I read these postings with interest. I have considered, all be it briefly on occasions, about installing louvred vents in the bonnet of my 410 but for obvious aesthetic reasons I couldn’t and wouldn’t bring my self to disfigure the looks of that long elegant bonnet.
In my opinion the size of the engine bay in a 410 is just about suitable for a straight six but Bristol managed to shoehorn a V8 inside and yes, it looks and is very impressive. Those of you who do maintenance on your car will know how fiddly it is just to change the spark plugs!
David is absolutely correct in his posting, whereby he notes that Bristol should have changed the side sheets in the engine bay. Let’s be fair, the 410 wasn’t the first model to house a V8. I am sure with a little thought it could have been designed more user friendly to take into consideration the trapped hot air in the engine bay.
When I stand back and look at the bonnet of my 410 on a sunny day, I can see a slight bloom in the centre where the finish on the paintwork has changed. This is due purely to the heat from the engine bay not being able to escape once the car has stopped and the engine turned off.
For a long time I have been going to replace the radiator on my car. My car has always had a tendency to get very hot in standing traffic, necessitating the use of the override switch for the cooling fan before the thermostat cuts in and turns it on.
This has very recently come to the forefront of my projects on the car. I have recently installed an independent ATF oil cooler, this has left the existing oil cooler in my radiator defunct.
I currently have a new radiator on order with a slightly thicker core. Additionally, I have purchased a new very high performance 16” cooling fan (the largest and most powerful I could find) and fitted it to my existing radiator while waiting for the new one.
I agree with almost everything Kevin noted in his posting, except having a fan on both the front and rear of the radiator. I had a brief discussion regarding this very point when talking with a specialist cooling fam manufacturer, asking his advice. Unfortunately, they no longer fabricate for the aftermarket sales but nevertheless he shared his knowledge. Basically, having a fan on both sides can give other issues insofar as they must operate at exactly the same speed at all times, the blades must also be the same and positioning has to be considered very carefully and that’s before taking into consideration any voltage irregularities between the fans. All in all he advised me against it; apparently, in cooling fan design for cars, Amps are King.
None of this solves the problem of heat build up in the engine bay once the car stops and the engine is turned off. Unless you fit a thermostatically controlled override switch to the fan, which personally, I wouldn’t do.
As an afterthought, If the bonnets on the 407,8,9 and 10’s are all the same, it might be worth considering having a batch of fibreglass units with louvres manufactured!
Brian
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