cold air induction L88 hood

[musclcar]

is there any way to seal off the hood to only get cold air to the carb.i've got an aftermarket fiberglass L88 hood on my 72 camaro.i'm trying to keep the car looking old school ,day 2 look.back then did they use carburetor air pan kits or did they use or modify the ZL2 cowl induction air cleaner.also was the big block cowl induction air cleaner for the corvette used for this also. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif

[skierkaj]

To my knowledge, I don't think that anyone really did put a cold air only kit on the L-88 hoods. From my knowledge, I think they were just slapped on the car, and didn't have much of an induction benefit. When motion put the L-88 hoods on camaros, all I remember from photos were the unfinished undersides of the hood, and the fly-eye air cleaners.
Just my $.02

[PxTx]

I've often wondered what the purpose for the dip on the L-88 hood was. Is it possible that is was put there to deflect or channel more of the cold air to the carb and keep the hotter air away?

Any thoughts on its design?

Paul Tholey

[camarojoe]

i think it was mainly just to "look cool", and add a little extra underhood clearance...which is pretty much the "real" reason for all the scooped hoods of the 60's and 70's IMO. I don't think any real horsepower was ever gained by adding a cowl induction or L88 style scoop setup, /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bs.gif but it definitely LOOKED cooler than the flat hood! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif

[musclcar]

could i use an carburetor air pan like what's offered from moroso.i just want it to look vintage.there's a 68 corvette that has a 890hp 427 and he intake is to tall for the L88 hood so he made a cool air pan for the taller L88 hood.it was an oval shape 4" tall filter with an k&n extreme filter on the top and surrounded by fire resistant foam to seal it to the hood /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beers.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/flag.gif

[JoeG]

musclcar-------, Anytime you can provide cool dense oxygen rich air to the carb you are helping to support better combustion,which affects power output.Granted the HP gains will vary with different modes of air delivery ,rammimg the air from a high pressure area will give you the best HP gains.Whichever form you use it is best to diffuse the air thru your air filter.And like camarojoe said the hood scoops, lumps and bumps did look cool.Your setup sounds like it will concentrate the cooler air around the carb a little better.A little gain here and there and it does add up and give the look you want.----JoeG

[ChrisS]

I remember reading some time ago that for every 10 degree drop in ambient temperature entering the carb there is generally a gain of approximately one percent in horsepower. I'm not sure what the baseline temperature would be and at some lower temperature it seems there would be a point diminishing return. Has anyone else heard of this?
I also remember that GM had built the first wind tunnel for aerodynamic testing among the U.S. automakers which led to the development of what I think would be the first cold air, cowl inducted, hood used on the '67 L-88 Corvette.