I have a 57 air cleaner on my 292 in a 56 Fairlane. Wondering if anyone has ever fabricated a cold air intake for the breather ? The MAT seem to get high with heat soak and doesnt come down much driving. There evidently not much air ( except hot air ) from the radiator gets in the engine bay . Thank for any pictures or big ideas.

Do You still have the Deflector on the Top of the Radiator? That seals to the Hood when it is closed.Removing that Deflector allows Air to enter the Engine Compartment which should lower Under hood Temperature.

  

On the drivers side above the master cylinder there should be a round plate that will either punch out or has 4 screws. That is where NASCAR cars ran a hose to get fresh air from the base of the windshield. Worked pretty well in 57. Its the 4 screw one to the left of the triangle wiper access.




Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

The deflector is supposed to deflect air through the radiator.  Cools the water better.  If this is removed, could you cause heating problems with the removal?





54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

Those reflectors became rare because mechanics took them off and left them off. I don't think they really affected cooling.

Y's guys rule!
Looking for McCullouch VS57 brackets and parts. Also looking for 28 Chrysler series 72 parts. And early Hemi parts.

MoonShadow, 292 w/McCulloch, 28 Chrysler Roadster, 354 Hemi)
Manchester, New Hampshire

GSL #186 (General Service Letter) dated May 2, 1955 to all dealers states
para 1.
Radiator Air Upper Deflector - 4 Barrel Carburetor Units - 1955 cars

As you know, recently we advised that to minimize the possibility of icing in 4 barrel carburetors used on 272 Special and Police interceptor engines, a radiator deflector was going to be incorporated in production. The air deflector, part number B5A-8327-A will be effective in production approximately May 1,1955. Service parts will not be available until approximately June 1, 1955.

Use of the radiator air upper deflector increases the under hood temperatures. This, of course, is desirable in ambient temperatures below approximately 58 deg F to prevent carburetor icing. The increase in under hood temperatures, however, may have a slight detrimental effect on engine performance during the warm summer months in most areas. However, in areas of extremely high summer temperatures, it will be desirable to remove the air deflector to prevent possible detonation and loss of performance.


My thoughts :
If you still have the splash pan under the front of engine I experienced higher engine bay temperatures and higher cab temperatures. If you remove the splash pan water could short out plugs. Usually quality plug wire protect this. The old flatheads with front distributor were bad for wet distributor cap if pan was removed

Marv           

I guess that answers the question


54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

I added the top panel to help with cooling because I thought too much air was bypassing the radiator when I was idling. I’ve since limited the opening in bypass hose, sped up the water pump by using a smaller pulley since there was no water movement in the radiator at idle, and added a fan shroud from a company in Texas. I also have the panels underneath. I never noticed under hood temp; I’m guessing because the shroud and fan work so well together.
Marvh has me thinking I might take it off and see. I have a 170• thermostat and the car can idle and never goes over midneedle on the gauge.
It’s tough to change when everything is working ever though I did everything in steps over 4-5 years.
On Summit there is an air cleaner with hoses you could easily locate beside the top area next to the radiator and get air from the front of the car that has not passed through the radiator. I’ve made ducts out of layers of masking tape and then put fiberglass resin on them; with a little work and some bondo they looked really good.

56 Vic, B'Ville 200 MPH Club Member, So Cal.

I've also thought about this as well.
My idea is to get or make a twin inlet air cleaner. Then use a flexible hose (to be determined) and remove the vent ducts at each fender of my 55 Victoria connect the hose there and have forced air like was done on the Thunderbolts. Since I am installing a Vintage Air AC I will not be using the vents. Fair weather cruising only.
Beside when I had my first 55 Club Sedan the vents never made much difference in comfort so don't think they will be missed..

Dave

Some years ago a member posted a photo of a "pan" on the carb of his 56 bird that sealed to the hood under the scoop. In conversation with him, he had removed center bar of the scoop trim because he could hear it whistle as it drew air.

That led to my buying a cheap manometer to measure low levels of air pressure. Somewhere I've got the notes, but for now it's going by memory. Lashed up with cardboard and blue tape, I had positive pressure in the scoop at 40 mph, and in the ductwork from the front to the heater at 40. What I never did was hook the heater ductwork to the bonnet I had from the supercharger to see if it would stay positive or go negative under full throttle. Without real testing, I don't know how I'd figure that out, I don't have enough engineering background. Then you crank in the difference in air intake temperatures. So I'll leave that up to the racing guys for actual results.


miker
55 bird, 32 cabrio F code
Kent, WA
Tucson, AZ