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AndrewJ · 05-13-2008, 01:05 AM

So I re-did the grille opening today.

It was already "appropriately" sized according to the NASCAR rule of 4 square inches of grille opening per 25 horsepower.
My old grille opening was 12 square inches, and it was plenty, as long as I wasn't running beltless.

The main problem was that the radiator fan would still kick on a bit, consuming a bit of battery power every time it did so. So for running a beltless alternator, more grille opening (to reduce or eliminate running of the radiator fan) is desirable.

I increased the opening to about 4" by 4" or 16 square inches.

I also replaced the manual choke cable with some 1.5mm steel cable inside bicycle cable housing. The manual choke cable was just too stiff to make the several bends on the way from the dashboard to the airdam. (it was after all one solid strand of wire)

And here's the guts of the new grille opening, it slides horizontally in two rails, and there's a spring to help it return to the fully closed position.

And I had to replace my killswitch, I've apparently been using it a bit too much as it wore out and became very hard to switch. So a new one was in order.

I was pretty proud of myself for wearing it out

05-13-2008, 01:05 AM	#196 (permalink)
AndrewJ Awesomeness personified Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Columbia, MO Posts: 642 Harold - '94 Honda Civic CX 90 day: 54.51 mpg (US) Margot - '08 Surly Big Dummy Thanks: 0 Thanked 28 Times in 18 Posts	Re-done grille opening. So I re-did the grille opening today. It was already "appropriately" sized according to the NASCAR rule of 4 square inches of grille opening per 25 horsepower. My old grille opening was 12 square inches, and it was plenty, as long as I wasn't running beltless. The main problem was that the radiator fan would still kick on a bit, consuming a bit of battery power every time it did so. So for running a beltless alternator, more grille opening (to reduce or eliminate running of the radiator fan) is desirable. I increased the opening to about 4" by 4" or 16 square inches. I also replaced the manual choke cable with some 1.5mm steel cable inside bicycle cable housing. The manual choke cable was just too stiff to make the several bends on the way from the dashboard to the airdam. (it was after all one solid strand of wire) And here's the guts of the new grille opening, it slides horizontally in two rails, and there's a spring to help it return to the fully closed position. And I had to replace my killswitch, I've apparently been using it a bit too much as it wore out and became very hard to switch. So a new one was in order. I was pretty proud of myself for wearing it out __________________ "I got 350 heads on a 305 engine. I get 10 miles to the gallon. I ain't got no good intentions." - The Drive By Truckers. Last edited by AndrewJ; 05-13-2008 at 01:13 AM..