Help with hood mod

[02cobraguy]

Hey guys. I did the hood mod to my car the other night. I just have one concern. Now I know while washing the car, I can put towels underneath the vents, but if it rains, is that alright to leave the towels there too? I am moving into a house with a garage in about a week, but right now the forecast sees rain.

Thanks guys.

 

[SinisterX]

Keep the plastic covers handy

 

[cobra808]

Even before my hood mod, water would get on the radiator area.

I wouldn't bother on putting towels.

Besides you may forget one day and who knows what your engince compartment may look like then.

WC

 

[03cobratech]

anyone have pics or details on the hood mod? I bought mine used and not sure if it has it or not... I wash mycar normally?? If it has the hood mod water gets in the engine bay??

Dave

 

[T's Blk03]

Originally posted by 03cobratech
anyone have pics or details on the hood mod? I bought mine used and not sure if it has it or not... I wash mycar normally?? If it has the hood mod water gets in the engine bay??

Dave

Your hood has vents in it, if the hood blanket has slits in it, the mod has not been done, if the vents are fully visable, you have the mod done.

The mod is to open up the vents and remove some of the blanket to allow water to run down without soaking the blanket (causes stains) and also to open the vents to help release some heat from the engine.

 

[slow lane]

The vents are directly above the space between the radiator and the accessory pulleys on the engine. Water should fall straight through to the ground.

I have been driving for about a year with the plastic vent covers removed from behind the vent grills (with much of the blanket cut away at first) and for about 5 months with the blanket completely removed and nothing behind the vent grills.

The engine cools down much faster after shutdown since removing the blanket and the covers from behind the vents.

No problems at all. No noticable water spotting in top of the engine bay. The only rust is on the exhaust manifolds and the EGR pipe where you would expect it in completely dry situations anyway.

 

[byevette]

Originally posted by 03cobratech
anyone have pics or details on the hood mod? I bought mine used and not sure if it has it or not... I wash mycar normally?? If it has the hood mod water gets in the engine bay??

Dave

 

[flyn high again]

I did the mod except I left the slats in [daily driver-trying to keep some of the water and snow off the engine although it does seem to mostly drop between the engine and radiator] and painted the COBRA gray to match my paint. After the mod, the blanket is still staining on me although not as much. I may remove it down the road, but the underside of my hood isn't completely painted so I don't know...

 

[bosscobra]

Does this help?

 

[redaddiction]

What did ya'll use around the edges you cut ?

 

[Sonic 03 Cobra]

I cheated. I removed the whole damn blanket 12000 miles ago and found that the underside of my hood is clear coated. No paint problems and my temp gauge is actually lower than it was (like 1/8").

Occasionally when it rains and teh car has been sitting, the belts will squeal a little bit for maybe 5 minutes or so.

Why would you think rain water would do any damage to your motor? Whenever you drive in the rain your motor gets wet - take a look at the design of your front grille and also notice how the bottom of your engine bay is open to the road below. :coolman:

 

[flyn high again]

Originally posted by redaddiction
What did ya'll use around the edges you cut ?

It's called FlexTrim. Coleman originally posted this link:

http://www.allaboutfishing.com/stor....asp?manufacturer=TACO+METALS&model=FLEX-TRIM

p.s. Don't crimp it as much as I did and it might look better. The FlexTrim works great!

 

[DD2000GT]

A few things...

1 - if you do the hood mod and fold back the plastic vents - with your hood closed, if you look through the opening on the top of the hood you are positioned directly between the radiator and the pulleys. Hence, waster that runs through this opening falls harmlessly between this gap. No need for towels.. :rollseyes

2 - flyin high again - why, oh why, did you cut the hood blanket - only to leave the plastic slats in??? :??: the whole reason you cut this is to let more heat escape from your engine bay - these slats are greatly hampering this and defeats the purpose of the trim you did on your blanket. Fold those slats back under the blanket.

Pic is not the greatest - but you can see the openings:

 

[bosscobra]

I used 3M Scotch 2228 Rubber Mastic Tape, 1in.x10ft.x.065in. Available at Home Depot for $8.59 a box. This product is much better than the flex trim and looks like the other weather striping and sealers used on the COBRA.

 

[flyn high again]

DD2000Gt,

Yours looks sweet. Good job. I'm not a great painter and I had a heck of a time painting mine. The worst part was the letters themselves not being perfectly formed on the blanket.
I did the mod to try to keep the hood blanket from getting stained This was bothering me. I try to keep the car looking nice and the stains were getting worse every time I washed it or it rained. I may fold the flaps back eventually. I want to see what happens this winter first. I'm worried about following a semi and having salt spray all over the engine.

 

[flyn high again]

Originally posted by bosscobra
I used 3M Scotch 2228 Rubber Mastic Tape, 1in.x10ft.x.065in. Available at Home Depot for $8.59 a box. This product is much better than the flex trim and looks like the other weather striping and sealers used on the COBRA.

Does the tape stick ok over time? I tried a different kind of tape first and it kept peeling off. I like the fact that the FlexTrim has metal inside that won't come loose.

 

[Lomancobra]

Before I cut my flaps off the vents I studied them thorougly. If you look at the flap's design, the water goes into the vent bounces off the plastic flap and rolls back to where the water probably would drain if there was no flap anyway. The flaps don't seem to do much of anything and I dont understand why ford put them there. Therefore they came off along with the blanket. No problems to date, but i only got up the nerve to do it a few weeks ago.

 

[bosscobra]

Originally posted by flyn high again
Does the tape stick ok over time? I tried a different kind of tape first and it kept peeling off. I like the fact that the FlexTrim has metal inside that won't come loose.

Keep everything clean when you apply it and there should be no problem. After applying the tape I used wood slats with clamps to get a nice firm and flat grip.

 

[94SVT Coupe]

I think they put them there so you can't see stuff under the hood. You can see down through them during the day.

 

[NXCobra]

Last year I opened the vents and took out the blanket. Daily driven through snow rain and everything else mother nature throws at it. I cleaned the engine bay twice since the removal and it still looks like new.