Hey guys, as the title says, I'd like to unblock my 88 Formy power bulge hood to allow some fresh air in. The only problem is that I'm not crazy about leaves and dirt and crap getting into my engine bay. Is there an insert (maybe from an early T/A) that I can use to guard against that? If not, has anyone fabbed up a grill for theirs?

 

go buy some fencing from a farm and fleet store or a local home improvement might have it in the gardening section for keeping rabbits out. It looks like chicken fencing kinda and should keep large objects out.

 

I've seen grill material that all of the holes in it are little chevy bowties. It looked billet. So if you wanna cut'n'fab, it might look better than something from the hardware store.

 

I used to have a powerbuldge hood, and it had the chicken fence thing xpndl3 is talking about. No dirt ever got in. Only problem i had was the water would drip in when it rained. However, you can get a "drip rail" type thing off another hood or mak your own. It directs water away from the engine and wires, and drains it so it will fall straight down and onto the road. Heres a pic.


The other thing is, unless you create a snorkel that sealed and directed up torwards the opening, it wont "suck" air in as much as it will "allow" air to be pushed out. Think about the car moving quickly on the highway, the airdam below is pushing the air up into the engine bay, but it has nowhere to go, so creating an opening will let it escape. As a result, your engine will stay cooler because of flowing air, but its not really cold air induction.

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n...ird/Pix739.jpg

 

Search junkyards. Functional '82-'84 TA hoods will have the proper grille and the drip rail(to catch incoming water).

But your car's profile says it has a TPI engine, which is a front breather, not a top breather. So opening up the bulge won't do anything for air intake. It will, however, make an excellent heat extractor for the engine bay.

 

Exactly--I want to allow my engine bay to breathe a little--not suck in large quantities of air. I'm not looking to fab up a cowl induction system (not crazy about a bunch of ugly sheet metal under my hood).

Good call on the scrapyards, I'll definitely take a look--now that I know what was there on the early hoods.

 

Power bulge hoods in junkyards are starting to turn-up more often than they used to, so finding a grille prolly won't be too difficult.

By the way, new power bulge hoods don't exist anymore, and they aren't being reproduced(prolly never will be). So if anything ever happens to your existing hood, and it can't be fixed, a used one will be your only option. And as "Murphy's Law" would have it, if you don't already have a spare hood, you won't be able to find one when/if you need one.

They'll only cost $30-$40. So if you have the capabilities of taking a hood with you(a helping hand, a truck, a place to store it, etc.), and if you find a good one(most will be damaged), it would really be worth it to buy it, IMO... "just in case."

 

Thanks for the tip! I noticed you're in Lancaster--where are all the good Third Gen stocked junk yards around you? There isn't CRAP around Orange!

 

We have an Ecology in Lancaster, but it never has many thirdgens and rarely gets fresh ones.

Palmdale has a private yard. You tell them what you're looking for, and if they have it, they'll pull it for you. But that's no fun!!! Funny though, when you ask something like, "I can't look around and pull parts myself?" They just look at you blankly, as if they've never heard of such a concept, lol.

There's another Ecology about an hour west of here in Adelanto(near Victorville). That one tends to have a lot of thirdgens, but here, too, their inventory rarely changes, so the cars are kept around until they're bare bones.

And there are a couple of other Ecologies about an hour and a half west in Rialto and Fontana, near the intersection of the 10 and 15 freeways, not far from each other.

But most of my great finds are from regular visits to two big yards down in the San Fernando Valley(about an hour south): U Pick Parts on Penrose(at Telfair and Tuxford); and Pick Your Parts on Pendleton(at Glenoaks). They're only a couple of miles apart. I've hit major paydays at each of those yards several times.

 

If you want to sell the original insert I will buy it. The Formula I bought a couple of months ago had already had a previous owner yank it out. I prefer it to be closed.

 

you can get a large sheet of hexagonal mesh that exactly matches the pattern on the 82-84 hoods. Go to mcmaster.com and search for perforated metal. The only thing the original piece has going for it is 4 tabs for bolts to install it. Starting with a full sheet, you should be able to figure out a way to mount it though.

 

i second that motion !!!! thats why i have 2 spare. one is going on my 83 T/A to replace the rusted hood and the other is a spare for what ever. the rusted unit is coming off and going on the wall in my garage.
i have found 2 in the bone yards round here. 1 i got for a friend and the other i didnt have the cash to get it, i was rather PO'd.

 

I just used the factory blocker as a template in some perforated metal. Don't worry about forming perfect separated mounting tabs. Not necessary. Instead of four tabs, mine has one long tab w/four holes in it.

I used a "dog-guard" for a screen door, then painted it semi-gloss black. Eight bux at the H/W store.

 

My 87 formula is a carbed car. So when I opened the hood up I went ahead and sealed the filter to the hood. Anyway here's a couple pics of what I did. I used expanded metal for the grille, and a sheet of aluminum under the hood. Then built my own air filter assembly. Works well, I get no water in the carb at all. And I live in a very wet area, average 125" of rain per year. The hole in the aluminum sheet is at the highest point, so any water runs out the edges. This year I basically completely restored the car again, and now i've powder coated the grille black chrome to go with the theme of the rest of the car.

 

I found plenty of the functional cowl induction hoods and the blocked ones here in San Antonio. I switched my '86 and '91 to functioning induction hoods. I have some extra stock grille inserts also.

 

Hi Jim,

Do you still have any original hood grille inserts(mesh-type) ?
Do you have any extra drip trays?

regards,
-Brent

 

I have drivin with my power bulge hood scoop off for 1 year now. never anything ended up in the engine bay.

 

I have never seen one like mine before. I will snap a picture tomorrow. It is Black and has larger holes in it.

 

I just bought an 89 formula with the powerbuldge hood and it doesn't have anything covering the inlet. The previous owner said he had a hydrolocked engine and replaced it with a carbureted 350 Vortec.. would the inlet be the cause of it becoming hydrolocked? and if I washed my car, would I have to duct tape the inlet closed or anything? the car is extremely dirty and I want to clean it, but I do not want to hydrolock the engine... Thanks in advance, JC

 

I had an issue with an open scoop years ago.

Parked it overnight in the rain. In the morning, went to start it & it cranked 1 revolution & locked up. Water leaked onto the TBI air filter housing & dripped into the engine around the wing nut hole. Fortunately it did not ruin anything.

If you do this, I recommend a rubber washer under the wing nut to prevent any stray water from causing engine damage.

Would have never believed it if it didn't happen to me.