I've heard people talking about the "old hotrodder's trick" of removing the seal or gasket from the back side of the hood.

Does this cause any problems?
Has anyone done it?
The last thing I need is a short in my ignition system.

Also, anyone with a cowl induction hood, do yours have those
or is water able to leak down inside by design?

 

I've had no problem with my rear hood seal off. Been raining all week and had no problems with water in the bay. Just don't open your hood or park your with the car facing downhill in the rain.

 

i took mine off a few weeks ago because spring is finally here in CA and its probably not going to rain much in the next 5 months. I havent had any experience with it yet in the rain but im sure there would not be a problem.

 

I live in Kansas City;
when it's not raining here, the humidity makes you wish it was LOL!

(I moved here from Northern Ontario, Canada 7 years ago and have yet to adjust)

 

I've had mine off for over a year now. No problems and I drive mine everyday rain, snow or shine.

 

i have had mine off for about 2 years without any problems at all

 

no problems at all, mines been off for a year now

 

I put on a fiberglass hood that has no place for a seal, and I've been doing fine. Before I had this hood I had the steel one and I took it off that one too, again no leaks, no water, no problems at all.

 

Off it comes in that case

 

y'up, no problems with mine off either, snow, rain, tornados...it's seen it all.
James Montigny, I'm headed out to KCIR Wednesday night if you're interested in going as well. It will be my first real run w/ my new engine. Last time my alternater went out while staging

 

Hey R90, I havn't been to KCIR in about 2 years.
The baby is due any day now, going to the track is
definitly not on my list of possible weekend activities.

Maybe we can meet up later this summer.

 

The seals been off mine for 2 years and its fine. Dont worry about it. It should be fine.

 

Actually the car runs noticibly better, makes me want to get
a cowl hood.

 

Cool, I didn't notice a difference

 

forgive the ignorance guys, but what is the purpose of removing the seal.......

 

It adds a cowl effect, granted not that of a cowl hood. But a small amount of cool air gets through

 

Mine was fine too....until the first time it rained and froze and i would up with two nicely shaped ice cubes sitting in my tb.....

 

Necro...

Has anyone put a seal back on their fiberglass hood? I'm tired of my windshield fogging up on cool nights...

 

The seal serves three purposes.

It prevents rain from entering through the cowl.

It prevents engine smells from entering the fresh air intake for the cabin (the fresh air intake is on the windshield side of the gasket).

It helps establish a low pressure area within the engine compartment which improves airflow through the radiator.

 

Ok, thank you for the lesson, but that wasn't what I was hoping to find out.

 

THANK YOU. You saved me a bit of typing. All three points are valid, but one stands out from a performance perspective.

What makes a cowl-induction hood work? The fact that the cowl is in a high-pressure area. That's why the HVAC system pulls air from the base of the windshield on most vehicles, too.

So what happens when you allow this high-pressure air into the engine compartment? LESS AIR FLOWS THROUGH THE RADIATOR.

Factory cowl-induction systems ALWAYS seal the high-pressure air to the carb inlet using a different set of seals. Some are rubber, some are foam...but it's always sealed so that the cooling system isn't compromised.

A person has to be nuts to remove the seal at the back of the hood.

 

I left mine on because of Cowl induction.

 

What I did when I had a cowl hood on my car was take the seal and use some 3-M rubber cement and glue it to the cowl itself, just follow lines of the cowl, worked perfect. No smells from engine compartment or water getting into areas I didn't want.