i was at home when my brother's friend from japan took a look at my car. he's 30 and was a race car driver in japan for many years. he opened up the hood and said every car he gets he rips off the rubber piece thats attached to the engine bay that seals with the hood nearest to the winshield wipers. he says it helps the heat escape the engine bay. so i ripped it off and noticed that the gap there isn't too bad, so hopefully the rain won't get in. any thoughts?

 

Since you already ripped it off, what difference does it make? I don't know what function it served, but I would guess that Mazda put it there for a reason. Maybe it's supposed to keep heat away from the windshield, so it doesnt crack. Maybe it keeps heat away from the wipers, so they last longer. Maybe it keeps toxic fumes from entering the passenger compartment.

I guess the point is: Don't remove something from your car without understanding why it is there. Research it first, then make an educated decision.

 

Yes the heat will come out of the engine bay and straight into the ventelation system for the cockpit - thus ensuring a constant supply of 150+ degree air for your dash vents! Did you not notice the plastic grills between that seal and the base of the windshield? thoes are the air intakes for the cockpit HVAC system.

 

Damm Adam must you always type faster than me that reply was not there when I started typing Mine!

 

The bottom of the windshield is a high pressure area when at speed. Take that rubber seal out and air is pushed into the engine bay at that end. higher pressure in the engine bay means it isnt as easy for air to enter the engine bay through the radiator and intercooler.

 

Actually, air will not flow OUT of this opening but will flow IN. I know this sounds counter-intuitive, but it's true due to the pressure build-up at the base of the windshield. The rubber strip should not be removed.

I second Adam and Maxpesce, why do people just start removing things without fully understanding what they are doing? I still slap my forehead at the forum member who removed all of their solenoids because they thought they didn't need them with a PFC....

 

I think the temporary T-shirt intake filter fiasco has to be my personal favorite...

 

I did a test on this last year.

Air seems to flow IN, not OUT.... here is my page showing my findings.

http://www.zeroglabs.com/rx7/freecooling.htm

In addition to the testing done on the page, I ran one 20 minute session at Summit Point (hitting 150 mph on the straights) and the water temps were the HIGHEST by 2-3 degrees Celcius on the run where I had no weatherstripping.

Brian

 

Oh, damn, I forgot about that one....

Wargasm: Great info! Thanks for the testing and for posting it. The info on your website is helpful and sometimes surprising (dyno results).

 

In my case, I lifted the hood at the back where it mounts on the hinges by 1/2 inches and air seems to flow out. I covered the intake for the air ventilation system.

 

I use more than one finger when I type...........hahaha

 

damn, people seem to take it personally when other people don't treat their cars as they see fit. you guys should start a group called PETR: People for the Ethical Treatment of Rx-7's.

so maybe i shouldn't have said i "ripped it off" and gotten your panties up in a bunch. after getting my teeth kicked in here i went back and was able to put the rubber weather stripping back in place.

i know now that next time i should do a little more research before doin anything but wow, some of you guys really gotta cut back on the Hatorade!

 

You asked what people thought. If you didn't want to hear it, you shouldn't have asked.

Glad to hear that you were able to replace it. You made it sound like you permanently destroyed it.