I have been putting a lot of thought into the cabin airflow and cooling options. This past week it has been really hot for Oregon so my thoughts are this summer is going to be a real scorcher.
When I look at the Centurion the first thing I noticed was all the windows in relation to the size of the car. The next thing noticed was there was only a few small openings on either cabin window to let fresh air into the car. These windows with in a window have been used in the past with the Delorean as well as presently with the VW XL1. I like the idea of the window with in the window I just think the window that opens needs to be a bit larger and have roll down capability. So part of my door redesign will incorporate larger opening windows with in a window that can be rolled down manually also like in the VW XL1.
The other thing about the Centurion is that it has a foam core which contributes to its body shell strength. The foam core also helps insulate the Centurion which is great in the winter. However in the summer the foam insulation can help turn the Centurion into an unintended solar oven. My thoughts here are two fold. I will implement a foam core Carbon Fiber roll bar into a new foam Kevlar wrapped bulkhead that separates the cabin from the rear hatch area. This will help strengthen the fiberglass body shell as well as help Centurions safety potential in the event of a roll over crash preventing the hood from collapsing in on the occupants.
The new rear hatch composite reinforced bulkhead also gives us safety again in a crash in the event something penetrates the back end of the car. We now have something to help stop rear projectiles from having a clear path into the cabin space. This will also give us a defined trunk area that is safer to store things into and will be safer again in the event of a crash or having to immediately stomp on the brakes. You now will not have to worry about items in the trunk hitting you in the back of the head lol
The other thing the composite reinforced bulkhead offers is that it helps reduce the space of the cabin in which to heat and cool. It also helps insulate and shield the cabin from all the solar gain that the large rear windows generate. This also gives us a nice place to install louvers into the bulkhead if we ever want to install a small efficient EV style air conditioning system. This will allow us to keep the front dash un modified which is less work and still keeps the Centurion look and feel.
My thoughts on this are that we can replace the rear window hatch with solar cells and a very small opening for airflow. These solar cells can help power the ancillary devices in the car such as the interior cabin lights, radio, and the small air conditioning system. Since we are segregating the car into thirds the cabin area will not require a big deal of BTU in order to keep it cool in the summer months. My thought is coming up with something similar to the Cool blue AC system. Maybe something even a little smaller would be ideal. The Cool Blue system can be configured to only use 500W and reducing EV range by an estimated 5%. I think I can come up with something a little smaller that would give centurion a solid cooling option for the hot and humid summer months.
Here is a link to Cool Blue =
Electric Blue Motors Products
So there you go gang a few ideas to help create a safer and cooler Centurion
GH
