Dino Saga 060924 _ Keeping Cool

Dino Saga 060924 _ Keeping Cool

Lots of comments about the Dino being too hot inside come Summer. Heater seems to work pretty good for those who drive in the winter. Never gets too hot or too cold here in Santa Barbara but as soon as you go over the first mountain, there is plenty of both. Rides to Las Vegas can be through 125 F deserts. The ski areas behind Los Angeles or up at Mammoth Mtn get you down below 0 F real fast. About the only thing we don’t have is humidity and thank God for that.

I have never had a problem with the cold but it took a little experimentation to figure out the best way to get the coolest air possible moving through the cockpit. In past posts I told you that the AC compressor was pulled just after the air injectors. Only useful in stop and go rush hour traffic and I don’t do that anymore.

The car is sealed tight. If you use the dash controls to open the vents, and keep the windows closed, you pressurize the cockpit but no air moves. Fans don’t help. If you open a side window a little you might get a little flow. Depends on your speed and the side winds. If you open the side window a lot, it doesn’t much matter if any breeze comes through the vents or not. Turbulence and noise everywhere and things are cool. But it is NOISY and hair and everything else gets blown all over. That leaves the triangular wind wings. Bingo! You can get air in the front of the wing, suck it out the rear, and have the air circulate around the cabin nicely. Right wing blows air at the driver, left at the passenger (LH drive). Air coming from the front vents is just gravy, if it is cool to start with. Just remember, the openings under the front bumper are 7” off the road. The road can be 150 F when upper air temp is 75. Hot air off the road won’t cool you off.

Now the problem: How do you open and close the wind wings and not loose the locking clamps. You can’t! The gluing area is far too small for them to stay on. The guy who had the car before me gave up and bought ugly but secure clamps. I tried re-gluing a couple of times and gave up. Still use his clamps. One of these days I’ll do something.

Here’s how I do air:
Around town: Under 30 mph, open both windows as needed . Up to 70, driver’s side half open. Wind wings stay locked. Too much grief to use. Forget front vents if it’s really hot.
On a trip: Remove locks. Right side wind wing open 45 degrees. Driver’s window open as wanted at lower speeds. At speed, main windows closed, both wind wings as needed.
Front vents usually stay closed through all of this. Noise and turbulence are bearable.
On a winding Fchat outing: Open all windows all the way. Might have to climb out!

In winter, use front vents and heater to defrost and keep warm. Some cockpit window must be open for anything to happen. I drop driver’s side an inch or two. Lets you see sideways in fog. You get full heat on legs with air levers midway and defrost vents closed. Levers down gives all defrost if defrost vents are open, nothing if closed.

John
.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login