are the louvers on the hood of this hood just decrotive. I looked under the hood at them , and they're are two circle holes where they are. if they're just decrotive, is there any way to make them functional. they look like they could be good for cooling the engine or air intake. if they are decrotive, has anyone ever made them functional? if so, how?

 

Are you talking about the "off-center" cowl-induction hoods? The ones that have that off-center power-bulge to the drivers side of the hood?

If memory serves correctly, those became nothing more than show POST 1984.

They were usable from 1982-1984. They were offered in 1982 only with the CFI 305 LU5 engine, and then in 1983, they were offered in the CFI engine AND the LG4 engine (limited run), then in 1984, they were offered with the L69 (???) High Output 305 V8 engine.

So there are two kinds....

1 - The kind that works with the CFI Dual TBI setup
2 - The kind that works with the carbureted or TBI set-up.


It basically consists of a vacuum solenoid that, when the manifold vacuum reaches a certain pressure, it activates a solenoid that opens a flap by the opening (at the windshield). The ducting goes from the scoop to just directly above the air cleaner. The air cleaner will fit on ANY 4-bbl carburetor or TBI of similar size from my understanding. If you use the TBI, it will need to be of stock height. The air cleaner lid WILL work with the dual snorkle air cleaner lid as well.


It's VERY hard to find these parts as they were only made for two years (respectively). Two years for the CFI set-up, and two years on the carbureted side.


I actually found a 1984 HO TransAm in the junkyard two weekends ago... the ENTIRE set-up was on the car. Needless to say, I snagged EVERYTHING. Only $8 dollars later, it was sitting in the trunk of my GrandAm.

Heh.. no, it's not for sale, I'm keeping it for when I get another 82 TransAm in the future.

 

no, i wasn't talking about the cowl, i was talking about what's on the hoods of the 85 and later hoods. they have two "vents" towards teh front middle of the car.

 

like this , this is the special S/E hood

 

They're completely useless for anything other then looks. The holes you're refering to are so you can get at the bolts that hold them in. You could open the areas of the hood under the vents which might let some hot air out, but you'd be further ahead to invest the time organizing your sock drawer or polishing your lugnut covers instead.

 

I was thinking of the idea of making them functional many a time, and when I have my car I might give it a whirl.

 

my idea was perhaps putting the snorkle behind it, or if you had dual snokles, to but them both behind them.... just a thought.

 

What if you used an open-element air cleaner? I don't have one of these hoods, so I can't really answer this question accurately. Drew, maybe you could shed some light on this before our friend gets out the lug nut polish.

 

Here's the problem. On the Firebird the hood is cut lower then the Camaro. On the Camaro there is only 1-2" of clearance from the hood latch/radiator support to the bottom of the hood. The Firebird doesn't have that much room. The front vents on the T/A hoods are in front of the radiator support. So... if you were to cut out the bottom of the hood under the vents you'd be the only person around with a ram air hood latch. Otherwise you could get creative and lower the radiator, modify the radiator support, etc... The back vents could be opened up, which would let hot air out of the engine bay, but really its not enough to worry about.

I've thought about the possibilities quite a bit over the years. I've got a 86 T/A and another T/A hood in my garage, and there isn't any way to use the vents that would help enough to worry about. If you want a functional hood get a Ram Air hood or a Formula hood.

Also, the T/A hood has a reinforcement right under the front vents, so you'd be weakening the hood significantly if you cut the vents open.

 

just trying to find a way to avoid the $500+ price tag for a new hood. thanks for the help drew and everyone else:hail:

 

Well, I figured if anybody could clear this issue up, you could Drew. Thanks for the info!

 

I could have sworn that I saw a setup on this board that had ducting and a open element air filter that was placed where it would take air from those vents (modified of course) to a cold air intake kind of setup. It looked kinda like the setups you see on 4th gens.

 

I have a CFI hood on my carCFI Post

very nice.. dont think this is what ur talkin about but its what I have and did to my IROC

 

yes you can my bro did it no4njnk email him and he will tell you what to do it looks like it cools down the car a little to