[ckowennos]

Just finished installing my hood vents in my 1998 Cherokee, and I’m pretty excited about the results. There was only a slight, 10-15 degree, drop in the engine temp on the gauge after driving around last night. What pleases me most is that the cab actually feels cooler. Instead of the borderline over-heating engine turning on the cab heater, hot air can escape from the hood that was previously too hot to touch after driving for any substantial distance.






I picked up these babies from the Pull-a-Part salvage yard in Nashville for only $10, including the $2 entry fee! They are fairly large, measuring 14” x 8.5”, and are surprisingly heavy; hopefully meaning they are durable and won’t crack on me. The donor vehicle was an 84 convertible Chrysler Labaron. I looked but was unable to find Pontiac Grand Prix or Sunfire hood vents.





I picked up some flat black paint, jigsaw blades, self-tapping metal screws, 4’ of aluminum flat bar, painters tape, sand paper, and a few “Full Throttles” from my local Tractor Supply Company and had at it. I found the best way to cut an accurate hole was to trace the back onto a cardboard cut out and then trace around it. Don’t forget to tape off your surrounding hood to protect it and to allow for the ¼ inch overlap.





Basically it was measure, cut, and fit. Cutting into the hood wasn’t as traumatic as it would have been if my jeep was in better cosmetic condition; I mean what’s one more scar on a pirate?





To hold the vents in place I made these little tabs out of the aluminum flat rod. To be honest I don’t think this is even needed for daily road travel because they stayed in on the interstate with nothing but cocking on the inside to hold them down. I cut 1” tabs and then screwed two of them to a 2.5” tab to act as spacers before screwing through the existing vent holes into the 2.5” piece of bar. All the holes had to be pre-drilled with a drill bit and then “pre-threaded” with a screw to make things go together easily. Vise grips came in very handy to hold the pieces together so I could drill through all three pieces at once.

FINISHED PRODUCT.....






To avoid rain dripping inside the engine compartment, I am saving the pieces of the hood I cut out to place on top while the Jeep is parked for any extended period of time.




Chad

[XJK]

Originally Posted by ckowennos

Just finished installing my hood vents in my 1998 Cherokee, and I’m pretty excited about the results. There was only a slight, 10-15 degree, drop in the engine temp on the gauge after driving around last night. What pleases me most is that the cab actually feels cooler. Instead of the borderline over-heating engine turning on the cab heater, hot air can escape from the hood that was previously too hot to touch after driving for any substantial distance.






I picked up these babies from the Pull-a-Part salvage yard in Nashville for only $10, including the $2 entry fee! They are fairly large, measuring 14” x 8.5”, and are surprisingly heavy; hopefully meaning they are durable and won’t crack on me. The donor vehicle was an 84 convertible Chrysler Labaron. I looked but was unable to find Pontiac Grand Prix or Sunfire hood vents.





I picked up some flat black paint, jigsaw blades, self-tapping metal screws, 4’ of aluminum flat bar, painters tape, sand paper, and a few “Full Throttles” from my local Tractor Supply Company and had at it. I found the best way to cut an accurate hole was to trace the back onto a cardboard cut out and then trace around it. Don’t forget to tape off your surrounding hood to protect it and to allow for the ¼ inch overlap.





Basically it was measure, cut, and fit. Cutting into the hood wasn’t as traumatic as it would have been if my jeep was in better cosmetic condition; I mean what’s one more scar on a pirate?





To hold the vents in place I made these little tabs out of the aluminum flat rod. To be honest I don’t think this is even needed for daily road travel because they stayed in on the interstate with nothing but cocking on the inside to hold them down. I cut 1” tabs and then screwed two of them to a 2.5” tab to act as spacers before screwing through the existing vent holes into the 2.5” piece of bar. All the holes had to be pre-drilled with a drill bit and then “pre-threaded” with a screw to make things go together easily. Vise grips came in very handy to hold the pieces together so I could drill through all three pieces at once.

FINISHED PRODUCT.....






To avoid rain dripping inside the engine compartment, I am saving the pieces of the hood I cut out to place on top while the Jeep is parked for any extended period of time.




Chad

click free
nice work bro, been thinking about doing the same to myne for some time now but i cant bring myself to cut into the hood yet

-Kyle

[XJH-007]

Powerwash that engine bay down every once in a while to get rid of that Dirt/Grime Insulation ya got goin.

[drew and not u]

Originally Posted by XJH-007

Powerwash that engine bay down every once in a while to get rid of that Dirt/Grime Insulation ya got goin.

If you do that, make sure you seal up ALL of your electronics, and anything else that may be sensitive to water.

[1990JEEPXJ]

looks good, but if it were me i wouldve angled with them with the dip in the middle of the hood. looks good nonetheless

[ckowennos]

Thanks for the comments. The dirty engine bay is only one small example of the maintnence and cleaning I need to work on. And if you are like me and have a slow internet connection...yes those were the biggest photos I could find.

[88XJSport]

Originally Posted by drew and not u

If you do that, make sure you seal up ALL of your electronics, and anything else that may be sensitive to water.

THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR..... Unless of course you like driving around in first gear.