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Fender vents are not new. They first appeared in the late 1940s on Buicks as “ventiports” and originally denoted how many cylinders were under the hood. They were supposed to let hot air out of the engine bay, but at some point on those early Buicks they became ornamental rather than functional. Since that time, fender vents have appeared on countless cars, in both ornamental and functional forms. Corvettes, Firebirds, Camaros, Mustangs, BMW M3s and M5s, Mercedes SLKs, and many other cars and trucks have employed fender vents as a functional and/or styling element to help set them apart. Here’s how I added fender vents to my box.
Ventiports on a 1949 Buick Roadmaster
(picture from Motor Trend)
(This mod took place on May 25, 2012 and June 9, 2012.)
Fender vents, either functional or decorative, are quite common on late model vehicles. You can find them on MINIs, Souls, M3s, M5s, and Escalades (2006-present), just to name a few:
Functional vent on a Land Rover LR2 Sport
Faux vent on a Kia Soul
Unfortunately you can also find them in WalMart and Pep Boys, since there are a wide variety of decorative “stick-on” imitation fender vents. These “stick-on” imitation items are giving fender vents a bad rap, reducing them to “cliché” status.
I fondly remember the mid-1970s and 1980s Corvette Stingrays, Pontiac Trans Ams and Chevy Z-28s from my youth, and they all had functional fender vents. So I did some research into what it would take to add working fender vents to my box.
1977 Pontiac Trans Am
I researched at least a dozen different types of vents. After some consideration I decided to use these BMW M3 E46 style 1-piece fender vents available on eBay. Genuine BMW E46 fender vents are a 2-piece design, with notches cut in the mounting frame to accept the grill bars. This makes the 2-piece design harder to install since the edge of the installation hole will be visible. The 1-piece design has an integral lip and is thus more forgiving. The 1-piece design is also less expensive.
This picture shows the underside of the vent, with 6 locations to accept the spring mounting clips. Strangely, only a total of 10 spring clips (5 spring clips per vent) are included.
Using the fender vent as a guide, I created a cardboard tracing template as a location and scribing aid. I spent some time adjusting the template until I was satisfied with the location on the fender. I positioned the vents to be parallel to the ground.
Prior to drilling any holes I constructed this debris gutter out of a file folder. I taped it to the backside (inside) of the fender to catch metal chips during drilling.
The fender vent outline is scribed and the first hole is drilled. No going back now…
For the corners I borrowed my father’s chassis punch, which cuts a much cleaner hole than a rotary hole saw.
Here is the completed fender vent hole. I used sheet metal (“airplane”) shears to cut between the hole corners. I painted the raw metal edge with touch-up paint.
The debris gutter did a nice job of catching the metal chips produced by drilling from falling inside my fender.
Here is the trial fit. For the final fit, I used the spring clips and also ran a bead of silicone sealer around the lip of the fender vent prior to insertion into the hole.
Here is the view of the driver's side vent from the engine compartment. The entire job only took a few hours. I undoubtedly spent more time deciding and planning than doing the actual installation.
Instead of using the flat "M3" stickers included with the fender vents, I bought and installed a couple of ABS chrome plastic "VVT-i" emblems from eBay.
The emblems provide a nice finishing touch.
So do these fender vents work? Well, it depends on what you are looking for. They certainly let the hot air out from the engine compartment, and I think they look great, but they don't make my car go any faster.
Well, maybe just a little faster, but I'm sure that's just my imagination...
In August 2013 I notice the vents are beginning to warp slightly. 14 months of constant pressure from the spring clips and heat from the engine is distorting the plastic. To remedy this, I remove the fender vents, remove the spring clips, and shave off their mounts. I add some threaded studs to the vent and secure them with epoxy. I fabricate a frame from aluminum and weld on some mounting brackets then spray them flat black. Finally I add 12 more amber LEDs on each side. Here is the finished result prior to installation.
Next: Front Lights Upgrade
You can send your questions or comments to BrickPig2011xb@gmail.com
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