Tornado (missing) Panels

[Keith Stafford]

Guys

I'm finishing off a Tornado and have some missing panels:-

Floor Panels:-

There are none to the rear of the petrol tanks (both near and offsides), was thinking of panelling the bottom of this area (just to the rear of the tanks) to keep muck out etc, I welcome your opinions? What thinkness/gauge (3mm?) and grade of ally would you recommend?





Front section panels:-
The front section is missing the side panels, again, can you recommend thickness and grade of ally?




Inner footwell panels:-
Thinking of doing the inside of the footwells to reduce noise (packing the cavity with something), again is this generally done? I guess if so, then 1.5mm ally, any advice on grade?








Regards

Keith

 

[Andy Sheldon]

Keith

See my post on your build thread about the floorpan panels.

If you panel the sides of the radiator areas you will reduce the cooling. That area allows much of the hot air to escape.

If you panel the sides of the footwelsl you will simply reduce your foot room by 3" overall.

Everything on our cars is done like it is for a reason.

Thanks

Andy

 

[Keith Stafford]

Thanks again Andy

Re. the inner panelling of the footwells, i was considering the sides only so to the right of the drivers feet and the left of the passengers feet, not the bottom.

Re. the front bay. As I bought the car panelled, I am not sure which panels are std Tornado, which are builder's and if any are missing etc.... , my conclusion was to deepen the nostrils and panel the front, i realise the hot air has to go somewhere.

Cheers


keith

 

[David]

As Andy says (and he should know ) the stock Tornado doesn't duct the air from the rad through the nostril(s) but only part of it. IM(and others)O it's better to have everything go through the nostril(s) but it involves a fair amount of work in sealing and enlarging the nostril(s) and normally means you can't tilt the front clip without removing the nostril panel first.

The advantages are better aerodynamics and reduced heat into the cabin. Not sure how much advantage the aerodynamics would be on a road car but the reduction in heat entry is probably worth it.

 

[Jason Winter]

Hi Keith

As Andy says, paneling the sides of the front area will reduce the cooling. I decided to do it anyway, but added grills to help with the air flow. Paneling it looks better in my opinion, but it was a lot of work and I might still have cooling issues. It's definetly not one of the easiest parts to panel neatly. I used 1.2mm thick ali on mine.

Jason

 

[Keith Stafford]

Hi Jason

Yes, I recall seeing yours, they looked good, if i remember correctly you had 2 or 3 circular grilles on each side.


Keith

 

[Keith Stafford]

Hi Jason

just looked again, you did the louvred panels, let me know your verdict when you get her on the road.

Keith

 

[Jason Winter]

I'll let you know Keith, although it probably won't be any time soon
I think it was Ian with the Scotland Tornado that put the circular grills in the front. He looks close to getting his car running so might have some feedback on the cooling soon.

Jason