i really like what 'jasta' did up there...i'm going to go that route.

 

couple things here J....

1> when you drive HARD, you engine is cooler than when your driving like a old lady....when you drive hard your are forcing more air into the intake/manifold....when you drive like an old lady the circulation is less and hence hotter....

Also at higher speeds air cooling works better than it does at lower speeds...

i agree with bouncer here....try customizing your own hood spacer....i put in couple washers between the hood and the holder...this was the hood sits up....how does it work you ask....

try this: while driving have the cabin air as "flow in" as compared to "recirculate"....and have the mode as "in yo face"....feel how much air your are getting...now tilt the roof and see how much more air is being sucked into the cabin....and tilt on the TL is barely half an inch (didnt measure it)....

so if you hood is sitting just a tad bit higher, you will be pulling in a ton of air through and will be cooler....

I couldnt agree with you more

 

Just a few suggestions if going this way. You need to space around the windshield spray nozzle locations. Figure out how far you need to space around them and then work back from that location measuring and marking the spacing of the rest of the holes to be drilled. Also measure from the top edge how far down you want to place all of the holes. You do not want to get caught off guard on anything after you start drilling so mark it all up before you start so if something does not look right you can remark the locations. You want it to look factory when completed so take your time.

After you have marked a center point for the large hole locations then use a small drill bit and drill tiny holes at the centers so you have a nice pilot hole to guide the hole saw centering drill bit into. It takes all of the stress out of lining it up perfect when drilling the large final size holes. I only had a 1 1/4" hole saw on hand so that is what I used but I "may" have gone with a 1 1/2" hole saw if I had it at the time. Since I had the smaller size I decided to move up the holes just a bit when measuring so there would be more of a rain gutter at the bottom to help keep out excessive water from going straight in.


Windshield Spray Nozzle Location by Jaster2, on Flickr

 

I think I'm pretty close to being convinced on that Jaster...
About the spacer, if you can NOT tell the back of the hood is jacked up, I would do that...otherwise that's not an option to me...i don't like the gap. I'll have to give it a try...I'm very familiar with the sunroof air pull through because I do it every chance I get when it's raining out etc.

Thanks for all the suggestions though!

 

^damn man...very well explained. thanks.

i'm sure it's been said previously, but whats the best way to remove the entire cowl so that i can start this project? also...how many holes did you drill total?

 

Jaster...thats very well done....the holes look perfect....they are equidistant from each other and seem perfectly aligned....plus the grill in the back gives it a very classy look....very well done

 

start by removing wiper blades...2 17MM bolts...then kind of wiggle up and down and they pop off (or WD40) then just start pulling upward starting from left to right and front to back (windshield). I broke a couple of clips but they hold just fine without it.

Once it starts coming up, remove the rubber top seal and then disconnect the wiper nozzles.

 

^thanks man...i was afraid i'd lose the wiper nozzle feature.

oh well, screw it...i'm looking forward to this.

just generic rain gutter from home depot huh? how much did you buy again, jaster?

 

I spend a lot of time at Home Depot and Lowes so it is hard for me to remember which one but I believe it was Home Depot. It is really inexpensive and plastic and you get a whole roll that will be left in your garage and you will stare at it from time to time wondering what you will ever do with the rest of that roll. Maybe that is just a me thing...

 

thanks man...

guess i know what i'm doing with my HD gift card this weekend.

 

OH...PS...you won't lose the nozzles feature with Jasters way...only Inaccurates way.

 

^^^ you wont loose em my way either :wink:

will post some pix up tomorrow

 

Great mod. Been a solid performer throughout the whole summer and no issues with wiper spray or fresh air. Kudos to Inaccurate for originating the idea and everyone else for contributing variants along the way.

Here's my setup:
https://acurazine.com/forums/showpos...&postcount=364

 

really? where are our pics there swooshers!!?!?!? I want to see...what did you do, mount them to the hood?

 

i think I like btwix's design best...the squares for some reason look more like they flow with the grills on the car....ahh...who knows.

 

jaster, how many 1 1/4" holes did you drill total?

 

The picture is of a Honda Accord V6 cowl that I did the mod to so the number of holes will be different. I just went out and looked at my TL-S cowl and it is a slightly different shape. Do not forget to look at the backside of the cowl when determining where the holes will be drilled as there may be something on the backside of the cowl that gets in the way. Check everything out closely before drilling anything.

 

^you got it.

 

I always say DRILL AWAY, let God sort em out!
Dang...I like the squares but of course the circles are so much easier to put in there!

 

But trying to cut the square holes in the plastic cowling is a nightmare to try and get them perfect looking. I'm sure bTwix did everything possible to try and make them look as even looking as he could but it is just to difficult to do. Here is a close-up of the square holes in his cowling and you can see how hard it would be to do it that way.


Cowling Square Holes by Jaster2, on Flickr

 

gimme another couple days....I might be going to Manila, Philippines for couple months so will do a quick photoshoot before I go....

I like the squares as well....and yes they will flow better....but Jaster's design will keep the debris from entering the engine bay....

Amen Brotha....I work the same way....kinda a loose cannon LOL...

 

For sure, brother. Have a fun and safe trip...anytime I hear the Phillipines I automatically think N.O.R.E...superthug.

Ok...I agree, upon closer inspection of the squares they are pretty good but not perfect and not even sizes really. Blowtorch and butter knife, I'm sure I can do it with a heat gun but what a PITA. I agree about doing it with the drill bit.

PS...my cowl is back off...got something planned that I will share in the next few days if I decide it'll work.

 

Look forward to seeing your new idea.


.

 

Yup post some pix up when you have implemented the idea.....

 

Well, happy to say that my idea was a complete success and to date, no offense to the other pioneers on here...but I love mine the best. You'll see...I have pictures since I made a slight DIY in photos...but still haven't put her back on the car yet...needed to wait for paint to dry and some gasket adhesive sealant

Hopefully you all dig it and it inspires a new creation...

 

I think my squares came out pretty good. But I do like the round holes a lot better.



I havent read this thread in a while but I want to point again (if anyone doesnt know) the lower portion of the cowl needs to be cut out for this to even work properly.

 

J post some pix up

 

It's definitely measure twice, cut once.

I made a small cardboard template square 1/4" smaller than desired, and carefully outlined each square with 1/8" marker on the face of the cowl - starting from the center towards the wiper sprayers and using 3/8" cardboard spacers to ensure good alignment between squares. Not an exact science, but you get the idea.

To cut the squares I heated a butter knife with a blowtorch to cut the squares out, a little smaller than desired, then used a razor knife to trim the very outer edge of each square. Using the blow torch was kind of fun, just make sure you're in a well ventilated area and a BBQ mitt to hold the knife.

You can practice your hot butter knife technique by removing the back section first (behind the front squares), to ensure a straight through airflow. The hot butter knife lets you carve out the back section in under 5 minutes, so consider using it regardless of if you choose circles or squares.

Circles in the smaller center section would probably work just as well, save you some time, and would have cleaner edges if you used a hole saw.

Squares will probably take 50 min more than circles cut with a hole saw, so take that into consideration when trying to decide.

I chose squares, since I was trying to maximize the airflow in the smaller center section between wiper sprayers, so I could retain the factory sprayers and leave the AC intake covered. I also liked the look of squares better (personal preference), even though as Jaster points out, I couldn't get the square edges as perfect as a hole saw - but they're clean enough for me.

Worst case scenario is not doing this mod since you got hung up on circles vs. squares. The UCM is definitely on my list of top mods and helped a lot in the low/mid RPM range, especially in stop/go city traffic. So if squares seem like they'll take too long, or you don't like the look, then go for the circles since they will work just fine and look good too.

Here are the steps I used for squares (between factory wiper sprayers only):

1. remove cowl
2. make a square cardboard template 1/4" smaller than desired to accommodate the 1/8" marker - [5m]
3. mark each square on front of cowl with 1/8" marker (use pencil first if not sure). Starting from the center of each cowl piece and move towards the wiper sprayers adding one square at a time. Stop adding squares before you get to each wiper sprayer. Using cardboard spacers will help ensure good alignment above/below and between squares - [10 m]
4. mark rear area of cowl to be removed with black marker. Only remove the sections directly behind your squares - [2 min]
5. cut out rear of cowl with red hot butter knife - knife will cut for a few seconds each time, then reheat knife with blowtorch. I probably had to heat the knife 10 times to remove the rear part. Use the back as a practice run for removing the front squares - [5 min]
6. cut each square in front with hot butter knife. Err on the side of making the square too small until you're good, since you can use the razor knife to trim the edges. Use a new snap off razor section for each square to make trimming the edges easier - [5 min per square, probably 40 min total]
7. re-install cowl

Squares will give you a little more airflow and a different look, but will take longer, and will be more difficult to get the squares looking as perfect as a circle hole saw cut.

Circles with a hole saw (front) and hot butter knife to remove the back will probably result in the fastest, cleanest install.

Keeping the holes between the factory sprayers should retain all factory functionality (e.g. factory wiper sprayers and AC intake).

So if you're looking for better pickup off the line, just pick one option and give it a shot. If you want to try before you buy, just remove the cowling first and drive it around, then then pick one of the options (circles or squares) or re-install the cowling unmodified. Also, if something goes wrong, you can always order a replacement cowling for $130 if you want to put it back to stock.

 

Ok, here is my version:

Here a few things to keep in mind.

Cost me $2.89 to do from a part in the gutter section of home depot. Inaccurate mentions many times that the heat mainly comes from the center of the cowl, so I decided to leave the area near the fresh air vent alone.
I also, did not cut out the area behind the vents since they mainly correspond with the oem ones in the cowl and I didn't feel the need. The hot air will be channeled thru the bottom cutouts.

Hope everyone digs it.

Here is the grill I purchased, you have some options but I needed one that had a lip that would hide the imperfect cuts. Thought about trying to search for smaller one that would be long and thin but figured that either might not exist or would be hard to find so I made due.


Cut it in half although it was too tall so I took off 2 rows on the driver side one (it's got less height) and 1 row on the passenger one...dremel wheel made 15 second work of that.

Originally I measured the center of the cowl but honestly, it didn't line up well with the oem ones and also made my grill fall on the center cut that separates the cowl. I ended up doing one grill on one side of it and one on the other, pretty close.
Marked with a china pencil

here's the cutout...
SCARY! Almost pussied out...but decided to go for it.

test fits



spray painted with high temp black, was brown
(had it anyway)

test fit painted

although seemed to hold itself in place, added small bead of high temp silicone adhesive to hold it there.

and here is the end result.
Not as aggressive as UCM, but I'm very happy with the end result. Looks good, pretty oemish and gets the job done.




and here's what you do or don't see!



And FYI, here in Sofla, yesterday after a normal commute with the UCM...I had 142 on the intake. So hey...it's hot down here. A few degrees cooler than the 148 last time but not worth the look, to me.

Anyway, hope this is helpful to some.

 

^^^ you little "am the so called hard core DIY-er"....

thats looks absolutely gorgeous....it looks bloody stock !!! great idea !!! I dont know how well that will work but well....

 

LOL...well, I AM a diy'er and am pretty hardcore about NOT paying someone else to do something I can do myself!!! At least, that's what I meant!

Thanks bud...honestly, I'm pretty impressed with how stock"ish" it looks...am very happy the idea in my head worked out in actuality!

 

PS...there is room for a 3rd one on the passenger side...just didn't want to chance water being able to come in sideways into the fresh air vent. I'm guessing the majority of the will come from the area I chose anyway, well...I'm hopeful.

 

The way the hood is angled there will never be water in your fresh air vent....

Wait, I added 2mm worth of spacers intially and this didn't give me any noticeable hood pop and there was never water in my fresh air went

 

If the angle of the hood was not noticeable, I would highly consider doing the spacer mod...I'll have to take a look at the mechanism so I can see exactly what you are talking about.

 

Looks tight. Nice work.

 

Thanks fellas, just another option for us
So we have:
1.ULTIMIATE COOLING MOD
2.SQUARE HOLES CUT OUT
3.ROUND HOLES CUT OUT
4.VENTED CUT OUTS

This morning I decided to put my hand near the vents to feel if there was hot air coming out after my 17 mile commute to work. I felt like the center grill had the most hot air coming out of it. I in the nook more on the passenger side to see if i could feel anything and there was a good amount of hot air coming from there. I think that made up my mind...I'll be adding another vent on the passenger side, equidistant from the passenger side one. I might also cut out the back side of it (engine side) that you don't see. I'm becoming a big believer in this.

 

Looks very nice, J!
Functional AND beautiful FTW!

 

Thanks Dave! Glad to do it and glad to share...I get so much info from this site, seems like the right thing to do is share back!

 

there needs to be less choices! i am so indecisive! grrrrr.

lol jk, but srsly now more time to mull it over....

 

just pick the one you think is the most functional and looks the cleanest!

i mean, if you're a true baller, you'll just opt for the full on UCM like inaccurate TM.
I don't have the sack to rock that so had to do this. Gets the job done though and so far, super happy with it.