Trying to reduce interior heat

[Matt M240Z]

I live in SC and in the summer, the cowl gets so hot that it actually draws in hot air through the fresh air vents. I covered the cowl with a sheet metal piece bent exactly like the original cowl cover grill and also covered the slots above the windshield wiper motor but somehow when I open the fresh air vents, air still comes out. Is there another place where air is drawn through? Also are there openings for more hot air to go into the cowl before it is drawn into the interior? Last question: I have a lot of heat coming in around the steering column, is there any boot that is supposed to go over the steering column where it passes through the firewall? Any suggestions and ideas would be of great help. Thank you.

[kent]

There is a boot for the steering shaft you can get it from ogts this will cut the air flow drastically . I also installed a shutoff valve on my heater core hose to close off all water flow/heat in the summer.

[Wolfman3002]

I saw an ad yesterday that looked like a very "cool" idea, and simple too. It is called the "Autocool", I think. It's a solar-powered fan, that you hook over your car window. Then, you roll up the window as far as it will go (they supply some type of weatherstripping to go on the top edge of the window glass on either side of the device to keep out rain), and turn it on. It will then pull out the excess heat from inside the car. I thought about getting one to try out. It's only $14.99 plus S&H, so it's no biggie if it doesn't work, but it might help extend the life of the interior a little, not to mention making the car more habitable when it's been sitting out in the sun for a while.
Has anyone tried this product out? If not this one, then maybe there are other technologies that can be used to cool our cars (even a little), for those of us who are not blessed w/ A/C. Maybe we could adapt one of those Thermoelectric coolers (w/ a strong enough alternator, of course) to provide an alternate to standard A/C.
Any ideas?
Wolfman

[opelbits]

The two other posts pretty much cover it. There should be a seal between the hood and the cowl lip to prevent hot underhood air from being drawn into the fresh air vents. Also, even what appears to be a good heater control valve can allow seepage and circulation of hot coolant thru the heater core. You can bypass the heater core completely to determine if it is the problem. If it is, leave it bypassed until cooler weather.

And open the fresh air vents on the lower kick panels.

[opelwasp]

Originally Posted by Wolfman3002 I saw an ad yesterday that looked like a very "cool" idea, and simple too. It is called the "Autocool", I think. It's a solar-powered fan, that you hook over your car window. Then, you roll up the window as far as it will go (they supply some type of weatherstripping to go on the top edge of the window glass on either side of the device to keep out rain), and turn it on. It will then pull out the excess heat from inside the car. I thought about getting one to try out. It's only $14.99 plus S&H, so it's no biggie if it doesn't work, but it might help extend the life of the interior a little, not to mention making the car more habitable when it's been sitting out in the sun for a while. Has anyone tried this product out? If not this one, then maybe there are other technologies that can be used to cool our cars (even a little), for those of us who are not blessed w/ A/C. Maybe we could adapt one of those Thermoelectric coolers (w/ a strong enough alternator, of course) to provide an alternate to standard A/C. Any ideas? Wolfman

Give me a hanger and I'll own that car in 5 seconds. I can't believe some one would leave their car window open and expect a piece of plastic junk to keep it secure. Also the whole premis of that "As seen on TV" junk is flawed. OK so you circulate the air, how 'bout the 5000 degree seat you still have to sit on? Or the steering wheel? It isn't going to help those. A minut or two driving will cool the car just as well.

[Matt M240Z]

How do you install the steering column bushing? If you loosen the bolt on that coupler under the dash, will it slide down and leave a gap or something?

[baz]

have not looked on mine for a long while but i would almost bet its a column out job to fit it from inside the car
most seals on columns in europe are made that way
as an extra thought have you closed the foot well vents?
i would not have blocked off the air intake btw as you can not get any air into the car when you drive off and turn the fan on
all cars will heat the air in the collector when stood in sunshine but most if not all the heat inside the car when its stood in the sunlight is from the glass letting IR light in and the roof getting hot from direct sunlight

[Matt M240Z]

I might be wrong, but I thought that the cowl opening, kick panel/dash vents, and the fan vents were all connected so by closing off the cowl opening and turning on the fan, it would draw air in through the kick panel/dash vents and then push the air out through the fan vents like usual.

[baz]

i think they are just vents to the wheel wells and are for natural ventilation i dont think they link to the fan system but those who know better will chirp up soon
as i say i have not looked @ mine for a long time (been ill )

[tomking]

The steering column boot seal installs from the engine compartment and goes OVER the lip that sticks out from the hole for steering shaft. You must disconnect the column at the rack and slide the seal up the shaft.

[namba209]

Originally Posted by baz I think they are just vents to the wheel wells and are for natural ventilation i dont think they link to the fan system but those who know better will chirp up soon. As I say i have not looked @ mine for a long time (been ill )

Baz, the kick panel foot vents, dash vents and heater inlet are all interconnected. The cowl vent goes clear across from fender to fender and includes the inner/outer fender skin cavity. I double checked all that out when Dave was doing his cowl induction on Thumper. Willit? was just a shell way back then.