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I have heard that masking off the grill area can gain a speed increase due to some aero factor obviously cooling could then be a problem I have a one piece tilt front end that has a blank grill area I also do not have a hood section fitted yet due to having a blower it needs cutting to fit
my question is are there any benefits providing you can cool the engine enough with just an electric fan and flow under the car, as a drag car it wont need to run for more than a couple minutes fom stage to pits.
Any thoughts I have posted this on a couple of sites just to get a broader view
Thanks
Royz

take a look at the 3rd and fourth generation firebirds and camaros , they have a lip ( not a lippy) that directs air up to the radiator so the fan can pull it thru as the front ends are blocked off or solid ( the third generation firebirds and camaros more so than the 4ths ) mine has a spill plate under the car directing the air up thru some holes that seal the bottom off and the radiator is sealed on all sides so the only way the air can flow is thru it not around it and its a little VW radiator on a N/A 463 it has a spal fan on the back to help pull air

Thats cool
I had a similar idea on the front end bottom edge where it folds under and had drilled holes in it already I had also scene this idea on a local guys web page http://home.earthlink.net/~jonaa/Brakeducts.html I have run the engine for 15 mins with the pump and fan running it barely gets to 180* I also removed the thermostat and put a trial restrictor ring in there
Thanks for the reply
Royz

If you ditch the waterpump, fan, radiator, water, hoses and put it on alky, you won't have a problem.

Dang now I cant surprise ya next year

lippy isn't kidding there is a guy out east I think his name is Paul Spotts that runs a blown alky pontiac digger that the block is filled solid with cement and when he did run water in never got above 160*

using naca ducts is a good idea but the brake rotor in that case helps pump the air thru as the disc spins it throws the air from the center out ,I don't think you will have problems when the car is going thru staging and during the run its the heat soak after the run you should be worried about . when ss racing we would run the motor back to the pits with the fan and pump on and went we pitted we would spray the radiator with a garden sprayer with ice water in it ( a light mist not a heavy stream ) or dump the water and add new warm water .

Thanks Guys
I did watch after I ran it on the weekend after shutting down the fan and waterpump got it down to 100 pretty quick I have the flex-o-lite black magic fan and it really pulls a storm through the radiator and transcooler I updated my pix and you can just see where I have the holes drilled I think I will just see how it goes .
Thanks again
Royz

I remember when we ditched the water. We had the truck out at an event and checked the oil and it had water in it. Someone from one of the other teams was looking over our shoulder - he said 'get rid of the water and you're problem's solved!'. We drained the water out of the block, and have never run any since. The next motor we built was filled.

On the last truck we ran we had a big pyrometer in the cab that we used to warm up the motor - it was tied to a bolt up in the middle of the head on the Veney heads. I'd go out and make a run (mind you this was a pulling truck, so it was 8-9000 RPM for about 20 seconds on a 1800 horse Veney motor). At the end of the run, the pyrometer was always lower than it was at the start of the run.

Thanjs for your reply
I think I will wait till next winter to try that mod want to run it AS built for at least one year
by the way is your car a "pop" or a "prefect" my dad had a "prefect" which I think back in the 50s was the LUXO model with a heater
Royz