old school functional ram-air

[klc317]

While looking through some of my various car magizines, I noticed something that I had fogotten about. Alot of the older cars (such as a '71 vintage 455 Firebird T/A) had functional ram air with a solenoid operated door that allowed the air in at heavy throttle and closed again during normal operation. Kind of like the way a blower scoop works on a top-fuel racer. With all the ranting about making a Grand Am ram-air hood functional, this would be an idea. Someone who has a little fabrication skill and some imagination could do the same on a newer GA. It could even be simply wired to a switch to open for racing or closed during rainy days. I hope I'm not beating a dead horse with this thought, but I don't remember reading it on here before.

[matts]

i love those old firebirds like that. i would actually rather have one like that than a newer one.

it's an idea. i know a guy that has a functional ram air hood on his truck and he doesn't have any flaps or doors or anything on his. i asked him what kept the water from getting down there and i don't remember what he told me.

[Jalal@AndysAuto]

Not a bad idea, it would be cool to see it actually working though

[JoeyK]

Yeah, good idea! I believe those old schools were mostly operated by a vaccum motor. (Used vaccum pressure from the manifold to operate) The Cowl inducted chevy's were the same way.