ctjackster

65-66 BB hoods do not really have an "operational" vent - you have vent blocking plates, and for those who have removed them, water intrusion and the related issues with igg system, etc. has been the unpleasant result. But, since I never intentionally drive my 65 in a hard or even light rain, I have toyed with the idea of opening up the vents.

macdarren

I try to stay out of the rain too....however I do have aftermarket ignition system which should be a bit better with the rain but getting all the other stuff under hood soaked would not be nice. I have been toying with the idea of opening it up and this was one of my concerns, my plan was to build something either into the hood or into the air cleaner that 'contained' the air to some degree and had some provision to drain...I guess an air box sorta thing which is one of the reasons I am hoping to find someone that has done this. Seems like I have seen cars that have this maybe C3s or something but I know I have seen opened scoops on C2s and of course other cars but those might just be fair weather cars too.

toddalin

I have a real '67 BB hood on my '64 that is going in for paint.

It is easier to move the hood bolt holes/support to the passenger side by drilling and tapping a piece of bar stock (as I did) than to move the support rod to the drivers side. I did a post on this previously.

I wanted mine to be functional so I removed the chrome/black cosmetic insert and used a putty knife and hammer to remove the fiberglass insert. Using a belt sander, I then ground off all of the black filler on the chrome insert leaving just the chrome triangles and chrome line that runs up the top of the scoop. Voila, the look and function!

When the painter saw the hood, the first thing he asked was if I still had the fiberglass insert. (I do and have since delivered it to him.) He said that without the fiberglass insert, it was just a matter of time before the new paint would show stress cracks around the weakened area. He said it was far better to grind out the hole in the fiberglass while retaining the bulk of the insert for strength.

BTW, there are two different induction-type inserts that were produced for the '67 stinger hood. There was the true L88 style that sucked air from the cowl area, but there was also an insert that tied into the stock opening that replaced the fiberglass insert. I don't know if these were GM, but they do/did exist.

buddyepa

Based on the experience of you guys, I am a chicken and will not be opening any of the fake vents to let air in. I think my little 327 c.i. engine will be just fine without more air. By the way, the pics of you Vettes are great!!

macdarren

I saw your earlier post about relocating the mount holes, I plan to do something similar. I was also concerned abou the stress cracks, can you explain a bit more about what was suggested to prevent them while keeping the functional opening. I had planed to do something similar to what you did, but was planning on keeping the entire ring and mounting posts and just remove the foreward facing black area. I don't have the fiberglass back piece on my hood and I could order it but thought it would be easy to just make something that would hold the insert in place and maybe provide a way to direct the air or channel water out.


Thanks
Darren

toddalin

My chrome insert is held by the two screws in the triangles. Because it is so light with all the excess metal removed, this is not a problem. When the car is painted, I'll line the top/back of the chrome "arch bar" with double-sided sticky tape which will add additional support and keep it from rubbing the paint.

I had removed the entire fiberglass insert piece. The painter will cut a hole though it to match the opening, leaving the bulk of the fiberglass piece intact. He will then re-bond this insert back to the underside of the hood from where I removed it.

My original thought was to just put a fiberglass reinforcement "strap" across the bottom of the hole, without the fiberglass insert piece.

If yours is an aftermarket hood, perhaps it was never designed to have this insert piece and one may not fit right. If it is a GM hood, you should also get the insert and just cut a hole in it. If you are careful, you could leave fiberglass "tabs" in the insert and "tabs" on the metal vertical surface retaining the speed nuts.

Paul L

With respect, I do not know why you wish to open up the scoop and suck rain/water into your air filter.

ffas23

buddyepa,
Just curious to where you purchased your hood from and the cost of it? Also which hood did you purchase, a hand laid fiberglass hood or a press molded hood?

Veet 66

I also like to know where and how much the hood cost.

macdarren

Cool Air ==> Horsepower ==> PERFORMANCE

and in my mind, next to class, overall performance is what a corvette all about.

I also happen to think that if you put a scoop on something it should be funtional not decorative....I know the function of the buldge is to accomodate the air cleaner on the taller big block, but the previous 65/66 hood did that, and with working vents....The 67 has a clear scoop and I think therefore it should scoop air (and rain... I want to build an simple air box at the scoop entry to keep most rain out of the filter and off the motor.....assuming I get caught in the rain, alternately I could just put in a little flapper door and close the scoop during those rare rainy days.

Paul L

The flapper idea is a good one. And to put things in perspective, I have driven Corvettes for 20 years and been caught in the rain only three times. Let us know how things turn out.

toddalin

Optimizing what you have is the name of the game and not only is my hood open, the side coves will also be opened when the car cames back from the body/paint shop.

While the hood is not a true ram air, it does allow air in the engine compartment and decreases underhood temps. When the side coves are opened, it should work even better by allowing a flow through ventilation and heat extraction.

I toyed with adding an air box and even produced a couple cardboard templates, but unless I go with a smaller air cleaner (12" diameter), I have interference from the thermostat housing because of the dropped air cleaner base and extended housing. I could raise the carb maybe another 1/2" with a thicker spacer before it hits the hood and this could give clearence around the thermostat. (Yesterday when I was in Michaels, I saw 16" diameter, 2" high cake baking tins that could contain the 14" element...) But, once the car is painted, I'll probably never change it and it won't get added.



The following pic includes a couple other easy mods you can do that pay off in better air flow (= hp).

Note with the drop base, there is a depressed lip that runs around the perimeter. Air following the bottom curvature slams into this lip causing turbulance. The gap is easily filled using a big O-ring (if you find the right size, or what I did was to cut a piece of heavy gauge low voltage wiring to size and used gasket sealent to stick it to the air cleaner base.

Also shown is a small "nose cone" added to the Holley to reduce turbulance at the stud. I got htis idea from the C4 air foils. What is not shown is that after the cone was installed, a pice of heatshrink tubing was put over the stud and cone, down to the venturies. This was shrunk inplace to further reduce turbulance from the threads on the stud.

Yes I know that these things seem trivial but consider that my mild 331 CI, 9.5 CR engine with a hydraulic cam does about 300 hp on the dyno at the wheels. I run a Holley 600 CFM carb so I figure that every CFM improvement is about 1/2 hp.

Car Craft magazine found 10 hp on a big block just by smooting air intake at the carb.



As for rain getting in the scoop..., if I drive the car in the rain, I have plenty more than my engine compartment to clean.

macdarren

Thanks for the tips, I actually had planned the carb stud thing and my car is a 65 so the side vents are open already. I have been looking for something to contain the air cleaner, so maybe I will be checking out the baking section. I like the air cleaner lip lift too.

I have considered just a single baffle box coming in from the scoop and forcing the air down then back up and out then putting a drain tube in the bottom of that box. I like the idea of enclosing the air cleaner but there is that clearance issue and also how to attach the box that is not too ugly. The baffled box I mentioned could be small and light enough to just attach to the hood build as part of the scoop support maybe. Then when you lift the hood the engine is still clean looking....of course then the underside of the hood is a bit odd and you won't be able to see the engine looking into the scoop which I kinda like.

toddalin

I have seen (and considered) a simple flat plate with a ~14" hole that is attached to the underside of the hood and surrounds at least part of the air cleaner element, but I've not seen it on a Vette. Would make it hard to get at the "327" speed nuts on the hood emblems though.

Tod

I posted several pictures on this forum about two months ago concerning this very process. They were step by step instructions on how I made a mounting plate for the hood support on my 65' coupe with a 67 stinger hood I bought. The stinger hood was designed for a hood support on the drivers side. So I converted it to the pass. side.

Hope this helps. The photos should be in the system someplace.

Tod

Johns_65Vette

L88 Hood. I am going to put a 427 BB hood on mine also. I think this hood looks great with a black car, but when I put it back to the original red, I think the 427 hood will look betterer.

macdarren

Any thoughts on how to go about attaching something to the hood.
looking at mine I have the pin from the block off if I save them when I opening up and that is about it (I don't have holes for the emblems on my hood but I thought they were just stuck on or maybe I drill them)
I was thinking I might have to bond to the hood itself. I just got a photo of something that was done for a 67 hood but for a newer FI motor...

toddalin

I would bond directly to the glass.

buddyepa

Wow!! I have been out of town for two days and the thread additions of work done and the Vettes shown are truly inspiring!! But way beyond my capabilities as will soon be evident. But first, I canceled the order with Paragon (8-10 weeks delivery and only driver's side hood support) and went with a hand laid hood from Eckler's because of the size of the order and with an extra $25, I got a 15% discount for the rest of a year. Hood support is on both sides and I am to get the thing either this weekend or early next week. Cost retail was $599 (now minus 15% net). My paint shop guy was happy to hear that the 8-10 week delay has changed.

Now for the dumb stuff. I have new rear hood latches (chromed) and can't immediately see how they fit. The shaft inside the sping which is attached to the conical male attachment has threads and in the box do not show at the base. I assume you just grap the thing and turn the base or the cone shaped thing and run it out so it can screw into something in the hood? I have not tried to remove the ones in my stock hood. I do not know if the nut or whatever will be in the soon to be delivered BB hood. Told you my capability was limited!

You all have helped me get this far and hopefully on a productive path. Keep it up! I will be always appreciative.

ffas23

Just curious to know what press molded Big Blk hoods are going for these days. Are there still only 3 places making them?