Have had louvers punched nto various projects over the years. Looking to have some done on my 51. Wanna see some creative use of louvers (car related ). Post your pics and if you know of anyone in South Carolina (Upstate) that can punch louvers, please PM me. Have looked thro O'dex and have had no luck.
We do have several threads going on louvers at this time. If you hit the search function with just the word "louvers" you'll find pages of them. If I was a bit better with the computer thing, I'd do some links for you. "The official louver thread" is a good one. In the mean time, here is a '53 chevy hood I did for a client awhile back. Edit: The one one the left is a '49-'52 with 3 1/2" louvers.
Be VERY careful who you pick to do the punching !!!! I have punched several thousand in the past 20 years and just one mistake car cost lots of dollars !!!!! Good luck.
Well thanks for the props, but I don't do them; but I have a friend that has punched thousands for me over the years Punchy Louver in Monroe, NC. I sent him a PM to put him touch them.
Cool! I've just seen your stuff before and knew that if you were involved he would be going the right direction. Your Thimble Drome car is flat awsome!
Thanks need louvers ?... Will check out "The official louver thread" thread for layout and location ideas in the near future.
A word from the experienced. If you are anal about having a clean engine forget having louvers in the top of the hood or plan on spending a lot of time cleaning. It can also be a bit of a pain with the ignition although I only had the truck quit once in 20 years because the ignition got soaked in a rain storm while driving. The times I had to take WD-40 and paper towels to the distributor cap and plug wires after it was sitting don't really count. You learn to carry both if you really drive the vehicle a lot. I prefer the traditional rounded louvers and more traditional placement and designs as apposed to off the wall placement or design just to be different. I've seen a lot lately that distracts from the whole package rather then adds to the complete car.
I have a louvered hood on my 32 Ford, I put a aluminum inner skin under the louvers painted white, engine stays clean. There was a company 15 years ago in street rodder selling louver trays with a hose to put under hood louvers. havent seen them for years. Ago
If your truly worried about water under the hood, go to a sign shop and buy a roll of the magnetic car door sign material, cut it into strips, and stick it under your hood when it looks like rain. Works like a charm. My self, I have never had a problem with water causing problems under hood, and everytjing in fleet for years has had a louvered hood. That includes several summers spent driving around Washington state in the daily rains too.
Louvers are better than open hood for deflecting water. The hoodless guys don't seem to concerned about it. I wish you lived closer I am thinking about louvering the roof of my 38 while I got it off. The hood and bustle lid is easy on grayhound but the roof is an entirely different story.
The Jalopy Journal
