"Stinger" hoods

[MaineShark]

Thanks, 67. That makes sense. I'm not sure if something like that would work for mine, if I decide to go with an aftermarket hood (who knows how close they are to the original Mid-Year specs). But the guy who'd be doing my hood painting has some Mid-Years around, so maybe he'll know, or be able to test the fit.

Stallion: Some do, some don't. That's the original reason for the scoop, but some of them are more for looks than function (like the "brake ducts" forward of the rear wheels on most modern Mustangs).

Joe

 

[67HEAVEN]

The only thing sitting permanently on the carb (held by the wing nut) when the hood is open are the large black base, the small center screen and the small cover (or cap).

Like here....where you can also see the circular foam cushion sitting around the base. The fiberglass "wing" sits on that.

 

[MaineShark]

That's an even better photo - thanks.

So, the air filter is just the little screen?

Joe

 

[67HEAVEN]

By the way, guys........you're looking at approximately $1,000,000 worth of Corvette in that last photo. One of the 20 original 1967 L-88 Corvettes.

And, no, I'm not kidding about the value.

 

[67HEAVEN]

That's an even better photo - thanks.

So, the air filter is just the little screen?

Joe

No, if you go back to my original photo, the "much larger" screen in the photo normally has a foam element wrapped around it (there isn't one in that photo because mine disintegrated over time) that seals between the fiberglass "wing" and the underside of the hood itself.

 

[MaineShark]

So the filter stays with the hood, on the large screen, and the small screen is on the carb just to protect it when the hood is open?

Joe

 

[67HEAVEN]

So the filter stays with the hood, on the large screen, and the small screen is on the carb just to protect it when the hood is open?

Joe

Correct. The small screen keeps us from dropping bolts down the throat and also holds up the cap that serves as a backfire-thru-the-carb protector.

 

[67HEAVEN]

Here's another look that shows the "L-88 only" rear air intake holes on another real 1967 L-88. The front stinger hole was left plugged up with the metal insert from the factory.

The hood drops down over the base and seals itself.

By the way, this real L-88 has only 12 miles on it. It's a great story that I'll re-tell sometime.

 

[67HEAVEN]

I wonder if I'm confusing anyone? Just to clarify......"only" the 20 original 1967 L-88s got the "rear" cowl induction stinger hood.

The white fiberglass unit that I'm displaying several posts back was an over-the-Chevy-parts-counter item (not originally on any Corvette) that allowed for mating the L-88 base, screen, cap, etc. to a regular 1967 big block hood utilizing the "front" hole in the hood.

In 1967, there were actually three different hoods:
- small block (no stinger*)
- big block (stinger)
- L-88 (rear cowl induction stinger hood - outwardly, looks identical to regular stinger hood)

* as always there are exceptions which I won't bore you with here.

 

[67HEAVEN]

MaineShark,

This is taken from the 1967 A.I.M.

As you can see, Chevy considered making the stinger hood "functional" to the front for the 3x2bbl L-71 435hp 427. As discussed earlier, the L-88 was functional to the rear using a special version of the stinger hood.

Unfortunately, this idea was cancelled prior to production.

 

[MaineShark]

Alright, something is till bugging me: what about rain? I don't think that that system will stop rain from soaking the air cleaner element.

Another thought: could something like the '73-'77 air door be fabricated, to seal the scoop? It could be set up to be triggered by the throttle position, like the '73-'77 door, or just always-open. In either case, a switch could be installed to force it to stay closed, during rainy weather.

That could be used with or without the air chamber.

Thoughts?

Also, I'm a bit worried about the air chamber idea, as far as alignment goes. Is there a height adjustment in the metal part, to accomodate manufacturing tolerances? The hood is already hard enough to align, without some fixed point acting like a fulcrum to force either the front or back to be too high.

Similarly, can a system like that adjust for differences in manifold height? I don't plan on keeping my stock manifold...

Joe

 

[MaineShark]

Actually, while I'm asking questions:

How wide is the scoop in the Eckler's hood?

How wide is the raised area? In other words, how large diameter of an air filter could you fit, with a manifold that pushed the air cleaner up into the hood?

I'm thinking that I can probably construct an air box to replace the air cleaner, which would seal to the hood. But I need some idea of the dimensions, to figure out if it is realistic.

Joe