An Idea I have for a sweet hood scoop setup!
well, i planned it all out exactly what i am thinking, and i have thought about it, and there is going to be a few dimensions that are different for everybody. these measurements may not even be right for me, they are just rough estimates.- i will mark these with a "*."it doesn't HAVE to be all 14" stuff, this is just the most common size, so that is what i am putting it on here as being. the rest is just a well thought out idea. have some suggestions? comment please!
here we go!
HAPPSTER'S HOOD SCOOP
parts you will need:
1) a scoop of some kind, usually they are made of fiberglass. i like the look of the 440 six-pack scoop, so that is what i am going with.
2) a stock hood for your car. go to a junkyard and find one, or order a new one. needs to be a hood you don't mind cutting up. can be fiberglass or steel, makes no difference.
3)K&N's X-stream air flow top- they make them from 11-14" in diameter. it's basically just a filter for the top of your air cleaner, like this:
4) a 14" air cleaner base. one of those cheap ones you find at the parts store will work. if it's chrome, i suggest blasting it so it can be welded.
5) a 44" x 4"* strip of sheetmetal. 44" is the circumference of a 14"diameter circle. this will be welded as well, so be prepared.
6) a piece of string.
7) a sharpie.
8 ) some rubber foam, sort of like weatherstripping.
let's make the bottom part! will require welding and some sheetmetal work!
1) take your 44" piece of sheetmetal and put it in a brake, making a 1/4"* lip on one side. you will need to cut along this lip about every 1-2" or so, so it will be able to bend into a circle.
2)take this piece of sheetmetal and... bend it into a circle! try to make it match the edge of your air cleaner base. there are several different ways you could do this, you decide for yourself.
3) take the circle of sheetmetal and tack it onto your base. make sure the lip is at the top, and the straight edge is being welded to the base.
4) weld the whole thing all around once you are tacked in and ready to go! this needs to either be a airtight weld, or you could go around the inside of the air cleaner after you're done and run a bead of silicone along it. that is up to you, i will probably make it airtight AND run the silicone. paint this so it doesn't rust.
5) make sure your top lip is going to seal with the air filter top. you need to have it seal so you will be sucking all your air straight out of the top filter. it may even be a good idea to insulate this air cleaner assembly so it doesn't get soaked with the heat from the intake... up to you.
now you're done with the easy part! onto the hood!
6)find out EXACTLY where the screw in the top of your carburetor is in relation to the hood. drill a hole here, so you can keep track of it. if A-bodies are like my friend's 'runners, the engine will be offset to the pass. side a few inches to make room for the steering. this means the drilled hole will not be in the center. i suggest you measure three times and cut once. make sure the hood is adjusted to your car so it looks good around the edges and closes properly.
7) take a piece of string , attach it to something under the hood, and run it through the hole you drilled. measure it out so you have 6"* of string coming out of the hole. tie your sharpie to the end of the string, and go around in a circle. it should end up to be around 12" in diameter. this is smaller than your filter, so it will seal with the hood properly.
8 ) now, i'm sure you want to have your hood scoop in the dead center of your car, so try to put it in the center but make sure it still covers the circle you made. if you don't care about the looks, you may get better flow by making it a little off-center.... mine will be in the very center. trace an outline of your scoop once you have found the dead center. it MUST cover up your little circle completely. if it doesn't, make another circle a little smaller until it does. just try to make sure that you're going to have at least "30 square inches" of an opening. that is what direct connection says you should have, and i agree with them.
9) if all has gone well so far, cut your hole! you may need to rework your hood's structure a bit, and without a doubt you will have to cut some of it out, but hey... it's not like it's your original hood, RIGHT? i suggest making a stencil of some kind and using a plasma, so you have an even, smooth hole all the way around.
10) rivet/epoxy/weld your scoop on! most important thing is that THIS CANNOT LEAK EITHER. must have a good airtight seal all the way around the scoop. you can pretty it up, do whatever you want with it... i would probably prime /paint the area you're going to cover up with the scoop first, so you don't have a nasty rusty spot in there.
11) throw your rubber foam on around the K&N top, or around the hole you cut, so it seals around the rubber edge of the filter. working fresh air system!
well, i planned it all out exactly what i am thinking, and i have thought about it, and there is going to be a few dimensions that are different for everybody. these measurements may not even be right for me, they are just rough estimates.- i will mark these with a "*."it doesn't HAVE to be all 14" stuff, this is just the most common size, so that is what i am putting it on here as being. the rest is just a well thought out idea. have some suggestions? comment please!
here we go!
HAPPSTER'S HOOD SCOOP
parts you will need:
1) a scoop of some kind, usually they are made of fiberglass. i like the look of the 440 six-pack scoop, so that is what i am going with.
2) a stock hood for your car. go to a junkyard and find one, or order a new one. needs to be a hood you don't mind cutting up. can be fiberglass or steel, makes no difference.
3)K&N's X-stream air flow top- they make them from 11-14" in diameter. it's basically just a filter for the top of your air cleaner, like this:
4) a 14" air cleaner base. one of those cheap ones you find at the parts store will work. if it's chrome, i suggest blasting it so it can be welded.
5) a 44" x 4"* strip of sheetmetal. 44" is the circumference of a 14"diameter circle. this will be welded as well, so be prepared.
6) a piece of string.
7) a sharpie.
8 ) some rubber foam, sort of like weatherstripping.
let's make the bottom part! will require welding and some sheetmetal work!
1) take your 44" piece of sheetmetal and put it in a brake, making a 1/4"* lip on one side. you will need to cut along this lip about every 1-2" or so, so it will be able to bend into a circle.
2)take this piece of sheetmetal and... bend it into a circle! try to make it match the edge of your air cleaner base. there are several different ways you could do this, you decide for yourself.
3) take the circle of sheetmetal and tack it onto your base. make sure the lip is at the top, and the straight edge is being welded to the base.
4) weld the whole thing all around once you are tacked in and ready to go! this needs to either be a airtight weld, or you could go around the inside of the air cleaner after you're done and run a bead of silicone along it. that is up to you, i will probably make it airtight AND run the silicone. paint this so it doesn't rust.
5) make sure your top lip is going to seal with the air filter top. you need to have it seal so you will be sucking all your air straight out of the top filter. it may even be a good idea to insulate this air cleaner assembly so it doesn't get soaked with the heat from the intake... up to you.
now you're done with the easy part! onto the hood!
6)find out EXACTLY where the screw in the top of your carburetor is in relation to the hood. drill a hole here, so you can keep track of it. if A-bodies are like my friend's 'runners, the engine will be offset to the pass. side a few inches to make room for the steering. this means the drilled hole will not be in the center. i suggest you measure three times and cut once. make sure the hood is adjusted to your car so it looks good around the edges and closes properly.
7) take a piece of string , attach it to something under the hood, and run it through the hole you drilled. measure it out so you have 6"* of string coming out of the hole. tie your sharpie to the end of the string, and go around in a circle. it should end up to be around 12" in diameter. this is smaller than your filter, so it will seal with the hood properly.
8 ) now, i'm sure you want to have your hood scoop in the dead center of your car, so try to put it in the center but make sure it still covers the circle you made. if you don't care about the looks, you may get better flow by making it a little off-center.... mine will be in the very center. trace an outline of your scoop once you have found the dead center. it MUST cover up your little circle completely. if it doesn't, make another circle a little smaller until it does. just try to make sure that you're going to have at least "30 square inches" of an opening. that is what direct connection says you should have, and i agree with them.
9) if all has gone well so far, cut your hole! you may need to rework your hood's structure a bit, and without a doubt you will have to cut some of it out, but hey... it's not like it's your original hood, RIGHT? i suggest making a stencil of some kind and using a plasma, so you have an even, smooth hole all the way around.
10) rivet/epoxy/weld your scoop on! most important thing is that THIS CANNOT LEAK EITHER. must have a good airtight seal all the way around the scoop. you can pretty it up, do whatever you want with it... i would probably prime /paint the area you're going to cover up with the scoop first, so you don't have a nasty rusty spot in there.
11) throw your rubber foam on around the K&N top, or around the hole you cut, so it seals around the rubber edge of the filter. working fresh air system!