Water Flow / Drainage
I have received a few questions about what would be the effects of water flowing through these louvers. In truth I do not know, but I do not believe there will be a problem on my Jeep. You would have to make your own decision on this.
If you take the time to waterproof your under hood electrical connectors I don?t think you would have a problem at all. If you care to read how to do this I did a write-up a while back.
You can pull it down from my very simple web site at
http://home.att.net/~email.id/wsb/ht...ome.html-.html
Or you can take a look at a forum thread here
http://www.jeepbbs.net/forums/showth...oof+Electrical
I wanted to take a few pictures of my engine compartment to show where the louvers actually fall. This was easier said then done. Finally I came up with the idea to just place the template I used to cut the holes in the hood exactly where the louvers fall.
Here is a picture of the driver?s side.
As you can see there isn?t much for any rainwater to cause problems with.
The passenger side is a bit different. Things are closer. My battery is a sealed cell battery so I have no worries about water on it. The Power Distribution center is sealed with a gasket that I made a long time ago, and the Computer is both covered with the plastic cover and waterproofed using the technique I descried in the previous write-up.
Here is a picture.
My engine compartment is stuffed to say the least. In truth I doubt more then 3 water molecules could congregate in there at the same time!
Other Under Hood Cooling Options
If you take a good look at the underside of the TJ hood you will see a ?Spine? or channel that runs right down the middle of the hood and another which runs across the rear edge of the hood.
Here is a picture.
I am sure this channel is there to stiffen the hood and keep it from flexing.
Well, there are 6 oval shaped holes cut out of the center channel and another 6 oval shaped holes cut in the channel at the back of the hood.
These oval shaped holes are LARGE. 2 and 3/8-inch by 1 and 1/8-inch.
While I have not done this, I see no reason why the hood could not be? precision drilled? with 1-inch holes along these channels.
I think if I were to do this, and I may, I would drill the holes so they would NOT line up with the oval holes in the underside of the channel. This would help control water flow.
I think I also would need some means of making these holes look finished and a means of closing them off in the winter.
In short, this is only a thought with potential. I will look into it as I have the time.
Have a wonderful day,
Frank