REFLECTOR: Need advice on air scoop

[dmartin@cougar.netutah.net (Dennis Martin)]

I'm installing a Chevy V-6 engine in my Velocity.  After 2 years of R & D,
we finally  start assembly tomorrow.  This is not your grandpa's Chevy.
Most of the R & D involved an odd-fire Crower 4340 degassed steel crank and
cam, and a reliable fuel injection system with limp-home mode.  Based on
computer dyno tests, it should all work.  We'll do a dyno test in about two
months.

Here's where I need help.  I just finished installing a 1997 Dodge Stratus
heater box in the nose of my Elite.  Weighs 12 lbs. and has a 300 PSI air
conditioning core that will circulate coolant from the engine.  Coolant
runs through the ducts via 3/4" ss braided teflon hose mated to the core
with AN fittings.  The heater box fits into the nose like a glove, and
delivers heat into the cabin via a scat tube that runs into the keel.  I've
also molded a separate glass tube that delivers cold air into the cabin.

Since Tim England has experienced trouble with long taxis in hot weather,
I'm hoping this nose heater (it has a tornado-like electric blower on it)
should help cool the engine during taxi in the summer time.  To dump hot
air outside the cabin, I crafted a plywood/glass box with a flapper valve.


The same intake is used for both heater and cold air, and is located on the
floor about 3" behind the landing light.  I have NOT cut a hole yet.

Since this is the high pressure side (bottom) of the nose, how big should I
make the intake?  The actual size of the heater intake plenum is 4" wide by
6" long.  I made a plywood/glass box that mates this plenum to the floor
perfectly.

I have three questions:

1. Should I make a NACA scoop for this inlet, and if so, how big should it
be?

2. Would it be a big mistake to make a 4" long rectangular hole, and not
make a NACA scoop?

3. Is there any practical way to keep bugs (insects) from entering the
system?

Thanks in advance for any tips.

Dennis Martin