[JRMichler]

I used to own a 1968 Volvo 144. That car had the air intake in the center at the base of the hood. The air flowed around a baffle, down over the blower motor, and down through the heater core. When parked, snow would find its way into the motor and onto the heater core. The motor was an open motor, with the bearings and windings directly exposed to the snow.

When the engine started to warm up, the snow would melt, and the defroster was a window fogger until the heater core dried out. And the moisture destroyed the blower motor. And it was an eight hour job to replace the motor.

I finally got tired of the problems, so removed the heater blower, sealed the cowl opening, made a fiberglass duct from the cowl through the engine compartment, and installed a GM heater blower in front of the radiator. The heater blower had the inlet facing to the rear.

Since the heater blower inlet was in a high pressure area, I did not need to run the blower at highway speeds. Since the blower was far away, I could not hear it on low, and could barely hear anything on high. And zero problems with rain or snow.

Sometimes, I'm tempted to do something similar to my Canyon to reduce electrical load.