1969 Camaro Cowl Induction Hood Functionality????

[markjohnson]

I've always been curious just exactly how functional the 1969 Camaro Cowl Induction hood assembly was under actual test conditions over, say, a regular 14 X 3 open element air cleaner. Has anyone ever run back-to-back drag strip tests with the Cowl Induction systemfully functional or even just wired open vs. a regular air cleaner? I know that's supposed to be a high pressure area at the base of the windshield.

[John Brown]

I had a friend that raced a NHRA stock class 69 Camaro that said he taped off the air opening for fresh air to the interior of the car, then replaced the metal cowl grille over the area. He claimed it was worth a tenth and a mile and a half by doing that.

We tried the same thing on another 69 and guess what? One tenth and a mile and a half improvement . Never did try just a plain old non cowl filter setup in comparison though.

[Thomas]

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I've always been curious just exactly how functional the 1969 Camaro Cowl Induction hood assembly was under actual test conditions over, say, a regular 14 X 3 open element air cleaner. Has anyone ever run back-to-back drag strip tests with the Cowl Induction systemfully functional or even just wired open vs. a regular air cleaner? I know that's supposed to be a high pressure area at the base of the windshield.

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My BB came with the SS hood originally but, like most Camaros of the era, someone added the cowl hood. When I returned the engine compartment back to stock appearance I install the standard open element air cleaner correct for the SS hood. The engine would suffer from detonation at anything much over 3500 RPM and sometimes lower.

I've installed an original cowl induction air cleaner a few years back and now the engine can rev to over 4500 before it begins to detonate.

I'm assuming that it is the cooler air that is making the difference.

There was one down side to the cowl induction air cleaner. It has raised the under hood temperature and my GM starter solenoid was suffering from excessive heat. When I shut the car off, I had to wait for it to cool off before the starter would work.

I solved that problem by installing a mini starter. Works great every time.

[Chevy454]

[ QUOTE ]
I've always been curious just exactly how functional the 1969 Camaro Cowl Induction hood assembly was under actual test conditions over, say, a regular 14 X 3 open element air cleaner. Has anyone ever run back-to-back drag strip tests with the Cowl Induction systemfully functional or even just wired open vs. a regular air cleaner? I know that's supposed to be a high pressure area at the base of the windshield.

[/ QUOTE ]
I could pull the open element setup off our Y-Nova and try and A-B-A some time...if I think of it, I'll throw it in the trailer & try it out @ Martin in a few weeks.

[markjohnson]

Rob, that'd be great if you can find the time at a race. I'm sure you probably have the complete system on the Yenko already, do you run it in place, wired open or is it allowed to be removed.

[Chevy454]

I wanna say I simply have it wired open, but I honestly don't remember at the moment...I'm not a betting man, but if I was, I'd put my money on the cowl induction unit any day. You can hear it drawing air while it's idling...and drawing fresh air is gonna be better than drawing engine compartment air. [I should also note, I have the air horn blocked off, so it *has* to draw fresh air.]

[markjohnson]

That's pretty cool that you can hear it drawing air. That probably means that it functions quite fine. I had a 1970 Buick GS with the fresh air hood and I always thought it was cool that you could hear the scoop openings hissing as they sucked in fresh air.