Decided to whip up some hood vents for the XJ. Was originally going to use "Grill O Sheets" but after buying them I didnt like how flimsy the aluminum was. So, I went to home depot and got a sheet of black security door screen. All they had was large sheets (48" I think), wish they woulda had something smaller but oh well... extra material for another project down the road maybe.

Started out by tracing the area I wanted cut, and started drilling 1" holes to get my saw in.


Started out using my airsaw, but the little compressor Im using at the moment cant keep up, so I switched to my sawzaw. Then cleaned the edges up with an angle grinder and a file. (I cut two different sections so that I was cutting less material away, in the hopes to keep the hood a little more solid)


Cut the sheets to the shape I wanted, and had some extra fender trim laying around, so I figured Id do the edges with that.




Mounted them to the hood with self drilling screws, six on each side.






Tomorrow Im going to mask it off and paint the area behind the screen black. Hopefully it will help camouflage the holes a little

 

Most of the vents I see have the mesh on the inside but that looks goot too

 

I think it may look better on the underside. Not trying to knock or anything. Are you going to put a rain "gutter"in?

 

Ive never really understood the point of that since it seems to me like that it would make the vents less efficient.

 

Round out the corners of the holes in the hood and put some more door edging around them. It might look a little better.

 

Not bad. I prefer the screen material to be under the hood (looks cleaner IMO), but to each his own. I've run my vents in the spot as yours for about 1.5 years w/o drip pans and have had zero issues with water. Just put dielectric grease on all your connections and seal your distributor cap.

 

It'll look better once I paint it. Ill get pics up tomorrow or late tonight. Just got home so havent had time to work on it today.

 

I have a question for the OP...What was the point of making two different wholes when you just covered them both up with the mesh, why not just make one big one?

 

The original mesh I was going to use were "Grill O Sheets" and they are VERY thin aluminum. I originally had the holes cut that way, so when I layed the grill sheets over them, they would have some support in the middle... and also to keep a little more structure to the hood. I was so dissatisfied with the Grill O Sheets that last minute I chose not to use them but decided to leave the holes the same.

 

well, pictures dont really do it much justice, but its noticeably better in person having it painted black behind the vents.

 

nice job! I would try black screws thou.

 

I think it looks very clean and neat. Good Job. I like it. Thumbs Up!

 

Hey any word on how those vents are workin out for ya bud?

 

Seems to be helping keep the bay a little cooler. Just had a butt load of rain too and nothing seemed to get affected by the water. Overall, Id say im happy with how they turned out.

 

Hello guys. All my mechanics insist that the t-stat is the one that will keep the temperture down, and that the vents are only a visual aid... I still think that the vents will help the cooling system thou... Anyone has measured something that can bust on confirm the "vents myth"?