The hood scoop, part 2

[SamuelL421]

So I've got my scoop finally, an import zx ram air hood...



This will basically look near-identical to k-otik's hood for those who have seen his. I opted for this over the other hood scoops as I thought it matched the car well. Also partially because seeing his (k-otik's) car (on cardomain) prompted me to seal the deal and buy my ssei last winter.


Now the big question, do I make the scoop functional?

This has been bugging me since I decided to do this project. I'm just not sure how big a performance gain is even possible from a hood scoop like this without some wild setup to divert air to the intake/airbox. Would cool air simply coming in and onto the engine help lower the temperature noticeably? (or would the extra wind drag offset any gain with that setup?)

Another issue is water. Something seems a bit scary about driving in the rain with the engine open to the elements. I know I don't have the option to garage my car either. I can't help but think that moisture build up + cold PA winter would equal freezing and cracking paint and fiberglass around my hood scoop.

I'm open to opinions and hoping that someone has had some past experience solving these problems with a functional scoop. I don't think I could forgive myself if I had to explain how my awesome hood is just for looks. I've maintained a strict, no-ricer policy to date and I'd hate to have to become a hypocrite

[00Beast]

It's only ricer if you use double sided tape to hold it on and leave it blue.

I would honestly make it for looks. Going to be way too hard to make it functional and keep the integrity of the aluminum hood.

[Phibes]

First of all, thank you for showing that scoop - it's exactly the one I've been looking for.

I've been wondering what to do when I install my scoop as well. The engine compartment in my 95 stays hotter than I'd like. A scoop could solve this problem. But I'm concerned about water and other contaminants. I also thought about routing the air intake to it from the air box.

I've never done this. So I don't know if I should. Going to ask my GM certified mechanic tomorrow. Stay tuned....

[Sadden]

If you did make it functional could u make it cutoff for when it was raining / snowing etc.
Id leave the intake in the fenderwell..
But i would talk to a mechanic and see..
All that cold air over the SC would probably work well.
Escpecially if you did / have a wrinkle coat on the sc.
I would ask dad but my family is on holidays soo..

[01bonneSC]

Best way to rid the compartment of engine heat is with the TA vents that Willwren has.

[SamuelL421]

If you did make it functional could u make it cutoff for when it was raining / snowing etc.

Interesting thought, somehow that idea completely escaped me. I just kept thinking up ridiculously complex plans. Might be possible, I'll have to work up a sketch, only issue is getting a good seal on the cutoff that wouldn't leak or trap water. Maybe just plates that slide into a gasket and bolt in place for daily driving/rain.

Otherwise, I'll probably make in non-functional. Currently, I've got everything I need minus the paint and some grills to cut down and fit to the scoop. Right now, I'm trying to find a set of OEM SSEI grills, its proving to be a tough part to track down. On that note, does anyone know if the black plastic SSEI grills are the same as those on the SLE and SE ? I found a set of SE grills for 00-? on ebay but they don't look the same as mine in the picture.

[lewis26]

Whats wrong with water? Everything in the engine bay is waterproof, and the intake is in the fender...

Water on engine components will not hurt anything.

[00Beast]

I honestly wouldn't want excess water on my engine. It's all waterproof, but there's no need to force more in there.

[Bugsi]

If you drive in rain, your engine bay gets plenty of water. Have you ever in your life heard of a car with a functional hood scoop that died because of water damage through the hood scoop? (unless you're trying to ford a river.) -I thought not. I think it's a non-issue.

[Sadden]

what about snow?

[Bugsi]

what about snow?

Well I wouldn't go out of my way to cram snow into any car's functional hood scoop, but again, have you ever heard of a hood-scooped muscle car being ruined due to snow intake? Especially if you're just using the hood scoop to get air into the engine bay and not necessarily into the engine's air intake, I don't see how this could realistically be a problem.

[BonneMe]

Snow is the same as the rain when it comes down to it.

Why specifically do you want the engine bay cooler?

[00Beast]

I think it's more that he wants the hood scoop, and is trying to decide whether to make it functional or not.

[Sadden]

Well if snow and rain is not an issue i WOULD make it functional.
All that cold air going over the supercharger would probably make it noticably cooler. For noticeably more boost?
Especially with a krylon wrinkle coat.
Not saying for sure but thats just what some common sense tells me.
(i am thinking of speeds over 100kmhr)

[spoiledred94]

I think 01bonneSC is right. Search for Willren's thread on his hood vents. He explains the air flow dynamics under the hood. Air flows mostly in under the grill and up over the motor and out between the hood and the windshield. He got louvered hood vents from another car and used nice caps to seal them off in the colder months. I have been wanting to do that for my car bad. The hood scoops look great definitely, but you may have to over work it to make them functional. Good luck with your project


EDIT:

This may not be the original thread. It is full of info you can use.
hoodvents

[SamuelL421]

Snow is the same as the rain when it comes down to it.

Why specifically do you want the engine bay cooler?

^ Good points, I'll try to elaborate some for everyone.

First of all, the snow and water alone is not the issue. The worry is that my car may be sitting for a day or 2 at a time this winter. The problem I'm worried about is snow laying down on the hood (or packing into the vents while I'm on the highway). I'm Afraid I might park the car, not think to remove the snow, and have it freeze and crack/damage my paint or fiberglass. Had it happen to a spoiler on my old car (factory GM spoiler...). I'd hate to put in the work to have a tiny crack spread and mess up glass or ruin my paint.

Another worry is excess debris and water in and around the engine. not a major worry but it also can't be helping the car (let's be honest, more access to the elements = shorter lifespan for any parts).

Finally, cutting holes in the hood won't do anything for its structure and I'm worried that I would need some kind of braces to reinforce it. Problem here is that while I know my way around fiberglass, I'm no welder.


Why do I want the scoop functional? At some point I'd like to move to smaller pulley size(s) once I have the money to start tuning the car (this is actually a cheap project for me as I already had everything minus the paint and scoop). I'd hate to piss around with an intercooler, but I also want to keep the charger cool. So I figured that a functional scoop makes sense in this respect. Just not sure what kind of temperature reduction I'd get with this compared to a stock setup.

Also, I'm doing this project not just for the hood scoop but because the timing is right as I want to repaint the hood anyway. It has bubbling in the front from rust (which needs repaired sooner than later) and my hood's paint also has damage from a previous owner's car bra.


EDIT: Thanks for the link spoiledred, never would've thought grills like that could look that good (or serve an actual purpose for that matter). The 30% temperature reduction is definitely respectable.

[spoiledred94]

One thought I had was that a solid snow layer over the hood would stand to insulate (igloo kinda effect). At any rate I think that with vents or scoops it would stay as warm as a std hood as even light snow will quickly seal the vent's opening. And that insulation/snow pack works both wats for under and atop the hood.

Another worry is excess debris and water in and around the engine. not a major worry but it also can't be helping the car (let's be honest, more access to the elements = shorter lifespan for any parts).

I live in Portland and we do get some crappy slush and I've haven't had a problem with crap uptake to my filter. My motor is clean still from a top view.

As far as an intercooler I don't have any help. Never done it. It seem you have a good interest in heat reduction. I thought that was only something to look at for an endurance situation.

Right time or not I'd say sideline the hoodscoop until you determine what's best for you.

Again, keep us updated.

[spydog]

how hard would that ram air scoop be to have a body shop mold that into my existing hood? on my 99 bonny i would love to have a matching raim air hood on my bommy that i have on my trans am WS6 even tho the bonnys would not be functional it would look sweet

[rrounds]

I did a lot of drag racing back in the 70's and early 80's. If you put a forward facing scoop on the car, there is a good chance that the(air) pressure under the hood will be more than the pressure at the hood scoop opening. What that will do is as you go faster the more the air will exit out the opening of the scoop. We could always tell when a new guy would show up at the track to race, he would have a big bad scoop but not seal the carbs to the scoop.
Take a look at this scoop
http://www.eharwood.com/catalog/product ... ductID=349
This is like the scoops that we had on our cars, if you did not seal the carbs to the bottem of the scoop air would exit out the opening. We would bet the new guy that his scoop did not do what he "thought" it did. How would we know ? We would tape some(5" or 6" long) string's inside of the scoop and tell him or her to go down the track, at about 1/3 to 1/2 the way down the track the strings would pop out the front of the scoop. We would then make fun of the guy(you know like a hazing) then we would show him how to fix it. Just putting a scoop on and not finishing the job is like building an engine and starting it without any oil.
OK, its not that bad but you get the idea.

ROD

[spydog]

anny one got anny pics of a 1996 to 1999 body style bonneville with ram air scoops or anny typ of scoops i would like to see what they look like i am considering puting a ram air scoop on my car thanks guys