I was just asked if the hood scoops could be opened up on a non ra car. I know they can be, but what ill effects would it have on the engine? Has anybody run without them?

The only ill effect I could think of is water coming through them. It would keep under hood temps cooler and, depending on your air cleaner setup, give you cooler intake air.

very little benefit....and IF you get caught in rain it will come in...meaning , do not use hood insulation, it will trap moisture and help it rust....My thinking is that even without insulation , you`ll get "extra" moisture in under braces etc if you drive in rain....buit there are always other hoods available...lol

I never drive the beast in the rain!!

If you are going to go that route, then I would recommend "going all the way". Warpath Restoration Parts makes an EXCELLENT reproduction of the complete 67/68 ram air setup. It's about $600.

And if you "open" the scoops, may I recommend a Dremel with coarse sanding disks on the BACK side of the simulated scoop openings. You can leave the ribs in place with will cut down on debris and bugs from getting in.

pm, never say never. I didn't put my ws wipers back on because I said I'd never drive it in the rain. It's only happened 4 or 5 times now. Still no wipers. I'm pretty stubborn.

IMO unless you are going to "go all the way", then I would not open them up. Also, I opened mine completely without leaving the ribs and I can honestly say I have never found ANYTHING laying inside my RamAir pan. Also, just for your own info, I originally bought the fiberglass upper and lower pans ($200). The fit and look excellent, BUT, if you are a stickler for detail (like me), do yourself a favor and purchase the pans from Warpath as mentioned above ($600). You will not be sorry as the quality is dead nuts to the originals! I had the fiberglass ones for seven years, and not one person ever pointed them out as being for not being metal. However, everytime I popped the hood, those plastic pans laughed at me. No longer the case!

Oh yeah, one more thing. Don't expect to spend the $600 and all of asudden have more power under your hood just because you have "RamAir". Bascially what you are getting is pure "ahhh and ooooh and some serious coolness factor. I liken it to the fold down rear seat, expensive, useless, a ton of cash, but, lot's of gawkers and thumbs up!

If your looking for power, you could certainly get more for your $600 than from adding RamAir pans to your car. But dam, they sure look cool!

the scoops on my fibreglass hood are open and i've been caught in the rain lots of times,i haven't noticed water in the engine compartment and if some got in there it wasn't a problem.i'm swaping out the fibreglass hood this winter with a steel repo and would go open scoops again,no hood insulation.

I dont either, but sometimes the rain comes anyway ,when I`m out driving!!

Amazingly, never had rain come into mine proving the thier not high enough in the air stream to be real effective.
Sure looks cool though.

I suspect if the engine and area is hot, then whatever does find its way in evaporates quickly....

I wonder if I would be basterdizing my numbers matching car by putting an RA setup on? I agree they look great!

I've been caught in absolute terrential down pours and have never had a problem with water in the lower pan (which does have drain holes by the way)...

Pretty scary that a set of original open scoops just sold for $405.00.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300367570042&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

My friend Mike has a few NOS sets, although I think his are for a GTO, are they the same as our cars?

I believe GTO scoops have different part numbers. I looked a couple years back when someone I knew was selling a set.

if you dont have the hood insulation, shouldnt be much problem...but when it has happened , how did you check in the crevices under the frame that the hood is attached to? What Im worried about is water getting trapped in there where its not visible and doesnt drain...only thing that gets it out of there is heat from engine....make it evaporate....

Just to be a smart-a$$: what's the point in having hood scoops if they're not open? Sure, it looks cool, but I can amagine that you'ld want it to function (a bit) as well. Closed scoops actually give you more wind resistance right?! So from that point of view I'ld buy the kit, if I had scoops..

And rain, well, sometimes it surpises you on longer cruises. If you drive it often enough, someday you'll meet rain. At least where I live you do, not sure about Florida...

Wouter, theres really no wind resistance where those scoops are to be accounted for ...as a matter of fact they realized that the wind basically goes over those (on fgf s) and opening them really doesnt do anything...thats why on second gen those TA scoops were moved to a better location , up front where the cool air hits....also opening the hood at the back by the WS is also better...per wind tunnel tests..

Ya, but it still looks COOL!

Keep in mind that modern EFI vehicles ALL pull their engine air from outside the engine compartment.

Why? TEMPERATURE! While "ramming" or pressurizing air would be great, pulling cooler air into the carb from outside the engine compartment (via the open hood scoops) is going to have a definite benefit.

Opening the hood scoops is personal preference. If you drive in the rain at all you will notice that the leading edge of the hood get's a little wet but from there back the rain will blow over the hood not on it. No water will get into the openings. Even while at a stop, very little water will go in through the openings and the air cleaner lid and intake manifold is about all that will get a few drips on them. (Usually when you open the hood to check is all)

I think Bjorn might have meant the second gen Formula hood scoops that were moved forward much like the 69 T/A. But the Cowl area is by far the best source for cool air with more neutral pressure...

But, the true RA cars draw in the cooler outside air by having the air intake sealed off to under hood air etc...

I've had two birds now with the open scoop... again, personal preference.

Brett!

wouldnt that depend on your speed?? I can relate to highway, but what about in town? Being stopped nothing should get in , but at 5 - 15 mph?

Just being careful ,that is...

IMO it is pointless to open the scoops if you don't plan on installing the ram air pans. Otherwise IMO it would look odd...

But it looks way cool.

The GTO scoops are different than the Firebirds. The 2 hood scoops on the Firebird are spaced much farther apart than on the GTO, and so the scoop inserts themselves have a different taper. They will not interchange.

The entire 1969 Firebird 400 Ram Air assembly is reproduced now, from the flapper assembly to the pull cable, but it's very expensive. The 1967/1968 Firebirds did not use a flapper assembly, the scoops were just cut open for the Ram Air cars.

One thing you'll notice with a true Ram Air system is that the engine is quieter at part throttle, and especially at full throttle. That giant "roar" from a Pontiac V8 with a Holley or Q-jet is very muffled with Ram Air, as the carb is only pulling air through those two hood scoop openings. It will be as quiet as a dual snorkel air cleaner, verses a 360 degree element.

While the open scoops of a Ram Air system don't actually provide a ram effect, they do pull in cool air. There has always been some debate as to how much air can be drawn through those two GTO (68-70) or Firebird (67-69) hood scoops. The total area isn't that great.

Just a note, be cautious of buying the cheap repro plastic scoops that some vendors sell. On a hot day, and with your engine temp at 200+, they have a tendency to warp.

I assume tho that the total area of the open scoops exceeds that of a single snorkel which most of us have.

Dave, don't be describing your single snorkel on this site...

(it must be Friday )