cooling question - hypothetical
ok, maybe this is a dumb question / idea, but here goes. Why are head cooling scoops always mounted above the head? Heat rises right? so what if you fabricated side pods with ducting in them, forcing the air up from under the heads? Wouldn't the convection of the heat actaully help pull the air through?
I'm not an engineer, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn once.
original design from Dr. F. Porsche
The original VW design uses a fan housing and fan that pushes air down thru the cooling fins of the cylinders. On the bottom of the cylinders there is a diverter between cyl # 1 & 2 and also on the underside of cyl #3 & 4. The diverter forces the cooling air thru the fins on the bottom of the cyclinders so that more even cooling is obtained. One clue to check when high cyl head temps are present is to look for the diverter. if it isn't there, then the air may not be effectively cooling the whole cylinder.
Since FV doesn't use fans/fan housings any more, one could duct air up from the bottom if desired, but then you need to be careful of how you divert the air to get to the tops of the cylinders. Also need to consider how to get the hot air out of the engine compartment, too. don't want to suck hot air into the carb intake either.
my suggestion would be to keep the cooling flow as originally designed.
trying to go with the flow
Brian i thought you had your oil "cooler" in the nose?