Hood Scoops.

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Sully1190

Sully1190

Look. It's a Gold Duster.
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Yes, I know, I'm letting my inexperience show again, but I have some questions about functional hood scoops (Because I like how they look, and I refuse to just have one sitting there, being lazy).

#1: How much extra is needed to make a hood scoop functional? I have googled and searched and looked at topics on here, and I see varying degrees of complexity, depending on the scoop type. Some just seem to have a hole where the scoop attaches to the hood, and that's all. What does that do, exactly? Just funnel cooler air into the engine compartment? Does that really make a lot of difference?

#2: Rain. I had been told by my parents that the Camaro they used to have would go dead if driven in the rain, because water could come in the scoop. Is there any truth in this? If so, are there ways to circumvent it?

Looking at air-grabber style scoops, seems like you could just use an actuated scoop and close it in the rain, but those seem to be attached directly via a boot. is that scoop the only air source? If you have it closed, can the engine still get enough air? Cause this style of scoop be made /without/ being directly attached?

Keep in mind, I understand that I've probably got a few major misconceptions about how this all works. I'm still a young gun and I've been trying to gleen information from pictures and articles that don't explain so much how things work, as just how to install them.



Thanks guys. Sorry if I'm off-base :prayer:
 
So I just need to line the hole under it up with the top of the air cleaner?

Do you ever have problems in the rain? (Though it seems like the snorkel style wouldn't let much in)
 
i drive mine in the rain, and snow. never blinked an eye. my element is not sealed to the hood. i like the idea of flushing all that under hood heat out and giving my carb fresh air.
 
believe cudaspaz sealed his to the hood, might want to search his threads....
 
For maximum functionality the air cleaner needs to be sealed to the hood.

Look up pictures of the scoop airboxes for Roadrunners and Superbees and you'll see a series of flaps that opened underhood when the scoop was closed. I believe that shaker cars used a couple of drain hoses to keep it all dry.

Your parents Camaro would have had to had huge amounts of water coming in to flood an engine. Most likely it was a paper filter getting wet and starving the motor for air.

FWIW, the raised dual-snorkel scoop shown above is one of the better OEM scoop designs out there. It gets the air intake up above the slow-moving boundary-layer air. Myself, I'm walking the line between adding the Demon-style scoop shown above to my Dart for max effciency, or the twin-scoop setup that's appropriate for Darts, but isn't as good (too close to the hood.)
 
Thanks guys. Think I've got it figured out now.

I'm trying to remember from the pictures what kind of scoop theirs had. All I remember was that it was really low profile against the hood. So if you were driving in hard rain, wind and inertia would probably just fill it with water sliding along the hood.

Does anybody have any more info about shaker scoops? How much they are and if they require anything special? Also, does anybody know for sure how they do in the rain? I'm likely going to go with the dual snorkel, but I do like the idea of trying something a little different, and I love the way the shakers look (air grabbers too, but they're stupid expensive. I'd be cheaper trying to build my own. And to be fair... i probably could.)
 
Sully, I had a '67 Camaro SS with a small block 350. Sometimes, the rain would pool around the hood where the distributor was and cause water to drip onto the coil and the car would not start. I wonder if your parents Camaro hood was the type that opened towards the windshield.
 
DFX 340 Duster said:
Sully, I had a '67 Camaro SS with a small block 350. Sometimes, the rain would pool around the hood where the distributor was and cause water to drip onto the coil and the car would not start. I wonder if your parents Camaro hood was the type that opened towards the windshield.
Click to expand...

Perhaps. Theirs was a 71. I'll check pictures of it next time I go by their house.
 
I have two foam blocks covered with (dont laugh) black duct tape. They
are slightly larger than the openings. I compress them and stuff em' in when
the weather gets wet.
 
One of the best factory shaker scoop designs was on the '74 Pontiac Trans Am I owned back then. It originally had a factory-blocked opening but all it needed was drilling out three rivets for it to be fully-functional. In case of rain all I had to do was put the original factory plate back in the scoop opening
The design was a rearward facing opening drawing cool air from the high-pressure area at the base of the windshield. The base of the shaker sealed against the underpart of the hood with a thick rubber gasket and there was a drain hose on the driver-side front corner of the base to drain any rainwater/carwash moisture away from the engine to the ground.
One more thing, the opening in any scoop needs to be a minimum of 30 sq. in. to be fully effective and let the engine breathe at full throttle.
 
briankaplan said:
I have two foam blocks covered with (dont laugh) black duct tape. They
are slightly larger than the openings. I compress them and stuff em' in when
the weather gets wet.
Click to expand...

Haha. Nice. That's a lot easier sounding than the things I have sketched up at this point.

ocdart said:
One of the best factory shaker scoop designs was on the '74 Pontiac Trans Am I owned back then. It originally had a factory-blocked opening but all it needed was drilling out three rivets for it to be fully-functional. In case of rain all I had to do was put the original factory plate back in the scoop opening
The design was a rearward facing opening drawing cool air from the high-pressure area at the base of the windshield. The base of the shaker sealed against the underpart of the hood with a thick rubber gasket and there was a drain hose on the driver-side front corner of the base to drain any rainwater/carwash moisture away from the engine to the ground.
One more thing, the opening in any scoop needs to be a minimum of 30 sq. in. to be fully effective and let the engine breathe at full throttle.
Click to expand...

All good info. I'll take it into consideration. Though I'd like to keep mopar parts on it, a trans-am style shaker would probably be a whole lot easier to come by. Thanks!
 
  1. Actually, you should be congratulated for knowing you were in over your head and asking questions here on FABO rather than take the knucklehead approach of drilling holes in an otherwise good hood and wondering later if some expense and frustration could have been avoided. Smart approach, young gun.
  2. My experiences with cars dying in the rain have to do with bottom feeders (e.g. Olds W-30, Honda, Toyota...and by extension anything that has the engine air intake at the bottom of the car.). When driving a bottom feeder, avoid standing water. Even if the intake is several inches above the water, water can be sucked in putting a damper on ignition festivities. What can happen is that the tires and front body work can setup a bow wake that covers the intake. The bow wake can also be picked up by the fan spraying the distributor and coil resulting in loss of forward progress at some point.
  3. The purpose of the scoop is not so much to ventilate the engine compartment (see air extractors, 2d gen Trans Am front fenders.) as it is to provide a cooler air supply to the engine than is available under the hood. Since cool air is more dense than warm air, it makes more power all else being equal. As far as making a scoop functional, go for a look you like then apply sound principles to make it work. e.g. Shaker scoops work better with a drain; avoid putting a the breather hole for a functional hood scoop over a brace; make sure you are presenting enough area into the air stream.
Have fun, enjoy the ride, welcome to FABO.
 
briankaplan said:
I have two foam blocks covered with (dont laugh) black duct tape. They
are slightly larger than the openings. I compress them and stuff em' in when
the weather gets wet.
Click to expand...

The simple solutions are the most beautiful. I've been running that around in my head for months wondering the best way to seal them up in the weather. The wet season is about to begin here. Great idea.
 
Just make a cold and warm air doors. If its raining (or bad weather) you close the door and it sucks air from the engine compartment, if the weather is good open the cold air door in better weather and it sucks in outside cold air.
Think a like how a shaker or air grabber works.
 
Here is my take based on others doing same mod. I used 3 Mopar 4" inserts. The inserts are supposed to stop water ingestion. I would say partially depending on the rain intensity. I dont drive mine in the rain, but am interested in a styrofoam inserts for the snorkle when in shitty weather.

cold air.jpg
 
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