Ducting pics? Anyone want to share?

[boost97gst]

So im in the same boat as a million other dsmers. Temps a bit too high when cruising. About 213 for me, not too bad but not good. I sealed the gap between the ac condenser and the rad today. Had 0 effect on hwy temps but idle temps drop way faster once the fans turn on. Very noticeable change there.

I have a PR kit and as you all know the fmic sits quite a bit lower than the condenser/rad. My thoughts are to take a piece of sheet metal and bend a section to go from the bottom of the fmic to the bracket underneath the condenser and use some self tapping sheet metal screws there. It would be like a scoop to force air up basically.
On the bumper side ill problably just rivet through the plastic so theres no sharp edges scraping against the bottom of the fmic, dont want to puncture that.

So, does anyone want to share some pics of any ducting they did? No judgement passed, i dont care how ugly it is, i just want some ideas. Function is priority, looks i dont care about.

 

[Breezio69]

I just barely (literally an hour ago) made a few pieces of simple ducting from my fog light holes to the core support, it took me about 30 minutes to figure out one side then about 5 minutes to replicate the other in reverse. I dont have a picture of the exact piece its self but i can get one soon.

I was having overheat issues, freeway at 220, stop and go at 220-225... took it on a "spirited" highway drive and then regular streets back home. temps were, highway: 1 hash UNDER 200 (about 197-198) stop and go was about 205 but this mod probably barely helps for stop and go.

anyways, with the fans on it had enough air draw to do this

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before this mod i could feel no air moving in or out of the fog light holes at all

EDIT, also, the design was very simple, it was a basic "C" shape out of 22 gauge from home depot with a couple extra bends and cuts for good fit to the bumper, then just self tapped it to the core support

 

[boost97gst]

Nice... So you just used some thin sheet metal and made a c shape to force the air towards the center. Not a bad idea at all. I could use that along with my scoop idea and probably get some awesome results. Thanks bro

 

[Breezio69]

i plan on adding a little exrta metal top and bottom at an angle or possibly at 90* to make a real "scoop" if you get what im saying? but i was pressed for time and just wanted to see if it would work before i spent alot if time on it welding it and fitting it etc, here is the pics, super basic but seems to work, i can only imagine how much air is getting diverted @ 70-80 mph

up inside the hole

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view from the front, hard to see after i painted them black, when they were just metal they looked cool, but i should have used aluminum and left it bare, this was steel

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[Custom GSX]

That's cool I've been wanting to do that to my 1g

 

[boost97gst]

I can probably use the other scoops cause i have my fog lights. Damn it!!! why didnt i post this earlier , then again, we probably both had our front bumpers off at the same time. Ill mess with it more tomorrow.
As for tonight: Beeeeeeeeeeeautiful weather. Down to 66 degrees, and i just so happen to have a half tank of gas and 2 gallons of 110 race fuel to add in. Either i put down 400whp tonight or i lose my tranny, or both!!

 

[Breezio69]

The only other things I did while the bumper was off was stuff pipe foam insulation between my headlights ( I cut it like 6" longer than the gap between) to cover up the holes up top, with the bumper on you cant see it at all, then put it between fmic and core support gap. That probably also helped which I forgot to mention

 

[spyderdrifter]

i plan on adding a little exrta metal top and bottom at an angle or possibly at 90* to make a real "scoop" if you get what im saying? but i was pressed for time and just wanted to see if it would work before i spent alot if time on it welding it and fitting it etc, here is the pics, super basic but seems to work, i can only imagine how much air is getting diverted @ 70-80 mph

up inside the hole

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view from the front, hard to see after i painted them black, when they were just metal they looked cool, but i should have used aluminum and left it bare, this was steel

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If you do any 90° bends, try to make them curved, not sharp bends. It'll be best for the air flow. I'm gonna be working on some designs as well.

 

[Breezio69]

If you do any 90° bends, try to make them curved, not sharp bends. It'll be best for the air flow. I'm gonna be working on some designs as well.

oh i wasnt talking about bending the pieces any more than they are, they fit snug to the bumper and dont flap around with a nice smooth curve. i meant i wanted to weld on some pieces top and bottom that are 90*, because right now all it is, is a flap of metal, air can still go around it from the top or bottom. but the pictures show it did "start" to help air in that general direction.

i think with the welded pieces top and bottom it would definately "scoop" up more air with less going around them and out the back of the car. plus it would stiffen them up a lot

 

[spyderdrifter]

Gotcha. It's looking good so far, and sounds like it's making quite a difference. I'm gonna be doing similar with mine as well as some exterior venting too.

 

[Breezio69]

EDIT, i feel like im 3 years old posting this but it explains what im trying to say a lot easier... criticism welcome haha

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[spyderdrifter]

Makes sense. You're essentially 'controling' the air and making it go where you want it to go. I draw out all my ideas before I build them, so I follow what you're showing

 

[Breezio69]

I also want to do side pieces from the rad to intercooler, with holes in the sides for these to flow in to, but looking at how my intercooler is mounted (evo intercooler) it is much smaller than the radiator so it would be a ton of fab to fit snug and be close to air tight.. i may shop around for a regular rectangle shape intercooler but right now im in the market for other parts so its gonna wait a while. plus when/if i get a new intercooler i want to build a better bumper support/ intercooler mount out of steel and ditch the factory hacked up plastic piece. it will probably make the side pieces a lot easier to build to the radiator as well...

 

[rEclipserGST]

I used air conditioner weather seal from Lowes/ Home Depot. It is around $3.xx per strip. Perfect for your needs. Just go look at it. Bet you buy at least 3 or 4 like I did. Function > Form.

 

[spyderdrifter]

Function>form always better

 

[NHerron]

No judgement passed, i dont care how ugly it is, i just want some ideas. Function is priority, looks i dont care about

Awesome. I can post this then!

First, I relocated the piece of plastic from the top to the bottom to take up the hideous gap and open up breathing to the top section of the FMIC (common mod). Then I picked up some 3/4" pipe insulation at the local hardware store to take up the gap on the sides between the FMIC/AC Condenser. I also placed insulation above the FMIC/below the hood latch support and other various places where gaps are. While I was there, I straightened out most the fins for the radiator, condenser, and FMIC.

At idle with fans on, it can suck up sheet size cardboard to the FMIC like nothing, so the ducting definitively works. Eventually, I want to get a real functioning vented hood for extra protection in the summer. Other people usually use sheet metal instead but I didn't think of that at the time and besides, this setup is really not permanent. That FMIC is from the P/O and is way too big for my future setup of methanol injection. Hell, I had to cut up the headlights and dent the under hood "cage" (for lack of a better word, I didn't dent the hood though) for the 3" pipe to fit. I will not miss the setup after it's gone other than how cool that big ass UICP looks, the way it compliments everything in the bay.

 

[boost97gst]

Not bad at a nherron, thanks, i like that too. Seems very functional with minimal work.