scottyp99

Hi, folks, this may sound like a dumb question, but I am thinking about getting an l-88 hood for my 1980 'vette, and I would like to look at some pictures of that before I spend the money. My brother is like..."What, are you nuts? It's an l-88 hood! It would look awesome on a Saturn, fer cryin' out loud! Just buy it!", but I would still like to see a few before I plunk down the money. Any suggestions?

Scott

TheSkunkWorks

I'm with your brother; what's there to think about? Be mindful that this isn't the place to get cheap.

Not an 80, and not mine, but you get the idea...




TSW

edit - s/b in C3 General, btw.

guitarcrazy02

Here's my 81. IMO, these cars NEED an L88 hood on them.

Older Than Dirt

Here's another 81

jnb5101

i'm rebuilding a 72 with a bb and torquer manifold. had an old oem sb hood, and decided to take a chance. bought an after market hood from carparts.com for $95. spent a weekend fitting it in place, and it looks ok. needs a little more blending work, but i figure i saved myself about $600.

VegasJen

i put one on my '81 a couple weeks back and was surprised at how much i like it. i won't bother posting since both the hood and car are primered and the other pics in this thread are far better.
i still think mine will just be a temporary thing until i get the hood i really want fixed up for my car.

scottyp99

Nice!! I think I'm gonna do it! Any suggestions on making it functional? I don't mean the actual L88 setup, I'm thinking just having a regular open element air cleaner that sticks up into a round hole in the air chamber, so the air filter sees some cooler outside air instead of the hotter underhood air. Any thoughts?


Scott

TheSkunkWorks

I'd ask yourself, "How much better of a design can I come up with than Zora and crew?" IMHO, the best plan for most of us is to simply adopt the factory L88 design cowl induction system, incl. base, arrestor, seal, air box, etc. Also, note that if you don't isolate the carb and seal the hood off, you're inviting all kinds of potential under hood aero issues that can affect everything from engine performance to cooling to creating additional lift at speed.


TSW


edit - related thread http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...ics-et-al.html

jnb5101

when i added the after maket scoop, i just cut a big hole (about 18") in the small block hood so the air filter poked thru, and to be sure that i'd have enough clearance. then i sealed the back of the scoop about 6" in from the end for appearence, using the material from the hole. i didn't want to leave the end open, in order to prevent hot air from being drawn into the cowl and then into the car interior thru the vents. i feathered the edges of the scoop from the bottom, and positioned the scoop on the hood and drew the outline. then i used an electic sander to grind a slight notch in the hood on the inside of the outline so that the edge would be more even with the surface.
when i bonded it to the hood, i started at both back edges and worked forward. because of the curve of the hood, and the scoop being flat, i had to cut the scoop from the nose tip, up along the center crest almost to the peak, to get it to lay flat. i thought that i wouldn't have to, but once i started bonding it and screwing it down to hold it while the epoxy set, i realized it wasn't going to lay flat. just grabed a hacksaw and cut the scoop. after the epoxy set, i added a layer of mat glass over the cut and the edges. finished with some filler.

bluegtp

gotta love the l-88 hood.....yeah don't go the cheap route....i've learned the hard way.......this hood wan't made very well.

but still looks cool none the less.....here's my fav shot of the 80's c3's and the one of the reasons I converted my 79 front end to an 80's....

ED69ray

Thats my plan with my '69 model

My car needs paint so I bit the bullet and ordered an L-88 hood. I wanted the ability to run any intake and carb without using a drop base filter setup.

No doubt the carb and induction air will benefit from sitting high and being able to induct fresh air from the base of the hood. Sure the sealed L-88 factory design takes this to a zenith but I don't see it as necessary to benefit from hood.

I am using an RPM airgap manifold and Holley 750DP with 3in cleaner. Gonna see how tall that sits up into the airchamber - possibly use a carb spacer to raise the 3in filter all the way up into the chamber.

Good Luck, Ed

angelthrust

what side pipes are those?

Older Than Dirt

They are Hooker.

Grumpy 427

Some very nice looking cars in this thread. I am starting to get the urge to put sidepipes on my vette now..

samh

While mine's not an 80's model, I think the L88 hood looks good on any C3. Here's my 77 (and my dog ):