Its just too effing cold to do anything right now. The results would be f'd in the a over night.

I also have a respirator that I need new inserts for. I'm sure my sandblasting used those up last time. Aside from that, I got nitrile gloves, goggles and a crap load of Dremel stuff. I can't think of anything else I'll need. Any thing off the top of your head?

I removed my front marker lights and installed aluminum screens. never really did any measuring but it's glad to hear that they might work.

you can see them here http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2609780

Since this thread was revived this is the thought I had for this car and the one with the cooper scooper in the nose. What about just doing NACA cutouts? They are proven to work and won't disturb the already poor aerodynamics of our cars significantly. You wouldn't be inserting little ducts but cutting holes to the NACA specs for air intake.

http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x...bluemiata2.jpg

I'm not an aeronautical engineer, but I believe the NACA ducts are designed for use where the plane of the opening of the duct is close to perpendicular to the primary direction of airflow. Putting them on the bumper as illustrated would probably be a less than optimal application.

naca ducts are designed to be on surfaces parallel to flow so they dont add to the frontal area but have good intake velocity. the opening there could be any shape.

Well regardless of function they "look" good.

Thanks Guys... Glad to see this is still getting some attention....

Mod for a purpose.

It had not even crossed my mind that the nose could be cut in an aesthetic way so this thread helps me.

I have a hole in my firewall to bring in cooler air for my intake. Now that I've installed a MS and removed the AFM I'm looking to try a cold side intake hopefully shorter and straighter than what I have now but don't want another hole in the firewall.

So what I am looking to do is bring cooler high pressure air near the TB.
If I can get around or thru the radiator support the nose vents should do.

I need to read thru these articles to decide on if/how I will vent the engine compartment.


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Hope the information helps somebody out :)

Two holes in the firewall, fender vents placed directly in front of cowl opening and liners deleted, brake vents along with r-lip vents, some holes in the bumper, and an induction style hood with vents as well......
Never gets over 215 at the back of the head while beating on this car all day and no heater core or "Hyper" re-route.
Kind of like this......

Which then becomes this.....

That looks awesome.

The holes idea I don't like so much.. aesthetics are a by-product, the main idea obviously is to attract as much air into the hole as possible and I feel one larger hole is far more effective than smaller ones which will have more net turbulance distrupting airflow into the openings as there is a larger net perimeter to the holes...

amazing what a dremel and 45 minutes can do huh?