# 65 GTO 'Ram Air' hood



## Monterored65 (Jan 2, 2012)

Hi everyone,

I ordered a 'Ram Air' pan for my tri-power '65 GTO and have a question about the hood. I'll explain...

The (reproduction) pan and seal fit perfectly over the carbs. I had to wind the studs out a little to get the air cleaners to fit with the pan in place, but all is well as far as that part of the job is concerned.

Of course, the hood scoop was still blanked-off from the factory, so I undid the three fasteners securing the front of the scoop to the hood to see what was involved in making it functional.

I expected to have to remove the finned, black 'blank' from the front of the scoop and all would be well and air would be allowed in to the pan. But in fact the 'blank' part which stops any air getting in doesn't look like it can be separated from the front of the scoop without destroying it, and even if it could be removed, if you gaze into the main body of the scoop there's a factory-looking panel which would block most of the air trying to get past 
anyway!

Does anybody have any experience of fitting a pan to a tri-power? Did the ram-air cars have different hoods without the metalwork blocking the scoop? Etc etc.....

Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers,
Andy


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

You need to remove (cut out) the small steel flap inside of the mouth of the scoop. For the aluminum trim bezel, what I've done is run a cut-off wheel along the back side of the cups. A few careful passes, and you are left with the horizontal ribs still intact, but the scoop is now open. It looks stock unless you view it from the side, and you can see air thru it. Totally functional, totally "sleeper". I had a functional ram air tripower set up on my '67 years ago. It has all original body parts......today, I probably wouldn't modify a cherry original hood....up to you. My car still retains the functional scoop.


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## Monterored65 (Jan 2, 2012)

Thanks for the reply. Hmm...was dreading that I'd need to chop the hood panel.

Mind you, if a customer had specified ram-air back in the day, I take it the dealer would have had to cut the panel out too? Do you happen to know what the original procedure was?

The sad thing is that not only is my hood in very good condition, I'm about 3,500 miles away from the nearest replacement!


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

The dealer did a much less sanitary job than the one I did on mine. They were in a hurry, and there to make a profit. Time is money. I did a very neat job on mine, and if you didn't know that the flap was supposed to be there, you would not suspect anything. That said, 20 years later, I don't think I'd cut a virgin original hood again. That's one big reason I don't run a hood tach!! I don't want to drill a big ol' HOLE in it!!


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## Monterored65 (Jan 2, 2012)

It's a tough one... Did the dealers simply cut out the cups too?

On the one hand, I have no problem removing the flap myself and performing the alterations you suggested on the cups, seeing as though that's pretty much what would have been done on the cars when new.

On the other hand of course, as you pointed out the hood on my car is at least 46 years old now, is still in great shape despite being in the UK for about 15 years (i'll sort out some pictures), and has not been altered in any way in all that time.

If it was an original steel pan then I'd probably be a bit more comfortable hacking away at the hood. As it is I'm really not sure now. 

Then again, plenty of people are still cutting up Model A's and the like!!


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## Monterored65 (Jan 2, 2012)

Oh, one more thing...

How did your ram air set up work compared with the standard set up? I've read that there was supposedly a noticeable improvement (theoretically the motor should at least be breathing slightly cooler air if nothing else).

My motor is stock by the way except for '67 code #16 heads. Although form the way it behaves I'd guess that it has a mild cam in there too.

Thanks again for your help


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

I noticed no difference in seat of the pants performance, and never ran the car on the track to verify. Yes, ineffective as a real "ram air", but it does allow only cool outside air into the intake, as opposed to hot underhood air. This should provide a small HP gain....like maybe 5-10HP, which you would never notice. The best feature of a ram air set up is "bragging rights" when the hood is raised.....


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## kjk990 (Sep 1, 2010)

I recently had my 67 GTO painted. Before It was painted I opened up the hood scoop. I followed the directions in this article.

http://www.highperformancepontiac.com/tech/hppp_0708_1966_pontiac_gto_ram_air/index.html


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## Monterored65 (Jan 2, 2012)

That's great. Thanks to both of you for your help.

I think I'm going to go for it because it's something I've thought about since I acquired the car four years ago. Wish me luck.

Coming soon to the forum: "Anyone know where I can get a '65 hood?"


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## danthepontiacman (Jul 5, 2008)

parts books sell the ram air and non ram air hood schoop insert, the ram air one has no ribs its just open.. did the factory even cut the inserts or was there a ram air and non ram air like the parts books have?


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## pontiac (Mar 6, 2011)

parts books are correct, the open scoop had no ribs. The cut out area is shown in the restoration guide book along with the scoops.


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## Chris Holabaugh (Jan 18, 2009)

In the sixties I read an artical about the ram air hood on a 65. They stated that the system on the 65 was not a true ram air. They stated that because of the shape of the front of the hood it cause the are to just pass over the opening, so it isn't a true rame air. What you are doing is just sucking in cold air, which is good, but you are not pushing air in.


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## crustysack (Oct 5, 2008)

:agree 
the air flow over the hood actually creates a negative pressure zone above the scoop, so the system is not a ram air system at all but fresh COOL air has its benefits


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## cij911 (Oct 25, 2017)

Bumping an old thread....I have done a quick search and cannot seem to find anyone selling the Ram Air hood inserts (1965). I really don't want to cut the original. Thoughts ?


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## GTOJUNIOR (Aug 7, 2011)

You could just buy one of Good-marks and make your own...


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## 1967GTO_AL (Apr 30, 2015)

geeteeohguy said:


> The dealer did a much less sanitary job than the one I did on mine. They were in a hurry, and there to make a profit. Time is money. I did a very neat job on mine, and if you didn't know that the flap was supposed to be there, you would not suspect anything. That said, 20 years later, I don't think I'd cut a virgin original hood again. That's one big reason I don't run a hood tach!! I don't want to drill a big ol' HOLE in it!!


Isn’t that the truth. My original hood on my ‘67 Ram Air GTO was barely touched when opened up. The dealer simply cut across the top and bent the metal back. I’d love to clean it up and do it the right way but it’s only original once.


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