[Grand73Am]

Originally Posted by fiedlerh

It's been speculated that NASA scoops were either painted body color or left black plastic depending on the whims of the various assembly plants. People are pretty sure Pontiac plant cars were left black, but as you know, never say never.

I think because the factory promotional literature, brochures, and magazine articles in 73 show them to be body color, that's how they were supposed to be. I've seen original unrestored examples that are body color and seen pics posted by original owners showing body color. There are other people who say they were black on the cars they had or had seen. And maybe there was a difference between how it was done at different body plants. But, no one has shown any factory literature showing black scoops.
Here's a previous thread about the NACA scoop color debate, with pictures:
http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...ighlight=color

[Pearlbluebird]

Here are some more pics.

[Pearlbluebird]

The last pics.

[75cancup]

The yellow 73 in the back ground is the parts car ? correct ?

[Pearlbluebird]

Yep. Didn't look at the parts car.

[BLAKGOAT]

alright guys, I have a 73 Lemans Sport, For sale, I found it on e-bay, and went down to New Jersey to pick it up, story goes. old lady had died around the mid 90's car has been parked since in a garage. I used a lot of the interior for my SD build. car is solid good floors and trunk floors, bottom of the quarters, need a little attention, doors are even solid, original colour is yellow with black vinyl top. 350 2bbl has not been touched. its all there. now to sweeten the deal. I have two NASA hood go with it all my parts. and interior and 455 GTO tags. 1500.00 come take it all away. if no one is interested I will part it all out. you can call me at 905 899 2227 I will post some pics
Report to moderator

[sdx455]

Damm Were was this deal a few years ago . Im sure if you part it theres some things I need .....

[billygoatii]

BLAKGOAT, I have never seen a 455SD with chrome valve covers before. Is that something you decided to do to dress up the engine a little?

[fiedlerh]

I think because the factory promotional literature, brochures, and magazine articles in 73 show them to be body color, that's how they were supposed to be.

Pontiac promotional literaterature is notoriously inaccurate. As mentioned in the other post it may have varied by model year in addition to assembly plant. Many of the used ones on ebay are black and I don't remember seeing any painted ones back in the day.

I have never seen a 455SD with chrome valve covers before

This would be a dress-up since the SD-455 had painted valve covers.

[BLAKGOAT]

I got new ones from Ames, I just could not get myself to blast and paint them, besides they look better in chrome

[BR57]

[QUOTE=fiedlerh]Pontiac promotional literaterature is notoriously inaccurate. As mentioned in the other post it may have varied by model year in addition to assembly plant. Many of the used ones on ebay are black and I don't remember seeing any painted ones back in the day.


I agree with fiedlerh, I have never seen a Canadian built car that was anything but black, besides there were about 6 or 7 plants making these cars, who knows which one they got the promo cars from. I will also say that the inserts are actually a light grey colour in natural condition, at least when I sanded mine down for a repaint they were. My car is plant code 1 - Oshawa and my scoops are staying black.

Now...was that NASA or NACA,

LOL!

[Grand73Am]

Originally Posted by fiedlerh

and I don't remember seeing any painted ones back in the day.

Well, they were out there . I have found several pics of original 73 GTO's with painted scoops. There's also a guy on the abodysite that bought his blue 73 GTO new and says it had blue scoops and posted a vintage pic of it, showing that it did. Here's another one, a 54K mile unrestored original:

[Grand73Am]

Originally Posted by BR57

I will also say that the inserts are actually a light grey colour in natural condition,

That seems odd...maybe a Canada thing?
I have a pair of NOS scoops in the GM boxes, and they are black. I have a couple pair of used ones with only faint remnants of the old paint on them, and they're black too.

[BR57]

Originally Posted by Grand73Am

That seems odd...maybe a Canada thing?
I have a pair of NOS scoops in the GM boxes, and they are black. I have a couple pair of used ones with only faint remnants of the old paint on them, and they're black too.

Mine were black and I assumed originally black but I wanted to freshen them up so I started to sand them and lo and behold, the black came off. I always figured they were moulded black plastic but they are actually more like a fiber glass resin grey in colour. Once that happened I stripped them both down completely before spraying them matt black again. There was only black on them and no evidence of any other colour. They turned out nice. Try taking an exacto knife and scrapping the back of one of the old ones and see.

[BillyGoat73]

I went back and read the thread on the scoop color discussion (painted vs. natural black). I have bought and sold 7 or 8 hoods in the last 30 years (73 vintage with louvers and 74-75 vintage without) and to the best of my recollection all scoops were painted body color and the plastic honeycomb closeout plates were natural black. I have a set of NOS scoops that are natural black (molded black). I know the closeout covers were natural black, as I bought a few sets at my dealer back in the early 80's when I did my GTO. They tended to to warp from engine heat after a few years, so I was replacing them with straight ones on my daily driver '73 LeMans SC.

My collection of PMD Car Distribution Bulletins refers to the "Ram Air Hood" option as being on hold thru November 30, 1972, at which time it was officially canceled. The UPC Code WU3 Ram Air Hood was to be available on 2-door LeMans, LeMans Sport Coupe, and Grand Am models only. If you wanted to equip your LeMans with a Ram Air Hood, all you had to do is know the part numbers for all the pieces and place an order. I've seen one car with a complete system ordered back in late 1972 from the parts list. I suspect if just a hood was purchased over the parts counter and painted to match the car, the owner had the choice to paint the scoops or not. I could not find a UPC for a non-Ram Air Hood option.

Even though it was "officially" discontinued in November 1972, the Ram Air Hood option was still a requirement with the SD455 option on the above models. As we all know, the UPC Code LS2 4-bbl. 455 SD engine option was on hold for all Pontiac models (including B and G bodies) until late in the production year when it was released for Formula Firebirds and Trans Ams only. No WU3 Ram Air Hood packages made it to production.

Just a point of information, my original 1973 GTO window sticker identifies the hood in "GTO Option" as "N.A.S.A. HOOD SCOOPS" and the cut sheet for the 1973 GTO Option in my Pontiac Dealer Binder just calls it "Dual Hood Scoops". The 1973 Pontiac Accessories brochure on page 21 calls out under the GTO Option "Dual Air Hood Scoops (N.A.S.A. type)".

[BR57]

Thanks for that excellent and credible information BillyGoat73. Probably we could have a whole new thread on this.

So in theory at least it was possible for the Ram Air to be installed on a 350, 400 or 455 car in any body style if that owner ordered the parts as you suggest. Also in theory it could have been installed on a 1974 75,76,77 car if the owner knew what parts to order and they were still available. Is my line of thinking right?

[gtojim73]

All 73 GTO's I've ever seen had body colored painted hood scoops with dull black plastic fake grilles, except the very few Ram Air cars which delete the plastic grilles.
I have two 73 GTO's, a Starlight Black car I bought new and a Velencia Gold car that is mostly original, both have painted body colored hood scoops. These cars were both assembled at the Pontiac, Michigan plant. Also every 73 GTO I seen at the dealership where I purchased my car including a Canadian made car and my gold car.
On the Ram Air availability, no 350 powered cars in 73 could have had Ram Air because they were all two barrels and neither could the 76 or 77 cars because they used a did not use the NASA style hood scoops. The Can Am used a Trans Am style scoop, but that is another subject. As for the other cars Ram Air was cancelled on all 73 NASA hoods due to so called noise pollution according to Zone Techniical Bullitin 73-ZT-30 dated 3/23/73. But never say never! as near as I can tell, the only way to have functional scoops was to purchhase one of the few assemblys over the parts counter. The only car I know that was factory equipped was the prototype Grand Am station wagon owned by a Pontiac engineer.
The 455SD 73 GTO looks great! Wish they would have produced them.

[BR57]

Originally Posted by gtojim73

Also every 73 GTO I seen at the dealership where I purchased my car including a Canadian made car and my gold car.
On the Ram Air availability, no 350 powered cars in 73 could have had Ram Air because they were all two barrels and neither could the 76 or 77 cars because they used a did not use the NASA style hood scoops. The Can Am used a Trans Am style scoop, but that is another subject. As for the other cars Ram Air was cancelled on all 73 NASA hoods due to so called noise pollution according to Zone Techniical Bullitin 73-ZT-30 dated 3/23/73. But never say never! as near as I can tell, the only way to have functional scoops was to purchhase one of the few assemblys over the parts counter. The only car I know that was factory equipped was the prototype Grand Am station wagon owned by a Pontiac engineer.

October 1972, Hogan Pontiac Buick, Toronto, Danforth Avenue, Canada, Show room 1973 GTO White with Maroon guts and vinyl roof, Black Scoops. How do I know? I spent about 2 hours in it while my dad negotiated for our 73 Sport Coupe.

On Ram Air, to my point, if the parts were only available over the counter as BillyGoat73 said and you knew the parts to order why couldn't a 350 car have it? Why Ram Air only on a 4bbl ? A four door Sedan, Wagon etc.. could in this case too. Air cleaner lid is same on 2 and 4 bbl isn't it? Also Why not on a 76 or 77, the hood will fit won't it and if it over the counter who's stopping anyone? There is a space on my 73 fuse box diagram for the functional scoops so the circuit for the solenoids must be there.

[BillyGoat73]

Originally Posted by BR57

October 1972, Hogan Pontiac Buick, Toronto, Danforth Avenue, Canada, Show room 1973 GTO White with Maroon guts and vinyl roof, Black Scoops. How do I know? I spent about 2 hours in it while my dad negotiated for our 73 Sport Coupe.

On Ram Air, to my point, if the parts were only available over the counter as BillyGoat73 said and you knew the parts to order why couldn't a 350 car have it? Why Ram Air only on a 4bbl ? A four door Sedan, Wagon etc.. could in this case too. Air cleaner lid is same on 2 and 4 bbl isn't it? Also Why not on a 76 or 77, the hood will fit won't it and if it over the counter who's stopping anyone? There is a space on my 73 fuse box diagram for the functional scoops so the circuit for the solenoids must be there.

The 76-77 Hoods were different in the front corners due to the use of rectangular headlights. I suppose someone could make a NASA hood for 76-77 using a 73-75 pattern. The outer skin was cut out and rolled over, the inner hood braces were cut for the opening, and small angle brackets were tack welded on to hold the plastic scoops. An old donor 73-75 hood would provide the angle brackets and plastic scoops, along with the dimensions for the openings.

Regarding the Ram Air setup, the air cleaner base is the same diameter for 2-bbl or 4-bbl, so the Ram Air parts should work. Although, somebody told me a long time ago that the air cleaner base was a dropped Trans Am shaker style base (different part number) to allow for all the components under the hood. Anybody else ever hear of this?

[BLAKGOAT]

Hey Bill, The diameter of the air cleaner lid is a half an inch smaller on the two barrel than the ones for the 4 barrel. I just checked the one from the parts car.