74FLCONV

Saw a Jaguar XKR in a parking lot today and noticed the (apparently) functional hood vents. Very nice shape...kinda "kidney shaped".

Anway...started thinking about integrating these into my stock hood to relieve some of the underhood heat (the sucker get's HOT under there!).

So...whaddya think?:



D. Ocean
Miami, FLA

Jughead

No sure how that'd look. Here's sone on an L-88 hood. I sorta like that one. I guess that'd work considering the carb is sealed in the chamber.

robertmc48

What some people do to these poor C3 Corvettes amazes me. Maybe , someday, when they approach the values of the C1-C2s they will be left alone. I may be one of the few...leave these nice Corvettes alone...modify Mustangs, Firebirds...etc. These cars are what they are. Ever see a hot rodded Ferrari ?

bobs77vet

look at the old british sports cars for more ideas.....you will need to have an inner tray to collect rain water and channel it away from the engine...

swtato

Cheesy!

74FLCONV

Well..my car is a dime-per-dozen (and has been thru the Bubba mill by previous owner(s)).. finding a replacement hood ain't no biggie.

I'm adding a custom exhaust, lowering, aftermarket wheels and a custom paint-job. Not too worried about originality.

P.S. - Aren't Joel Rosen's Vette's easily worth over $100k these days?

D. Ocean
Miami, FLA

74FLCONV

Nah...my car never sees rain. And, I think they'd be positioned outward far enough so the occasional rain would hit the inner fenderwell.

D. Ocean
Miami, FLA

74FLCONV

THOSE particular louvres or ANY louvres?

D. Ocean
Miami, FLA

JungleCat

I was going to say you could maybe graft them in a non original hood and if it didn't work, you would still have the original. But you're right, finding an original hood for these cars shouldn't be a big deal. Later C3s are appealing because they are not high on the valuable scale and are great cars to mod.

cbr900son

Hey its there cars to each their own and YES I have seen a hotrodded ferrari also seen a Mclaren F with a direct port dual stage nitrous setup.

Now personally I like the corvettes stock looks but if he enjoys his vette and wants to make it into a batmobile . Well let the man do to his baby what he wants. Im just glad he loves hos car and doesnt put it in a demolition derby or something.

Jughead

Look at the louvers on some hot rods. I really like the look but some are over-done. If I were doing them, I have the louvers rear-facing.

I like the look of the 74-74 verts. I think I'd have to settle for a '74 because of the cat's in '75.

robertmc48

I see you are new to the forum. During the time I've been here I have seen dozens of posts making fun of various modified C3s...mostly from Ebay. As far as hot rodding and doing mods go....I've been involved with cars for a long time...I can't remember the last time I saw a really valuable car modified at all. Mods seem to be done on cars that have little perceived value. Nobody would swap engines or put fender flares on a $1,000,000.00 Ferrari.

bobs77vet

i disagree, have you been watching the Barret Jackson auctions? that hot rodded Lincoln Zephyr sold for like $400,000 or something astronomical and it was more valuable hot rodded then in pristine stock condition....and that was not the only one.

robertmc48

I did see that car sell. Lincoln Zephyrs are not really high end cars. A pristine stock one wouldn't have bidded as high as that one did. I've been involved with old cars for a long time...just because they are old doesn't always mean they are worth the big bucks...it's supply and demand. Can you imagine putting a HEMI into a 2-3 million $ Duesenberg because it would go faster ?

big632

You might just jet-hot your exhaust to get underhood temps down.Makes a big diff.As far as modding do what you want with a common car is no big deal. A real classic that hasnt been modded to mod is a shame.In the old day a lot of 63 split windows had there center rear window bar removed to look like a 64 when they came out,ooops.

74FLCONV

And neither is a '74 Stingray w/190hp & auto trans...

Anyway...

Thanks all for the opinions.

I'd like to do "traditional" louvres, but those are typically stamped in steel...not sure how to do that in glas.

I'll keep looking to see if I could find something discrete.

BTW...I think the "hood" vents in the Viper GTS are :

isosceles

If you like them, go for it. But if you're thinking of doing it for added performance, there are probably cheaper alternatives. You mentioned in a recent post that you're considering changing the exhaust. I found that when I installed my Dynomax ceramic coated headers that my feet were not baking anymore and the A/C worked better. I don't have a thermometer but I'll bet the under hood temps are cooler thanks to those headers.



Regarding making changes to your car, I think the same way about my '79.

When I swapped the L48 for the 383, I thought, " I MUST save the numbers matching block!" But then I got to thinking, collectors aren't looking for 79's. People who ARE looking for 79's probably like the c3 body style and would appreciate the performance of the 383. I'd bet I could sell the car for MORE with the 383 in it than with the numbers matching L48.

74FLCONV

Not so much for "performance", just a way to vent the engine heat.

I've already installed some "shorty" headers (only treated with high-temp paint) and will be heat-wrapping the exhaust downpipe.

If/when I install a serious motor, I will include some nice headers that are coated or heat-wrapped.

D. Ocean
Miami, FLA

81 Vette

I mean I have an all original low miles 72, but Im not afraid to pull the engine and trans, put it in storage, and then have some fun with the car. If and when I decide to sell it (60 years from now hahaha) Ill return it to stock.