'95/'95 Cobra fog light openings for brake cooling

[CobraRGuy]

Hi all,
I realize this is a little unusual, but I'd like to know if anyone has used the round fog light openings on their '94/'95 Cobra to route cooling air to the front brakes. I obtained some beautiful carbon fiber cooling ducts that were designed for the 2000 Cobra R that bolt right up to the '03 Cobra spindles I upgraded my car to. Now I just need to get that air coming into those fog light openings to the 3" flexible hose that fits the spindle cooling ducts. I've found a couple of possible solutions so far.
One is to use the top of a traffic cone inserted into the front of the opening with rivets securing it to the opening, with a 3" aluminum nipple fit into the narrow end of the cone and the hose attached by clamp to the 3" nipple.
The other is to use a flexible PVC 4" to 3" adapter/coupler into the front of the opening. The nice thing about this method is that a 4" PVC vent cover with SS screen can fit right into the front opening to block debris from getting to my brakes. I should be able to attach some zip ties to the screen so I can pull it out to clean it if needed.
I would love to hear what others may have done, or feedback on either method I mentioned, especially if you've tried them before with success or failure.
As always, thanks in advance for any and all responses.
Perry

 

[ttocs]

ya need to find someone with a 3d printer that would find the project interesting, as well as a possible product to sell later.

 

[Daryl]

I like the 2nd option better, though either could be made to work. My initial knee-jerk thought when you mentioned “flexible” was dryer ducting. Not sure how sturdy it would be catching, flowing and NOT ripping up at high speeds, but….???
Or… CAI rubber hosing???

Any more pics of what you’ve got? Might help us with ideas and suggestions if we see more of what you’re working with and the routing, angles, lengths, etc.

This sounds like an interesting project!

 

[Daryl]

New guy,
Any progress? This probably draws interest from a bunch here…

 

[cobrajeff96]

You could use those openings but it's not the ideal option. The highest pressure air volume is in the center of the front fascia, so that's probably the best option and to leave your fog lights as they are originally. Another option would be to have a large front splitter that also sweeps well into the front subframe/oil pan area, then some naca ducts on that surface to catch air for brake cooling purposes (but that's a little out of most people's reach).

I used intake filter silencer boots (one from my own car and one acquired from a junked car) to act as intake scoops in the front fascia (without obstructing airflow to the condensor/radiator area). Bought brake duct hose (yes, it's a thing) from Kenny Brown. Silicone is better than standard Neoprene but at a slightly higher cost. Screwed it all down with large hose clamps, I think they are 3". But ideally you want a brake duct spindle attachment so the hose can perfectly direct air directly to the rotor rather than the tail exit of the hose just dumping the air sorta near the rotor. And about that...

The brake cooling spindle inlet should ideally direct air precisely to the "eye" of the rotor and not the pad-contact surface of the rotor. Why? Because feeding fresh air into the inner-most part of the rotor allows the internal vanes of the rotor to then disperse that air evenly within it. Without this design, the air instead gets applied to the inboard side of the rotor face and only that side... and if you are doing competitive things with the car and truly exercising the brake components to their fullest potential either on street or track then you will actually see higher pad wear rate on the outboard (hotter) side as compared to the inboard (cooler) side. And this is all proven by data from real racers like Kenny Brown (RIP) and many others.

And of course route the hose and secure it to avoid getting pinched by moving things and out of proximity of hot things.

 

[badass98svt]

New guy,

Lol, he joined before you did

 

[Daryl]

Lol, he joined before you did

My bad! I was just going by the bi-line under his moniker

 

[CobraRGuy]

Thanks everyone. I'm going to go ahead and order the flexible 4" to 3" adapter and the screen caps.
#cobrajeff96 I do have some really nice carbon fiber spindle ducts installed. These were designed for the 2000 Cobra R but fit the '03 Cobra spindles I'm using now. The air is forced into the center of the rotor and the duct fits pretty closely (<1/4") to the rotor. Yes I'm using real 3" silicone brake cooling hose. I have everything I need at the brake end, but at the intake end, work still needs to be done. Routing of the hose will get figured out once I know where it connects up front.
I'm pretty much committed to using the fog light openings. The stock Cobra R oil cooler is just inside this opening so routing to there would be problematic. I'm sure what I'm planning will be light years better than what I have now, which is nothing.
CobraRGuy

 

[cobrajeff96]

There ya go

 

[ttocs]

you mention putting a screen on the front to keep debris out and I have to wonder if it is needed because I was amazed to find out that a fairly open screen can really interrupt the airflow when I was flying rc airplanes. I was out in Az and the runway we used was a decomposed granite runway that was perfectly fine with everyone till they started to come out with ducted fans(electric jet engines). The landing gear would sometimes kick up a rock that would get sucked into the duct and then it would end up ruining a fan and/or the duct as it went through it. People started experimenting with putting a mesh screen in the front of the duct and even with a fairly open screen it reduced power enough that some guys had enough problem getting enough speed to take off. I would think with all the bends that it will make from the opening to the brakes that it should stop anything large from getting into them. If this was for a rally racer I could see it being needed but if it's just for the street/strip then it might not be needed

 

[Slice]

I think you should Jam the traffic cones in there but don't cut them off so they stick out front like gigantic orange trumpets!

 

[CobraRGuy]

Hi Everyone,
Sorry I haven't updated this thread for a while as I've been dealing with getting the engine back in and now getting the EFI set up. I appreciate all of the suggestions (I will likely pass on the giant orange trumpets sticking out the front) 8^)
I'll get back to this over the coming winter.
CobraRGuy