Is it beneficial to cutting a hole in the fan shroud of a 1984 Corvette to allow more air to gain access to the engine compartment. Hope to hear from someone soon.

 

no, that is more of a ducting than a shroud. when the puller fan sucks air in the ducting, if you put a hole in it, it will draw warm air from the engine bay in rather than fresh outside air.

on forward motion it will also force less air over the radiator, with the hole acting as a pressure leak.

is your car overheating? or are you noticing the engine bay is super hot to the touch under the clamshell hood? it does get VERY hot under the clamshell but...with the cooling system functioning properly your car should not exceed over about 225F. The fans should come on and draw down the temps.

 

No my car is not overheating I seen a couple comments that people have made about cutting a hole in that area to allow more air to circulate around the engine that same general area is where the air comes up and feeds to the ducksOn the injectors one of the videos about the crossfire done by a persons name Anthony I noticed he has a hole cut in the shroud

 

There in no benefit in increasing under hood air. Increased underhood are increases lift. Increasing the escape of underhood air is beneficial, as long you don't adversely create lift in the process.

 

The '83 prototype Corvettes had that hole in the radiator shroud, and during testing, they found that rainwater and road splash would get into the intake air ducts. There is plenty of air available to the air ducts without that hole.

If you want to provide better air flow, consider this: The air control flap in the RH duct of the air filter stays closed, except during full throttle operation. Therefore, only the LH hood duct has airflow during normal operation. You can revise the vacuum lines on the bottom of the air filter housing so both flaps open when the thermal sensor activates, or you can unplug the vacuum line to the RH vacuum motor so the flap stays open at all times. This may affect cold weather engine operation in very cold climates. If you unplug the vacuum line, be sure to plug that line. Here's the '84 FSM description, Pg. 6E2-121:

 

I don't think that these guys "get it". Understandable b/c the '84 hood/intake etc is totally different than the '85 and up.

Hot Rod Roy is right; the design was originally open and intended to feed outside "cold" air, to the intake...which is better than under hood air. Hot Rod Roy is right that the holes were eliminated in production...however, many if not most '84 owners have chopped a hole in the top of the radiator shroud, and installed weather stripping around the hole seal it to the corresponding hood and ducting that run to the filter housing....with great success and no draw backs. the late, great "CFI-EFI" of these forums, had done this to his car. I then 15 years or so that I knew him, it never caused him a bit of grief. It's a decent, cheap mod that won't cause issues unless you go "4 wheeling" or deep river fording with your Corvette. If it were MY car, it would already have that hole chopped in it.







.

 

id say toms right. i didnt get it. i didnt realize that this was an intake air duct thing on an 84. i misinterpreted the question as simply cutting holes in the radiator shroud to promote air flow around the engine.

 

Thanks all the input about the hole being cut in the shroud I can assume that you are not gaining any horsepower out of this and that it's not really changing The performance of the car does anyone know if the engine Bay is overall cooler

 

You got that backward. Did you look at the pictures that I posted? If you did, you could see that the hole's purpose is to feed the engine, "cold" (outside) air....which makes more power than hot air.
You could also see, looking at the drawing of an '84 intake system, that the air path is isolated from all other parts of the engine compartment.
Using ^that^ information, one can clearly determine that the cold air intake system is going to do nothing, to change the temperature of the engine bay.

The purpose of the ducting through the hood to the large oval hole above the radiator shroud is to ingest cold, outside air. GM hadicapped that system by leaving the shroud closed/covered over....likely for the reasons that HRR stated. But opening that will proved a more direct and isolated path for outside air to make it to the throttle bodies. That can improve power. Won't change under hood temps.

 

Fact . . . or WAG?

 

Oops I’m bad should have double checked my typing in studying the design I meant to say that you would gain horsepower just a little from the cooler air coming through that hole in the shroud thanks for all the information fellas I guess I better get busy.

 

Neither. CAN. Can improve power. I hope that at this point in history, we all know and agree that cooler air can make more power. I'm pretty sure that is fact that humans accept as fact at this point. There are countless dyno tests that show pretty strong evidence of this (Engine Masters recently did a session on this, for example)....plus we also know that cooler air is more dense.

If we can agree on that, then we should be able to agree that taking the risk (however minor and insignificant) of ducting inlet air to the outside of the car....CAN make more power.

Is it a meaningful amount, more power? Well that is debatable until the end of time, here on the forums, but I'd say this:
1. The power gain is about equally impactful under ALL conditions as the risk of ingestion under ALL conditions. That is to say, under some conditions, the mod won't do squat. Under some conditions, the risk of ingestion is zero. Under other conditions, there would very likely be some small gains. Under some other conditions, there would very likely be a small risk of ingesting something. (Like when crossing rivers w/your 'Vette)
2. The maximum possible gain, would be small.

I know that I won't be fording rivers with my 'Vette. I know *I* want my engine to get the coldest air possible. Therefore, *I* would do the mod to ensure that the engine can only pull air from outside the car, all the time.

 

I like the way you explained that well put again thanks and neither will I be fording rivers With my vet again thanks

 

I have the hole cut in my radiator shroud. It was done by the previous owner but I would do it if I had the choice. The previous owner also put foam around the opening similar to the photo posted by Tom. I have driven that car in very heavy rain ( south east Queensland thunderstorms) and had no issues with ingesting water so I wouldn’t worry about that. I have found various types of debris in my air cleaner like leaves and bits of polystyrene so the car does suck it up. Having said that it hasn’t happened very often and the air cleaner element stops any rubbish from getting any further.
Cold air induction is a good thing so it’s a yes from me.