A Slow, Meandering Treatise on Jeepster Hood Vents

Sometimes you just don't want to get out in the heat....No action photos during this update...just planning things out. 

Jeepster Hood Vents

I want to add some hood vents to the Jeepster for a few reasons.  

First, I think they are cool!  They may make someone wonder what high-powered beast is lurking under the hood.  The vents also remind me of hood scoops, shaker hoods, etc, like my 1971 TransAm that I drove in high school/college:

Second, the vents will help out with cooling the engine.  And will also keep some extra heat out of the cab. 

Third, they can also add a nice, sporty look to the hood and some visual interest.  

My main goal was to do something that might look like it came that way from the factory, and possibly painted the same color as the hood.  Or possibly chrome to match the other Jeepster accents.  

That ruled out several options:
  • Nothing too modern
  • Probably not anything plastic
  • Not race car-type rustic vents 
I did quite a bit of research on types of vents and louvers, and I had developed strong opinions about my likes and dislikes.  

Ruled Out Immediately

These add-on louver panels are quick and easy.  They work for some vehicles.  But I wasn't going to hack up my Jeepster hood and screw down a piece of louvered aluminum, like on this JKU:

Factory Hood Vents

Several vehicles through the years have had factory hood vents.  I did quite a bit of searching around to see if I could find something that I could integrate into the Jeepster.  Here are a few examples that I liked when I was searching around:

280z

I don't know why, but I thought of the late 1970s 280z first.  These vents look great, but they are plastic and would be difficult to integrate into my hood.  

Corvette

The C2 Corvette has some cool functional vents on the cowl, but they wouldn't really work on my Jeepster hood.  They are also really small, so functional impact would be minimal:

Jeep JL Rubicon

The JL Rubicon has big, bold factory vents:

These are too modern and too plastic for the Jeepster:

1967-69 Camaro SS

The SS version of the 67-69 Camaro had some very nice hood vents.  I'm not sure if they were functional from the factory.

This is a tempting set of new Camaro SS billet machined, functional vents.  These things look great, but they are pricey!

1967 Chevelle

There are also vehicles that have factory fake vents - they look like vents, but they are closed off.  The 1967 Chevelle had them.  I really like the look of them - I wish they were functional!  But they would be almost impossible for me to use because of the curve.


Louvers

None of the OEM vents looked like great options, so I started to think about  louvers.  I like louvers, and I've designed equipment panels with louvers like this one:

This is the top of the same machine...more louvers!

Hot Rods

There are a lot of louvers on hot rods from the 1950s:

More louvers...the speed blister is also classic and cool:

Of course, some hot rodders went a little too far with the louvers!  😁

For the record, I am NOT going to louver my roof!  

Cars with Factory Louvers

I also found some cars with factory louvers.  In fact, some very cool cars had factory louvers.  I started to really like them when fully integrated into the hood.  They look great, and just blend into the hood depending on the viewing angle.

Lancia

I'm taking most of my inspiration from the Lancia.  The louvers are barely visible from this angle:

Subtle and classy...7 vents

Jaguar E Type

The E Type with similar factory hood louvers:

Louver Source

It was surprising difficult to find steel louvers that I could weld into my Jeepster hood.  There are many bolt-on aluminum louvers, but very few steel.  

Speedway Motors has a couple of options, but the best place that I found is "RodLouvers.com".  Their gallery shows some of their work: https://rodlouvers.com/gallery/

Their off-the-shelf steel louver panels are here: 

They will do custom work too, but their stock panels were fine for me.  Here's the pair that I purchased - the louvers are 4" long with 7 vents and slightly angled, just like the Lancia.  They should be subtle, and, hopefully, look like a factory louver.  It will likely be a while before I get them installed, unfortunately.  

Again, the Lancia inspiration:

Mark Harlow's Hood Louvers!

Added after initial release...Mark sent me a picture of his cool Jeep hood - complete with louvers and a scoop.  More good inspiration!

Final Thoughts

Feedback welcome if you have any thoughts or comments. 

A TIG welder would probably be good to weld in the louvers! 

The sheet metal work on the Jeepster will never end...