Vents for Exhaust Cooling - Question

[Grubby]

I just received a pair of ERA inner fender vents for exhaust cooling. They look a bit different then some I have seen.

I thought the newest cars used a vent that was triangular shaped. The parts I got are right angle shaped.

Are these correct for #755? I want to be sure before I cut the inner venders.

Thanks.
John

[ERA 778]

Those look just about like the ones I have on #778.

They must work because I don't seem to have any excess heat problems under the hood!
Hal

[Grubby]

Hal,

Thanks. The problem I am trying to improve is the temperature of the air thru the vents in the cockpit. They are completely useless long runs when everything is heat soaked.

My car gets driven and I would like some cooling for me and my wife.

John

[DonC]

Look just like mine in 684. Every bit of venting to get the heat out of the engine bay helps.
Do you have a heater installed? If you do don't forget to close the petcock for summer operations.
DonC

[ERA 778]

To help cool the interior I added two boat bilge blowers that I got from Overton's. Mounted them on top of the header shields and used the same ducting as before, just cut it to fit the blowers in place. They help some, but the interior can still get hot in the summer sun! I'll try to find a photo of the installed blowers.

[lippy]

Those vents are exactly the same as mine, ERA 797. I also installed the optional heat shields (you could even make those yourself with sheet aluminum) and added some extra heat insulation on the foot boxes (top only).

[davids2toys]

Originally Posted by Grubby

I just received a pair of ERA inner fender vents for exhaust cooling. They look a bit different then some I have seen.

I thought the newest cars used a vent that was triangular shaped. The parts I got are right angle shaped.

Are these correct for #755? I want to be sure before I cut the inner venders.

Thanks.
John

I have car #698 and picked these up from ERA last year and still have not installed them. They look exactly like yours!
I have a question, right now my foot-wells are nice and cool, even in the summer. I was told today at a car show by another ERA owner that when I cut the hole and install the vent, that now all the hot air off the header will be directed at the foot-wells and my feet will be much hotter. Is there any truth to this?
Thanks...Dave

[1795]

Dave,

I have the vents in ERA 717, they have been there all along, and there has never been a situation that I thought my feet were getting too hot. I have taken several drives of between 250-450 miles and never felt overheated, even in temps in the 90's.

Jim

[DanEC]

I don't have the vents on my ERA but I would believe they lower the temperatures on the foot boxes just by mixing, cooler, outside air with radiant heat off the pipes.

A question I have, and the reason I haven't installed the vents, is how much dirt, dust and road debris do they channel into the engine compartment from the wheel well?

[1985 CCX]

On my old CCX the boxes heated up versus without them. Spoke to Dave about this...

Heat passed over footbox and transferred the heat, keep in mind my boxes were not covered or insulated....

[davids2toys]

Thanks Jim, appreciate it

Dan, I would think quite a bit. Just look at the back of your wheel-well, that should give you an idea. I never thought about that aspect of it...hmmm

I also have a couple of more issues:

1) I have the heat shields and the aluminum panel option in the engine bay. Locations of the big hole and flange will definitely interfere with the heat shields. I will also be cutting thru FG and aluminum at the same time. Not sure of how much of a problem that will be.

2) My left from wheel is hitting/rubbing o n the inner fender well when making lefty turns. You can't hear it but you sure can see it. It is just about thru the FG. In searching the forum, I am not the only one with this problem I also believe it came up in a conversation with Doug a long time ago. I think he thought it was kind of normal. I have the same problem on the Pass side only to a much much lesser degree! That side I could definitely live with.
So, if I do the screen, then the tire will be hitting the screen. As cool as the vents look, I am not sure it is going to be worth the effort

[DanEC]

Against ERA's recommendations, I'm running 27 inch tall 70 series tires on my front and when first set up my left one rubbed a little on the bottom of the lip where it is rolled under. I ground a little on the lip to angle the inside edge back a little and just barely cleared. But by the time I set the suspension height and aligned the front, I ended up with good clearance. It's not noticeable.

Is this the same place yours is rubbing - at the lower roll under for the rocker panel? Can you just grind the edge of the lip back slightly, contour it and touch up the edge with some paint? I think the body update came between our cars so mine may be slightly different in that area.

Here was the bottom of my fender lip showing the contact before I did some grinding.

[davids2toys]

Originally Posted by DanEC

Against ERA's recommendations, I'm running 27 inch tall 70 series tires on my front and when first set up my left one rubbed a little on the bottom of the lip where it is rolled under. I ground a little on the lip to angle the inside edge back a little and just barely cleared. But by the time I set the suspension height and aligned the front, I ended up with good clearance. It's not noticeable.

Is this the same place yours is rubbing - at the lower roll under for the rocker panel? Can you just grind the edge of the lip back slightly, contour it and touch up the edge with some paint? I think the body update came between our cars so mine may be slightly different in that area.

Here was the bottom of my fender lip showing the contact before I did some grinding.

No Dan, not even close. I am 5" above your location (see pics I just took).
I also have a little damage to the Pass side, but nothing like this.
I am running BFG 235/60R15. I believe this is what is called out for by ERA.

[DanEC]

Right - you did say wheel "well". My mind read wheel "lip".

That is nasty. Do you know how much caster you are running in your front suspension? If you are running a lot of caster you might be able to decrease it some and lessen the interference a little.

[Grubby]

Originally Posted by davids2toys

I have car #698 and picked these up from ERA last year and still have not installed them. They look exactly like yours!
I have a question, right now my foot-wells are nice and cool, even in the summer. I was told today at a car show by another ERA owner that when I cut the hole and install the vent, that now all the hot air off the header will be directed at the foot-wells and my feet will be much hotter. Is there any truth to this?
Thanks...Dave

Dave = I saw no difference in foot box temp with or without the vents. The car was routinely taken on very long runs.

John

[davids2toys]

Thanks John, appreciate it.

Dan, I have no idea what I am running for castor at all. The car sits really nice and goes down the road great. Tires are wearing perfect too.
Maybe I'm nuts, but the wheel well appears smaller in width on the drivers side.
Probably will be calling ERA soon.

[DanEC]

Originally Posted by davids2toys

Thanks John, appreciate it.

Dan, I have no idea what I am running for castor at all. The car sits really nice and goes down the road great. Tires are wearing perfect too.
Maybe I'm nuts, but the wheel well appears smaller in width on the drivers side.
Probably will be calling ERA soon.

Caster mostly just shows up in steering effort at low speed and self centering of the wheels in straight ahead driving. It doesn't affect tire wear or appearance to any significant degree that I'm aware of. But increased caster does slightly shift the wheel location to the rear which would increase the interference with the wheel well. Might be something to check out and see where it currently is set at.

[davids2toys]

Originally Posted by DanEC

Caster mostly just shows up in steering effort at low speed and self centering of the wheels in straight ahead driving. It doesn't affect tire wear or appearance to any significant degree that I'm aware of. But increased caster does slightly shift the wheel location to the rear which would increase the interference with the wheel well. Might be something to check out and see where it currently is set at.

I did not think castor or camber would shift the tire to the rear. I just Googled it, hmmmm, you might be right.
I should do some measuring on both sides of the car center to center to the rear wheel.
Probably more accurate with the wheels off the car.
Related question: I need to bleed all the hydraulics, do I need to remove the rear wheels to bleed the INBOARD brakes. This may be a good time to do the measuring.

[DanEC]

I bleed my inboard brakes from underneath - but it was probably only practical to do so because I had speed bleeder valve screws installed (thank to ERAChas) which simplified things. I don't know if I would want to try to do so with regular bleeder screws. It's tight getting your hand up there and then cranking the valve open and closed with a wrench while someone is pumping the brakes would be really tiring and probably messy. You could try hooking a vacuum bleeder pump up and then crack the bleeder screw open but you may still spill a little fluid in the process.

Not sure about getting to them by pulling the wheels. I didn't try that - not sure if you can get to them on not.

If you pull out the access panel in the interior, I would suggest getting some speed bleeder valves and install while you are in there. I found mine on the shelf down at a Pep Boys. They have a check valve inside so you can crack them open and no fluid will come out until pressure is applied to the brake system. When the pressure is released, the valves close so no air gets in. Pretty handy little deals.

[davids2toys]

Thanks for all the good info Dan. I need to take my interior out anyway to do the rear pinion seal, so I will be doing it very soon.
I actually have the speed bleeders somewhere. I had bought them online for my old Cobra and never installed them because I sold the car. I originally liked the idea but then I heard about the sealent on the threads leaking air. I actually called Speedbleeders and they told me they should be removed every ten uses and re-coated with some sealant(I forgot the name).
I spoke with ERA and Doug confirmed this tire rubbing is pretty common on these cars because of the way some of the workers placement of the panel(FG) in the mold or after the mold. He suggested making a bump stop on the steering linkage. He also recommended not doing the screen on my car. He said the engine compartment would get much dirtier very quickly! Between that and the heat screens being in the way, I think I am going to pass on the vent install. I just loved the way it looked and that was my main reason for wanting to install it.
Now I need to sell the kit...LOL. I believed I paid 200.00 for it too!