- 540
- 22
- 18
- Location
- Greenville SC
Well I finally got around to making a new hood for the MEP 803a. Now there were several specifications that I had to meet.
1) Aluminum Construction.
2) Could take a tree medium branch strike without caving in.
3) Keeps water out of the engine exhaust
4) keeps leaves and snow out of the air exhaust
5) Can handle exhaust temperatures without screwing up the paint job
6) Room to add sound absorbing material
So I designed the hood for max airflow and clearance for exhaust with an exiting flap design. The hood was cut with the laser from a sheet of 3/16" Aluminum and then bent to make it one continuous piece that did not require welding. I made the holes a little larger than stock so the hood will use 1/4 20 bolts instead of the #10 bolts. Really easy to do as I just installed 1/4 20 rivnuts in the chassis. I then took a piece of aluminum and made a exhaust diverter / heat shield to replace the original exhaust flap. Now all that is left is to make a flap with a roll crimp that a rod will go thru. I am thinking about using Plastic instead of Aluminum. I would just need to weld a tube across the top of the plastic flap. Equipment issues with the roller but I will get that done soon. So tell me what you think so far guys.
Old hood
New Hood
1) Aluminum Construction.
2) Could take a tree medium branch strike without caving in.
3) Keeps water out of the engine exhaust
4) keeps leaves and snow out of the air exhaust
5) Can handle exhaust temperatures without screwing up the paint job
6) Room to add sound absorbing material
So I designed the hood for max airflow and clearance for exhaust with an exiting flap design. The hood was cut with the laser from a sheet of 3/16" Aluminum and then bent to make it one continuous piece that did not require welding. I made the holes a little larger than stock so the hood will use 1/4 20 bolts instead of the #10 bolts. Really easy to do as I just installed 1/4 20 rivnuts in the chassis. I then took a piece of aluminum and made a exhaust diverter / heat shield to replace the original exhaust flap. Now all that is left is to make a flap with a roll crimp that a rod will go thru. I am thinking about using Plastic instead of Aluminum. I would just need to weld a tube across the top of the plastic flap. Equipment issues with the roller but I will get that done soon. So tell me what you think so far guys.
Old hood
New Hood
I went ahead and changed mine to 1/4 bolts while I was doing it. Pretty much just unscrew the bolts and pick it up. Now I did put like 6 layers wide of packing tape above that air filter and below the holes so shavings would not get in the stator when I was drilling out the holes for the rivnuts! I bent a lip and put slots. It could have been a half inch longer but it worked. Just put a thin foam seal below the lip before fastening. No water coming in that way! I gave up on the plastic flap. Gets hot and deforms at 1/8 thickness. Going to make out of sheet metal and use a small magnetic strip to keep the flap closed when not in use. My buddy calmed me down. I had an actuator ready to open and close it to the angle I wanted. Just need a weight and that will do the trick to keeping the flap blowing air down. More to do. 
