So I have been thinking about adding a hood scoop to my 68 XR7. I am in the middle of sanding it down and treating surface rust to prepare for painting.
Does it make more sense to add it before painting or afterwards?
Since it is a 68, do most people use the 68 GTE style?
Or, is it generally acceptable to use whatever you like best like a 70 Elliminator style?
Is there any benefit to having it functional (ie: a hole ) to allow more fresh cooler air in from a general engine cooling perspective?
Factory style scoops are a styling item and a hole will do little more than let rainwater into the engine compartment, so I wouldn’t cut up an otherwise nice hood.
Uncut grade A hoods are getting to be very valuable $1200 is not uncommon. After you make the holes in it it’s worth about half. Since you are sanding and painting anyway, you might be able to sell your hood and then get a hood someone else has already drilled and more than pay for the scoop. I always thought this was a cool idea, but no longer available.
Bill, you are right about that. I’ve been looking for awhile now for one. My hood would not be considered a grade A hood and that is why I am not as concerned about drilling it for a scoop. I am having to make it work. Most all the sheet metal is good but the front lip under the chrome trim.
Since this will not be a show car, and doing it myself on a budget, it will have to do for now.
That is one cool scoop!
Appreciate the feedback as always.
Whatever scoop yopu go with make sure you wait for a bit to let the paint cure hard before mounting it to the hood. My painter put mine on too soon and there are slight indente where the scoop sits. I don’t really notice it unless you take it off to clean though but I know its there and it bugs me. My buddy had his done, waited to install and never got the indents.
Once you get the hood scoop on, holes drilled etc, how do you make it actually functional so it’ll get cooler air to the carb and not just let rain onto the entire engine?
People have done different things, depending on your idea of functional. The neatest and most functional setup (to me) is the factory ram air hardware & related scoop. I’ve seen folks use shaker setups too (also cool).
Ford/Mercury used a soft rubber seal from the outer air cleaner base to the hood. Then the air cleaner element was sealed to the base with a separate cover. Then there was a water drain hose for rain, etc. from the outer base. Problem was/is changing to a higher manifold/carb spacer caused clearance problems.
When it comes to mods on your/my vehicle I thing a scoop is one of the best you can do. A grade “A” hood worth $1,200. So, a dash pad is $500, rear quarter panel $650, etc, etc, etc, no one said this game is cheap. And how many actually drive their cars in the rain? Yeah, modify it how you want and drive it like you stole it. That’s what makes this “hobby, addiction, obsession”, so much fun.
I didn’t put $25K+ into a hanger/trailer queen.
They have car show classes for that and not any I want to be in. Others, that’s what the live for. I’ve seen them going around with their white gloves and hitting everything they find.
Unless you completely seal the air cleaner assembly to the opening in the hood, the force of air coming in the front grill of the car will actually push air out of the hood scoop.
I just finished installing an XR7-G scoop. Once you find the centerline of the hood, it’s easy to measure off the centerline and back edge of the hood for the rear two bolts. Then I just set the scoop on the hood lined up to those two marks to mark the other four bolts.
If you have a 67 hood you’ll have to drill or cut access in the underside braces large enough to give access to the nuts and your socket.
I fitted everything but then painted them separate and kept them separate through the entire cut and polish process.
What it really comes down to, most factory scoops are for looks. Ford themselves admitted that. Air Tunnel testing showed that the air actually flowed over a factory scoop, of all kinds, shaker and mounted, and hit at the windshield base. also why the Fairlane 427s had it clear out to the end of the hood. where the air was. Pro-stock and others stick them way up in the air to make it work. NASCRAD uses a air cleaner setup that gets it’s air from the base of the windshield. Pontiac mounted their Firebird scoops, what everyone thought, to be backwards, and it proved more effective when the plate was removed, due to air pressure at the windshield base.
As stated, air going in to the radiator will force air out of the scoop. But that also is a good thing, because it reduces under the hood air pressure and does allow cooler air in. Just not a “ram air” effect.
I think the most effective setup would be two down scoops behind the radiator to pull hot air out of the engine bay and create downforce, then a raised cold air scoop that faces the windshield and has a perfect seal to the air cleaner.
Actually the 1968 R code functional ram air scoops are an effective way to let cold air into the engine. Beware that the hood is quite flimsy with a hole in it and the scoop not bolted in place.
If you are not too concerned about originality the 1970’s Mercury Comet scoops are very similar in size and shape.
