if I punch a buncha louvers in my coupes lid, whadaya do about keepin water outa the trunk if'n ya get caught out in a downpour? Some sort of inner lining with a drain? I live in Oregon where it rains a lot and I aint scared of that...just wanna see what others facin' the same dilema did. Ideas? Thanks
I made a alum.pan that drained out the front for my hood, took it on an off winter/ summer. You could weld a backing piece of sheet metal after louvers are punched. Just make sure you seal between each louver with something to keep the water out, just an idea it might work!
I asked a friend this same question about the louvers in the hood of his 48 Coupe many years ago. His answer, "when it rains, it pours"
Try a louvered skin with a backup panel underneath so no rain gets in. The problem then is getting the paint to the backup panel or the underside of the louvers.
yeah you cou ld run a seperate sheet under the louvers and run a 'drain hole' on the bottom of it. sorta like how tunneled antenas have a slanted bottom and a drain hole. youd have to hae it spaced out a bit from the louvers to let it run down though, and maybe powerd coat that under sheat another thought ~which actualy might be a BETTER idea. is to get a skin that has the exact same contour as the un louvered one and then cut it to size and powder coat it black. then get some of the industrail glue that they now use to hold body panels onto new cars and glue that sucker up underneath the louvers. then its going to be a dead on tight fit. its not going to rust loose or not drain, and with the powered coating you dont ahve to worry about it wearing threw or w/e just an idea ive never realy seen it done so there oculd be some flaws enherent in that idea. though a third tested and proved idea~ most of the aplications ive seen are from louvered hoods but i dont see what would be any different here. is to take a large magnet~like the removable signs from delevery cars, real thin and bendy? ~ andjust slap it up under neath when its raining. super tight fit, not alot oto dick around with. slap, done let us know how you end up going about it tim
Whadda ya think about two trunk lids? One for summer and one for winter. Brianangus posted a really good make your own trunk lid tech article for roadsters & coupes here on the HAMB about a week back. Get er dun - partway - get the louvers punched then finish assembly. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` Heck, I'd just put the stuff in waterproof bags like Doc J suggests and let the rain pour in. With appropriate drainage of course. Even unlouvered trunk lids let in quite a bit of water. Specially if they're rumble lids. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Far as hood louvers go, I've found no problems running the 32 in moderate to heavy to "you're really stupid to be out here in a desert thunderstorm" wet weather. The front mounted distributor on the Buick engine probably helps, but I quit worrying about louvered hoods many years ago after watching a friend run a very nice gloss black three window Deuce highboy sans hood in all kinds of weather. Circa late 50's and we didn't have the very good and watertight plug wires that we do nowadays. He'd let the car sit out in the rain all day, get off work, light off the Rocket motor and go where he wanted with no problems....
just keep moving faster you drive the dryer you stay. the louvres are facing down on the trunk more of a vent. on the hoods I cover the carb when I leave it parked for a length of time I'm amazed that there is never a good drain on rumble seats. the water finds a way out. then there is Wescott's motto "It us or Rust" they make a fake louver glass lid that you could use that one week a year that Oregon get a little drizzle
Louvers are one of those things that are far more cosmetic than anything. Louvers in a roadster hood top are a poor idea---not because of the rain, but because all the engine heat will come out thru the top of the hood and get sucked right over the windshield and into your face. Same in a coupe or sedan with a functional tilt out windshield.----They really do add to the looks of a vehicle, in my mind. ----and when it rains?????-----well, yeah, everything under them gets wet.---unless your a Rat Rodder, everything under the hood will be painted or plated anyways---water won't hurt it.
Good point about heat and louvered hood tops Brian. Never really noticed heat coming over the windshield - when the 32 was topless - but it does come in through the cowl vent at city speeds. Once at highway speed airflow over the hood seems to change and the cowl vent now flows ambient air. I believe the high pressure area moves back as the car gains speed and the hood top is under pressure from the outside air at highway speeds. One thing a lot of folks don't realize is that roadsters should be weatherstripped around the doors. Otherwise heat from the hood side panel louvers come in through the door gaps. Most noticeable on a hot summer day when you're wearing shorts.
C9X---When I built my first roadster, I did a lot of reading and research on roadsters before building it. That "heat in the face" thing is one that I read about in accounts of old time roadster drivers from the thirties and fourties, during the birth of hotrodding as we know it, when they started adding louvers to everything for additional cooling and "anti-lift" factor on the dry lakes. Its one of the ten million things that I have filed away in this old brain of mine. When I built my 27 roadster, I ran without a hood at first, and the story was true. At speed it wasn't too noticeable, but around town, it was bad. The old time roadster builders were dealing with flatheads with no pcv, and generally the road draft tube would be tossed, so if you had any blowby, it was "in your face". My "try out motor" was an old 350 with a fair bit of blowby, and it was exactly as they had said it would be---especially around town, at low speed, when the electrric cooling fan kicked on. When I added a solid hood top, the problem pretty well went away.
You Think That Your Engine Is Not Going To Get Wet Driving In The Rain ? When Actually The Louvers Will Help It Dry Faster..when It Gets Wet Add A Fringe To The Hood Edge To Wick Away The Water Like A Bucksin Shirt! Paperdog
The louvers in my hood are right at the cowl and face forward. Well behind the carbs in case it rains, and right in front of the firewall so they're bringing in fresh air, forcing it past the firewall and keeping me a bit cooler. They work great - and while I like how they look, in my case they are not "more cosmetic than anything". But in the trunklid? I'd say add a panel underneath or just deal with the water.
In the old days they louvered the trunk lids on roadsters that had no interior to keep the trunk from becoming an air trap. It seems humorous to see coupes with a back seat & louvered trunk lid. The hood louvers let hot air out of the engine compartment, a usefull situation. Fake, non functional louvers, I guess, would be OK for a custom.
Forget the rain ... check out these Bolt-On Louvers!! saw them at the NSRA nats. http://www.cenpen.com/louver.htm
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