That’s right boys and girls, we’re back with another custom modification to the Mare!
A few months ago we picked up a PLX Devices Kiwi 3 so we could do some data logging and diagnostics on the Mare while driving on track, and on normal public roads. One thing we noticed that was of slight interest was the IAT (Intake Air Temperature). The IAT would be fairly high during night driving with the headlights on as well as occasionally during normal driving. We would see temperatures between 115* and 120* with the lights on and sometimes 110* without the lights on, but it was easy to think of a way to lower those temps… Begin the modifications!

The passenger side headlight had been suffering for quite some time due to loss of clear coat, and it was starting to get real annoying, so it made sense to just cut it up and make a duct that points straight to that massive Bright Atlantic Blue JLT intake. First we took off the small nut that holds in the corner marker, and made sure not to damage the turn signal light harness as it will still be used on the car. Next we took to taking out the headlight. With the entire passenger side headlight assembly out of the car we were able to see exactly what we had to work with.

We had bought a 9 3/4 X 5 X 5 1/2 NACA duct with a 3″ outlet in the back to help direct all that air from the front of the car, and headlight, to the intake and a set of headlight covers to help make sure air is either going directly to the intake or around the car. By itself the NACA duct fit fine, but we had to find means of the whole assembly mounting and staying fixed in place. The headlight covers have tabs that wrap around the main head light, so we later decided to utilize where the covers mount and keep the front piece of the headlight. Keeping the front of the headlight also allowed us to use the mounting points from the headlight, so that made install easier and gives a piece of mind that it wont fall off on track or on the street.

We started cutting up the headlight, duct and cover and eventually found ourselves with the current duct. It still needs some minor touching up, but the job gets done regardless. The entire project probably ran 2 hours from start to finish. The harder parts being that when you cut up the headlight a lot of dust follows and it can make for difficulty breathing if you cant vent out your work place. We wrapped up the cover in the same midnight metallic blue we use for our livery, and that part also took a decent amount of time…

We’re looking forward to the results we get from the duct in normal street driving and on the track. Fabulous Fords Forever and Buttonwillow Raceway Park here we come!

We plan to adjust the opening on the cover a bit more and smooth it out. After that we will also wrap a red ring around the opening, paint the remaining headlight piece black, and fill in the duct to assure its all one piece and there isnt any place for air to flow other than directly to the JLT.