I own a 1986 SE w/ 2.8. Both rear deck louvers on my car have a solid plate under the top louvers. A co worker has an 1987 w/ 2.5 and his have a screen instead of a solid plate. Have mine been modified or is this just a production change or just the difference between the I4 and V6? Thanks!

Yours might have been modified by a previous owner. They probably did it thinking it would keep leaves and such out to reduce fire hazard completely ignoring they are needed to vent engine heat.

HOWEVER, that may not be the case at all. Have you taken them out to look at them or only looked from the top down through them? Reason I ask is early vents had a hex mesh in them, latter vents had a louverd steel plate. If I remember correctly the louvers are under the ribs to reduce the chance of leaves and such getting through them. This can give the illusion of a solid plate when it actually isn't. So if you have not actually reremoved one to check, you should be able to just feel the underside of one and find out.

[This message has been edited by Khw (edited 07-31-2013).]

I have had both out messing with the battery and changing theair filter. Both have a flat sheet metal plate instead of a screen or a plate with louvers. In fact I added some speednuts to them as some were missing when I bought the car. I bought the car last fall and I know little of it's history. Looks like I should correct this. As you were saying this is stopping the intent of having the louvers there in the first place. Thanks!

Yeah I would get some type of screen on them before you do to much extended driving in the heat for sure.

I wasn't sure if you knew about the different "screens" across the years, so I thought I'd mention that possibility .