So.. I just wanted to come here to ask a few questions about this first..

The valance between the headlights on first gens blocks about 1/3 of the grill. Now I under stand that the fan shroud helps direct air across the entire thing, but if I was to cut vents into the valance, would it help or restrict cooling?


And does anyone have any pictures of vents cut into this valance?

 

It may hurt cooling as the air is being forced thru what essentailly is a large venturi. Thats why
pan on the bottom of the front engine compartment is also important to the cooling.

I don't think its worth doing, doubt it will help cooling and could possible upset it too.

 

it may also look crappy, depending on you body work and paint skills

 

Not overly worried about looks, but if it's not worth doing, I won't bother doing it.

 

mainly if ur worried about the car running cool take the old mechanical fan( if it has one) out and run an electrical fan to a switch. thats how bolth fan are run on mine

 

E-fans do not generally cool better than mechanical ones. The reverse is often true, in fact; the stock fan moves a LOT of air. The best thing to do would be a radiator upgrade.

 

The front grille/airdam are pretty efficient about ramming enough air into the rad space; plenty enough airflow with a stock setup to keep the engine running proper temps even with AC on in sunny SoCal.

If you're having troubles keeping cool in BC, there's something up besides a need to augment air uptake. Clogged rad, failing fan clutch or thermostat, or other cooling impairment.

If you're just looking at it from a theory side, I think you'll find that the intake surface area represented by the stock grille area exceeds the total surface area of the fan swept circumference by a large amount.

My guess would be that vents in the valence wouldn't add any cooling capacity at all until you can move more air through the rad/shroud than can be sucked in (via the fan) or forced thru (via at-speed ram effect) the stock grille. If you wanted to test that, connecting a couple of sensitive vacuum/pressure guages to tubing in front of and behind the rad, and then testing for pressure difference while revving / driving, would tell the whole story for you.

 

There is no reason you should be having cooling problems in Victoria. Even on a warm day I never go more that 1/4 of the way. My cooling system is essentially all stock. Installing a front mount oil cooler made a difference for me. With the beehive, I still wouldn't go more than 1/3.

 

It has always sat at about 1/3 for me, but yesterday was insanely hot outside and it got to 1/2. So im now getting worried. I should check to see what my thermostat is rated for. Maybe toss a lower opening one it and flush the coolant system.

Oh and I should mention.. It was sitting at half when I had the heat blasting and was in traffic. Only went about 1/16th lower when i was cruising at about 60km/h

 

If you have a front mount oil cooler, check the hoses. When I replaced mine,
the guage dropped from close to 1/2 to around 1/4. The old hoses were swollen and rough
in the inside which would impede oil cooler flow a lot. Made a huge difference.

Sounds like you have a cooling system issue for sure. Drain your coolant, flush things
and see if your radiator needs to be replaced. Replace all the hoses and tstat too.

 

Rad cap is poo. that might have something to do with it.