CLICK ON THE THUMBNAILED PICTURES TO GET A BETTER LOOK AT & READ A LITTLE HISTORY ON OLD RELIABLE 

I CAN ONLY DO 3" WIDE LOUVERS WITH THIS ONE

THE NEXT PART MAY BE THE REAR DECK LID OR SHOULD YOU HAVE A TRUCK, THE TAILGATE

AND HOW ABOUT YOUR -  BELLYPAN, ASHTRAY, GLOVEBOX, SIDE COVER, FENDER SKIRTS, YOUR "LEGENDS" RACE CAR or ANY MISCELLANEOUS PANEL  

MANY PHOTOS HERE ARE COMPLIMENTS OF Fergie Rodine AT

http://www.hotrodlouvers.com/index.htm

I HAVE SOME NICE PICTURES OF A JOB I DID HERE. I CONTRADICTED SOME OF MY RULES AS SUCH ON THIS JOB WITH THE CUSTOMERS PERMISSION BUT THE END RESULT TURNED OUT NICE. YOU CAN READ THOSE RULES FARTHER DOWN THIS PAGE AND EACH PICTURE JUST BELOW EXPLAINS THE PROCESS AS IT PROGRESSED AND MENTIONS SOME OF THE RULES WE TOUCHED ON

(QUICK UPDATE HERE) - THE FOLLOWING LINK IS TO A FORUM THE OWNER IS REGISTERED WITH. TAKE A LOOK AT SOME "LOUVER" OPINIONS THERE. I ALSO ADDED A PICTURE AT THE RACES

http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=339730&highlight=teeth

 THE RULES 

In order to keep old reliable running for another 50 years we must follow some simple rules

(1) UNFORTUNATELY, NO STAINLESS STEEL. (RUINS DRILL BITS TO)

(2) 18 GAUGE MILD STEEL OR LESS. MOST BODY PANELS FIT THIS CATEGORY. ALUMINUM IS FINE, HOWEVER, THE CORNERS MAY TEAR ON THE LOUVER DUE TO METAL STRETCHING.

(3) SHEET METAL "MUST" BE FREE OF - PAINT, BODY FILLER, UNDERCOATING & SOUND DEADENING COATINGS.

(4) AREA TO BE PUNCHED SHOULD BE FREE OF DENTS OR WRINKLES. IT'S MUCH EASIER TO REPAIR THOSE PRIOR TO PUNCHING AND BESIDES, THEY MAY INTERFERE  WITH THE PROCESS.

THINGS TO REMEMBER

(1) CURVED PANELS ETC. MAY IN SOME CASE DICTATE THE LIMITS TO INSTALLING LOUVERS. TIGHT CURVES AND AREAS THAT ARE NOT ACCESSIBLE FROM BOTH SIDES FOR INSTANCE. COMMON SENSE SHOULD ANSWER THAT QUESTION.

(2) IF YOU HAVE UNDER HOOD BRACING, IT MAY BE IN THE WAY. YOU MUST REMOVE IT AND REINSTALL IT AFTER THE LOUVERS ARE INSTALLED. (See picture to the left)

(3) YOU MAY WANT TO FABRICATE SOME KIND OF AN UNDER HOOD TRAY  TO CATCH & REDIRECT RAIN WATER IF YOU ARE CONCERNED WITH THAT ISSUE

(4) MANY  LATE MODEL VEHICLES OR PANELS MADE OF 20 GAUGE OR THINNER SHEET METAL MAY SUFFER SOME DIE DAMAGE WHEN STAMPING. THESE LIGHTER GAUGES ARE SUBJECT TO STRETCHING AND MAY SHOW DIMPLES FROM THE OUTER EDGE PRESSURE OF THE DIE BODY. WHILE THESE MARKS ARE VISIBLE, THEY CAN BE FILLED AND DRESSED UP WITH A LIGHT COATING OF BODY FILLER. THE FULL PICTURE OF A LATE MODEL HOOD TO THE LEFT SHOWS THE OVERALL NICE APPEARANCE OF SUCH AN EXAMPLE WHILE THE CLOSE UP SHOWS THOSE TELLTALE DIE MARKS ON THE SAME HOOD

(5) THE INSIDE EDGES  OF THE LOUVER OPENING MAY NEED SOME DRESSING. THIS CAN BE DONE IN A JIFFY WITH A SMALL FILE OR HEAVY GRIT EMORY CLOTH

(6) THERE ARE LIMITS TO THE LENGTH OF THE WORK PIECE. THROAT DEPTH ON MY PRESS IS 40 INCHES.  EXAMPLE - IN THE CASE OF A HOOD, WITH THE LOUVER OPENINGS FACING TO THE REAR (TOWARD WINDSHIELD), MEASURE FROM THE REAR EDGE OF THE HOOD FORWARD. IF THE DISTANCE IS NO LONGER THAN 40" TO WHERE THE ROW OF LOUVERS WILL START ON THE FRONT OF THE HOOD, IT SHOULD WORK FINE. MOST VEHICLE WILL WORK JUST FINE.  SOME EXCEPTIONS ARE LARGE HOODS SUCH AS THOSE FOUND ON PETERBUILT & KENWORTH ETC. TRACTORS.

HOW MUCH DO THEY COST ?

TO CALCULATE A ROUGH COST ON YOUR NEEDS, FIGURE 10 LOUVERS PER FOOT

WITH TYPICAL JOB LAYOUT & STRAIGHT ROWS, THE COST IS $3.00 PER LOUVER

ALSO SEE "UNIVERSAL LOUVER PANELS" FURTHER DOWN PAGE

PLEASE READ THE EXCEPTIONS BELOW

DIAGONAL ROWS MAY BE EXTRA DUE TO ADDITIONAL LAYOUT TIME AND EXTRA CARE THAT MUST BE TAKEN WHEN PUNCHING. NO MORE THAN 25 CENTS PER LOUVER SHOULD COVER THAT COST. IN MOST CASE, NO EXTRA CHARGE SHOULD BE NEEDED.

LAYING OUT AND MAKING THE FIRST PUNCH IN EACH ROW IS THE TIME CONSUMING FACTOR.  IF YOU NEED 4 ROWS OF 12 LOUVERS EACH vs 12 ROWS OF 4 LOUVERS EACH, IT WILL TAKE 3 TIMES AS LONG TO DO THE 12 ROW LAYOUT AND STARTER PUNCH.

THE "TYPICAL" JOB AS MENTIONED ABOVE IS THE 4 ROWS-12 LOUVERS.  AGAIN, IN MOST CASES I WON'T CHARGE ANY EXTRA, HOWEVER, KEEP THIS IN MIND SHOULD IT ARISE.

UNIVERSAL LOUVERS PANELS

 3" or 4" louvers now available 

HERE'S A NICE OPTION ! - YOU CAN PURCHASE MY PREPUNCHED LOUVER PANELS. AS SEEN BELOW, YOU WILL EXPERIENCE A CONSIDERABLE SAVINGS OVER HAVING A HOOD OR PANEL CUSTOM PUNCHED NOT TO MENTION THE COST & HASSLE OF SHIPPING & HANDLING IF YOU ARE A CONSIDERABLE DISTANCE FROM MY SHOP

WHILE I STILL CAN DO SOME MINOR CUSTOM MODIFICATIONS FOR THE DISCOUNT COST ON THESE PANELS, REMEMBER,  THE SAVINGS IS REALIZED FROM THE FACT THAT I HAVE LITTLE SETUP AND ACTUAL PUNCHING TIME INVOLVED. FOR INSTANCE, I COULD PUT 2 OR 3 ROWS OF LOUVERS ON THE SAME PANEL FOR NO ADDITIONAL COST PER LOUVER

SPACING BETWEEN EACH LOUVER IS  ALWAYS THE SAME, SO QUANTITY OF LOUVERS AND THE LENGTH OF THE ROW IS RELATIVE . YOU MUST DECIDE EITHER HOW MANY LOUVERS YOU WANT IN A ROW  OR HOW LONG YOU WANT THE ROW OF LOUVERS TO BE. 

BELOW ARE SAMPLES OF BOTH "STRAIGHT" & "SLANTED" LOUVER PANELS. THE DESCRIPTION WITH THE PHOTOS WILL GIVE YOU DIMENSION DETAILS SO THAT YOU CAN CONFIGURE YOUR APPLICATION

THE PANEL CONSIST OF 18 GAUGE STEEL & COMES TO YOU IN A BARE METAL FINISH

WHILE YOU MAY WISH TO DO SOME DETAIL SANDING & FILING, THESE PANEL DO NOT SUFFER DIE EDGE DIMPLES AS THE LIGHTER GAUGE METALS DO, MENTIONED ABOVE UNDER THE "THINGS TO REMEMBER" COLUMN

I UNDERSTAND THIS MAY SEEM CONFUSING SO JUST EMAIL OR CALL ME WITH ANY QUESTIONS

tgoo426193@aol.com          (717) 514-4350