Reverse Engineering Hood Vents

[Mechaero19]

Here is an update to the new design I am working on. I have been taking a slow approach at this. More so an engineering approach. I have some solutions to the water drainage. Its an exciting project I made for myself and I am up for the challenge.

SO after some thought, in the previous posts, you can see I was trying to generate a mesh on the entire part. Problem with that, it is too complicated because of the diamond shapes, and the topology is very complex. SO....I asked myself, what DO I really need from the factory part, to design my own vent. And the answer to that...……..the perimeter of the part. I need this only, since the center portion will be redesigned, and it will hopefully guarantee a factory fit to the hood contours. So check out what I have come up with. The great part about this is if I get it 3D printed, I can manually hand sand the parts edges straight....or I can spend more time aligning the mesh. I think I will go with both, align the mesh more, and sand it. I will confirm the shape with a 1:1 print on paper just to see how things line up. I tried to get the sharp bend as close as possible.

So since the last post, ive learned a lot with power surfacing, with solidworks. I am going to take a crack at it with designing the vents from here. Its basically pulling points/surface/edges to conform to what you want.

Picture 1: Fresh restart imported mesh file
Picture 2: Manually drawin in mesh
Picture 3: Took picture 2, and shows the subdivision with smooth edges
Picture 4: Took picture 3, and subdivided further
With multiple subdivisions, and aligning the mesh as best as possible, you get Picture 5.

In picture 5 you can see the amount or surface area i need from the edges. Anything more than that, the mesh gets distorted, but then again, the center is up for new design.

Enjoy my Emoji wheel:

 

[BlckDT]

What is the 3D print method you will be using (FDM, SLS, DLP, etc)? This is a great project so thank you for sharing.


—-|||RAM|||-—
Phil

sent from my mobile device

 

[Mechaero19]

What is the 3D print method you will be using (FDM, SLS, DLP, etc)? This is a great project so thank you for sharing.


—-|||RAM|||-—
Phil

sent from my mobile device

Honestly, this is a learning curve for me. I am not too familiar with 3D printing standards. So this is something I will learn along the way. All the things you mentioned above, I was like huh" LOL. I though it was send file and print. But I am open to your input. I was thinking if I don't over complicate the shape, I can wrap in real carbon fiber, resin, and finish to a high gloss.

 

[Mechaero19]

The small vents can be modified as they allow air flow into the engine bay once done. However modifying the top center one is pointless as there is not cut through under neath it in the hood.
When modifying the small vents which like I said is easy you just also modify the heat shield on the inside of the hood.
I have done this in my ram and you can feel the heat from the vents after a good drive.

I think I will leave the center vent the way it is.

 

[CaptainCJ35]

Here are some pictures. I 100 percent could of been cleaner on the cuts of the plastic. But at the time it was to see if I could do it. And I rushed it. By the way unless you look down it. You can’t tell anything was done from the painted side of the hood.

So it looks like the hood was made with the holes and the plastic vents were inserted in? There's no metal under the vents? I'm surprised by this. Why didn't RAM finish the job, you think? Aerodynamics and the .0359 drag coefficient? I suppose this hood was engineered with a mid-cycle refresh in mind or future models... maybe the TRX will have open vents.

 

[Night Rebel]

Very interested

 

[Ginger_Beast]

@Mechaero19 Just wanted to necro this thread and see if you (or anyone) had any updates. I am considering making mine functional, but if there is a well made part that does not require me to use my Edward Scissorhands to cut stuff, then I'm all about it.

 

[cj7]

Here are some pictures. I 100 percent could of been cleaner on the cuts of the plastic. But at the time it was to see if I could do it. And I rushed it. By the way unless you look down it. You can’t tell anything was done from the painted side of the hood.

I’d be interested in doing this, too, but would need the plastic to come down vertically below the bottom of the insulation, just like the original faux vent cover’s drain.