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My hood was modified when I bought it 10 years ago. The fiber glass was cutout under the cookie sheets. I have been told that this was done to support racing on a drag strip. As can be seen the workmanship is good. I have now tracked my SWC five times at Laguna Seca for parade laps and a couple of hot laps-- reaching a respectable speed. I have noted the front end gets very light. has anyone implemented vented louvers replacing the old cookie sheets. I did see a racing SWC at Laguna with the hood area open and had a flat vent replacing the cookie sheet. Unfortunately, the SWC came in second after a Cobra. Will note that I have three -duces on my 63. Do have the original four-barrel, but like the three-duces--- and i get a little more HP.
My hood was modified when I bought it 10 years ago. The fiber glass was cutout under the cookie sheets. I have been told that this was done to support racing on a drag strip. As can be seen the workmanship is good. I have now tracked my SWC five times at Laguna Seca for parade laps and a couple of hot laps-- reaching a respectable speed. I have noted the front end gets very light. has anyone implemented vented louvers replacing the old cookie sheets. I did see a racing SWC at Laguna with the hood area open and had a flat vent replacing the cookie sheet. Unfortunately, the SWC came in second after a Cobra. Will note that I have three -duces on my 63. Do have the original four-barrel, but like the three-duces--- and i get a little more HP.
Any hot rod shop can make metal lovers that could be bonded to the hood. Maybe 67 side vents could be inverted and glassed to the hood. Corvettes have had many different side lovers over the years that might work. Paint the inner hood structure flat black and that wouldn't be noticeable. The beauty of fiberglass is that you can make any shape out of it. An interesting project indeed.
The #3 '63 Z06 road raced by Delmo Johnson had hood modifications like the O/P and Steve Stone as well as additional modifications.
Were the modifications near the cowl trying to combat high speed lift?
In addition to the recommendation of a front air dam you might also experiment with the removal of the splash shields. Took them off of my 65 with a 427 and it seemed to settle down at speed. I also removed the rain shields on the hood ( I have a 396 style hood ) along with the splash shields and the car definitely runs cooler. Just my 2cents. - Fred
Someone commented on Pete Brock's new 963. Did meet with Pete earlier this month in Henderson and discussed hood venting. I think that the 963 represents how Pete envision the 63 SWC should look. It is a beautiful car and reflects the advancement by one of the greatest car engineer in our time. I will note that the hood venting on the 963 is what I desire. as it keeps the image of the original cookie shoot, and I suspect is aerodynamically acceptable. One needs to look at his 1957 drawing of the C2 that was accepted by Corvette.
C-2 Hood modification
