*How-To* LeBaron Hood Vent Install (w/ pics)

[lost honda pro]

So, I bought into the hype, found me some LeBaron/New Yorker Turbo Hood Vents, and decided to install 'em. I know there are several write-ups floating around for this install, most notably being EricsXJ.com, which I followed pretty closely (found here http://www.ericsxj.com/vents.htm).

It's pretty straight forward, but patience and meticulousity will ensure a perfect product.

1) Get the vents, sand em, clean em, paint em. I used Rustoleum semi-gloss black, but think I may use Dupli-color's bedliner so they match my bumpers...

2) Lay the vents out on the hood, find out where they need to go to match the hood lines and fit between the hood beams. The beam that goes across the back of the hood (next to the cowl) is kinda deep, so I had to push mine a full 5" forward of the rear of the hood.



3) I used a total of 3 reinforced (the carbon/kevlar) cut-off discs on my Dremel, just cause I'm ridiculous with a Dremel but then I ended up burning up the motor on the Dremel, so I had to finish it with a jigsaw. Others (including Eric, cited above) have used an angle grinder with excellent results, but I find them too heavy to manipulate accurately. Make sure to cover the engine with something to keep debris off the important stuff.



4) Next, I taped about an 1/8" from the hole, and taped/covered the hood so I could sand the rough edge, clean it, and spray the bare metal to protect from rust.



5) Give it time to dry, peel the tape, and you're set. It's such a weird feeling seeing what's under the hood from above the hood....



6) I used #8 x 1" machine screws with split washers and flat washers to hold the vents down. The metal pieces are 1/2" x 3/4" x 1/16" thick aluminum angle (3 foot piece, chopped to ~1.5") from Home Depot. Clean your hood, and marvel at your own magnificence.







Here's the price breakdown:

vents - $11.50 from local u-pull-it
hardware - ~$4 from Home Depot
angle aluminum - ~$5 from Home Depot
spray paint - ~$5 from Home Depot
reinforced Dremel wheels - ~$7 from Home Depot
plus some sandpaper, tape, newspaper/tarp, etc.

Total: $32.50

[jnew]

Wow! Those look awesome! Nice clean work.

jnew

[lost honda pro]

Thanks bro, it actually only took like 4 hours to cut/clean up the holes. Stupid broken Dremel...

[longducdong]

nice i love cheap mods...

[red96jeep]

what you need to do is take that vent off over the intake and fit a ram air scoop/ vent assembly lol. that would give you like 30+ HP

[UKJeepThang]

Good write up and good clear pics. I'm waiting for my LeBarons to turn up in the UK. They are mid Atlantic at the moment in a crate with a D44 I'm shipping over here

[Spacecoastz]

Those look great, but what about rain?

[jersey_jim]

what is the point of the hood vents? to help 4.0's run cooler? i always ask myself this question.

[MoparOrNoCar]

Extremly nice work

Looks great!!!!

[wbacon]

Need to put alittle black paint on them shiny screwheads....looks good though.

[Jay-P]

Originally Posted by jersey_jim

what is the point of the hood vents? to help 4.0's run cooler? i always ask myself this question.

Yes, since you don't get much airflow through the rad while wheeling, this helps keep your engine a bit cooler. Plus it looks cool.

Also kind of wondering about the rain issue. I know Eric has some baffles to keep rain off the electronics.

[TheInstaller]

Originally Posted by jersey_jim

what is the point of the hood vents? to help 4.0's run cooler? i always ask myself this question.

It is to reduce underhood temperatures, which can lead to a cooler running engine. After driving your Jeep hard for a bit, pop the hood and feel how much heat is under there.

Nice write up, and great job. I need to get some vents and do mine now.

[flanker_13]

Just wondering how come you don't cut the hole smaller and use nut-serts to retain the vents instead of clamping them with the aluminum??

Just another way to do it.

[XJK]

clean work you did there, nice writeup.

-Kyle

[EricsXJ]

Originally Posted by flanker_13

Just wondering how come you don't cut the hole smaller and use nut-serts to retain the vents instead of clamping them with the aluminum??

Just another way to do it.

Because if you look, you will see that the mounting holes are in the recessed part of the vent, not on the outer lip.

Nice install.