well, me and my motorhead friend were digging around in the engine of the trep because i received my chilton's manual in the mail today. poking this, prodding that, saying "oh gee, that's what this mass of 50 wires does!" anyway, it had been sitting down there for awhile with the hood open and i assumed it was cool. wrong. i set my hand on the manifold and found it was still very hot. i know that these cars run hot, even when it shows normal on the gauge. it didn't concern me that much, but it did provoke my imagination.
my friend and i are both pilots. we immediately thought of the #1 to disperse heat from an aircraft engine....cowl flaps. obviously cowl flaps wouldn't fit on an intrepid, there'd be far too much work involved. i was wondering if anyone else had considered doing some cutting to increase air outflow from the engine bay. with the heat that the intake has from sitting even those inches above the really hot parts of the engine, there's a lot of HP being lost in it. make a cold air intake. by the time the air gets to the cylinder it's gonna be just as hot as air from the stock box. we have to get heat out of the engine bay to see gains from a cold air system.
second, we all know the headlights leave something to be desired. well, first of all even if they are not visibly hazed, take some rubbing compound and slap it on there and let it sit for awhile. take it off and use some swirl remover, then polish the suckers. WOW. after that, do yourself a favor and make sure the alignment and the level are both adjusted properly. i assumed mine were because i asked the tech to do it when they did the 60k service. well, both of my lights were pointed more or less straight into the pavement and were facing plenty off to the sides. the proper tool (this sounds dumb, yes) to make the adjustments is a 7/64 allen wrench. i'd never imagined i'd use anything that small. well guess what? now i can see at night.
this is a long post, sorry. it's also 1:30 and i'm bored. please note that these are both good suggestions, though.
my friend and i are both pilots. we immediately thought of the #1 to disperse heat from an aircraft engine....cowl flaps. obviously cowl flaps wouldn't fit on an intrepid, there'd be far too much work involved. i was wondering if anyone else had considered doing some cutting to increase air outflow from the engine bay. with the heat that the intake has from sitting even those inches above the really hot parts of the engine, there's a lot of HP being lost in it. make a cold air intake. by the time the air gets to the cylinder it's gonna be just as hot as air from the stock box. we have to get heat out of the engine bay to see gains from a cold air system.
second, we all know the headlights leave something to be desired. well, first of all even if they are not visibly hazed, take some rubbing compound and slap it on there and let it sit for awhile. take it off and use some swirl remover, then polish the suckers. WOW. after that, do yourself a favor and make sure the alignment and the level are both adjusted properly. i assumed mine were because i asked the tech to do it when they did the 60k service. well, both of my lights were pointed more or less straight into the pavement and were facing plenty off to the sides. the proper tool (this sounds dumb, yes) to make the adjustments is a 7/64 allen wrench. i'd never imagined i'd use anything that small. well guess what? now i can see at night.
this is a long post, sorry. it's also 1:30 and i'm bored. please note that these are both good suggestions, though.