hood scoop problem

[RocketMan]

This is for all you guys with ram air hoods with those black fake hood inlets. I just waxed my car and when i finished i took a look at the car and noticed something was "off". Upon closer inspection....whaaa! WTF is this? The goddamn hood scoops are rusting....now they're orange in places and its spreading.

Now obviously I don't want this to propogate otherwise it'll look like ass. My first intuition was to get some black rust paint and just paint over it but that means masking everything off, risking getting that shit on my paint job, and the fact that there's this wire lath in front of the steel so the paint might not go on right.

What's the best way to deal with this problem do you think? Anybody who's come across this issue before let me know. Thanks.

[Matt95GT]

Remove them.

Seriously. If they don't even have hardware/metal that withstand moisture without rusting, they shouldn't be on the car.

[RocketMan]

How would you go about removing them? They look like their really well bonded...

[Blackhawk]

I believe you just have to remove the adhesive from the back of the scoop pieces.

[RocketMan]

Is there any risk of not having it there? What happens if debris, water, any other concievable substances get into the engine bay through there?

[Blackhawk]

It's about as much risk as the ram air on the car. You can always get something to trap the water or debris, or worse like animals. There are people on here with no scoop caps that aren't having problems, either with the sc/t hood or with the SD hood.

[Blackhawk]

If you have mesh grills you shouldn't have a problem with large debris or animals. Water will always get into the engine bay no matter what hood you have, if you have an aftermarket intake you may want to look into a filter sock.

[RocketMan]

sounds good....what's the best way to remove the scoops? ie. is there a particular tool that works well like a chisel or a screwdriver or...i dunno

...you'd think that if it rains heavy or if you're washing the car, that engine components and wires and stuff being repeatedly exposed to water would cause the connections and stuff to corrode no? Maybe that's why GM decided to put something there instead of leaving a hole...

[Blackhawk]

You could probably make it so the scoop caps can be put back on. I don't see too many connections that aren't covered that would be affected too much, but you can never be too careful.

I'm guessing a heat gun maybe and a knife or chisel/putty knife would do the job, just watch out with the heat gun that you don't warp anything.

[Reverend]

I have removed bonded on body accesories with a thread saw. Get some heavy carpet thread used for sewing, cut off a few feet and wrap the ends around a couple of dowel rods so the thread is wider apart than the item you are trying to remove. Place the thread under the edge of the item and work it back and forth like a saw. This will cut through the adhesive and not damage the paint.

[RocketMan]

that sounds like an awesome idea....and the least destructive to either part being de-mated.

How was your experience with no scoop covers? Did you experience any problems?

[sudden_impulse]

He doesn't have the same hood you have (if he even has hood scoops), as he has a 96 GA, and you have a 03 GA. You could put some new grills in there and put a piece of plexiglass behind the grill, it'll be clear and still give you protection. I'd silicon the plexiglass in. Then you could put leds or neons behind the scoops, and have a glow coming out from them.

[kojakbaby]

I was just wondering how you made out with your problem as I have a '03 with the same exact http://www.gaownersclub.com/forum/images/smilies/icon_censored.gifin problem. I took out the scoop and noticed that it had actually rusted through the metal support plate. It seems like my only solution is to buy new ones and they are http://www.gaownersclub.com/forum/images/smilies/icon_censored.gifing expensive.

[Nighthawk243]

When you get the old stuff off, get new mesh that is stainless steel.

[RocketMan]

I'm a bit embarassed to admit i haven't touched it since i posted because i've had some real life stuff to deal with that prevents me from spending any time on my car at the moment. But I was intending on putting wire lathe or mesh or something there because i'm not so comfortable with just leaving it open.

If I may ask....how did you get the scoops off? Did you use one of the mentioned techniques...if so or if not, how did you do it?