simon redshaw Posted June 13, 2007 Share Posted June 13, 2007 Was at Spa last week for 2 days and the weather was very hot. Engine ran nicely, but at 30degrees C the foot box area (driver and passanger side) plus the prop shaft tunnel became rather hot. I have foam and heat insulation in the engine bay and tunnel, but believe i need to drive cool air through the prop shaft tunnel some-how and get fresh air in the foot box to drive out the latent heat. Anyone got any bright ideas? I did see a Caterham in Spa with a mesh panel in the nose cone behind the radiator to drive out some of the radiator heat and a pipe lading out of the pedal box into a bonnet scoop on the right hand side. Wonder if a mesh panel in the bonnet located above where the gear box meets the clutch housing with a lip on it? could that drive out some heat? Was even thinking of a flexible aluminium or heat proof air ducting pipe from the front to drive cool air straight into the prop shaft tunnel. All ideas welcome! Cheers Simon7R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Walker Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 The C400 race cars run a bonnet scoop that ducts cool air directly into the drivers footwell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickh7 Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 *arrowup*and water when it rains Its Yellow And Black and Makes me 😬here Edited by - nickh7 on 14 Jun 2007 12:32:44 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiF Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 After a huge amount of R&D we have found all the air in the tunnel is trapped and cannot be ducted out. Vents etc further forward don't solve it. The only solution is to let it out of the tunnel top. We have drastically reduced the footwell temperature even in 40 degrees. RiF Flying even faster in my very bright yellow 226bhp Duratec 7, with internal kevlar/carbon panels and pushrod suspension 😬 😬 😬.for pictures of 7 and carbon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Plato Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 MSA wont allow the hole in the tranny tunnel / gear stick area though as it comprimises the firewall between driver and engine. here is C7 TOP Taffia Area Rep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petrolhead Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 How about this here NE7Club Web Site R5 no 65 😬 Trackday 2nd April Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grubbster Posted June 14, 2007 Share Posted June 14, 2007 😬 Maybe a bit of overkill for daily driving. We ran a similar sort of system at Le Mans, the challenge being to keep the water cool enough - it is amazing how quickly a sweaty race driver can warm up the coolant ready for the next driver to experience a 'warm' suit For a short while only - the Silverstone grid girls here (and a few nice cars!) Wightblat 2007 pictures here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiF Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 Quote: MSA wont allow the hole in the tranny tunnel / gear stick area though as it comprimises the firewall between driver and engine. Surely you have a hole for the gear stick???? Our solution is change of materal from a soft vinyl plastic gaiter to a special nylon type. Masses of heat comes out. RiF Flying even faster in my very bright yellow 226bhp Duratec 7, with internal kevlar/carbon panels and pushrod suspension 😬 😬 😬.for pictures of 7 and carbon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon redshaw Posted June 15, 2007 Author Share Posted June 15, 2007 I have bare aluminium on the prop shaft tunnel so no soft nylon etc It is my legs that are the issue on over heating so the Deemon tweeks water cooling won't help much and not enough room for a bag of smarties in the Caterham let alone a bloody big water bottle and pump! "After a huge amount of R&D we have found all the air in the tunnel is trapped and cannot be ducted out. Vents etc further forward don't solve it. The only solution is to let it out of the tunnel top. We have drastically reduced the footwell temperature even in 40 degrees." Rif, how and where have you let the hot air out of the tunnel top? Cheers simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millsn Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 I saw a CSR at Hyperion with a solution. They apparently suffer the same issue when racing due to the proximity of the exhaust headers to the pedal box. There was an aluminium duct that gave a circular pipe about 1" long coming out of the right hand side of the pedal box. The pdeal box and bonnet have a corresponding hole in them to let air in. I didn't see the bonnet scoop (which I think is referred to earlier in this thread) bu tI would imahgine that even facing rearwards, this inlet/outlet for heat would be effective especially in a non CSR car. Try speaking to Hyperion for practicalities of fitting., looked fairly straightforward to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Biddle Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 I fitted air scoops in the side panels straigt into the footwells. If you send me your mail ID I'll send a pic. Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiF Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 Around the gear stick and handbrake by changing the material RiF Driving one of the first Duratec 7, and building CA07BON for Henrietta 😬 😬 😬.for pictures of 7 and carbon andCA07BON Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leadership Team SLR No.77 Posted June 17, 2007 Leadership Team Share Posted June 17, 2007 I ran my car without a tunnel cover whilst it was away being recovered - there's certainly masses of heat released through the top. Maybe it would be possible to vent it out of the rear of the tunnel, upwards through the boot area? The rear of the tunnel is completely open to the area below the boot forward section, above the diff. Maybe adding a sort of "chimney" here would release some heat? Stu. www.superse7ens.co.uk..........the rebuild 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon redshaw Posted June 17, 2007 Author Share Posted June 17, 2007 Mike e-mail is rachelandsimon@yahoo.com Rgds Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RiF Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 Stu, Does not work, we tried with scoops and fans in the tunnel and exiting at the rear of the tunnel top up the back panel. Some comes out but not enough RiF Driving one of the first Duratec 7, and building CA07BON for Henrietta 😬 😬 😬.for pictures of 7 and carbon andCA07BON Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Biddle Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 I've got RIF's carbon interior panels, and when they were fitted to the transmission tunnel we put a layer of insulation behind them filling in the spaces between the tubing. Now the tunnel only gets slightly warm, and believe me theres an awfull lot of heat being generated under the bonnet. We had to beef up the radiator size and fit much bigger bonnet vents to handle it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Whitley Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 Ultra-simple, ultra-cheap answer is the "Caterham aircon kit" - a B&Q trigger sprayer filled with water which you spray on yourself when it gets too hot. It worked for me when temperatures got into the 40s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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