Question about open (active) shaker
 

I finally got my 79 Trans Am, beautiful car. The car has been sitting up for a long time, I have had to do some work on it because it was just not driven enough and a lot of the seals dried out. My old car when I was young did not have a shaker, it was a standard Firebird. The previous owner paid a company to modify a shaker from a donor car. The shaker has a corvette air cleaner in there at and angle but what concerns me is the shaker is open and goes straight into the carb. I live in what is generally the rainiest city in the US. I do not plan on driving it much at a time, but at least once a week get it up to operating temperature. If I get stuck in some mega rainstorm, and we have doozies, I cannot see what will prevent the engine from getting water in. The previous owner said that the car stayed indoors and never saw rain, who knows if that is true.

So am I in any danger here from getting water in?

I don't know how yours was modified but the earlier shaker scoops used a moveable flap that opened and closed with throttle movement. Maybe you could use something like that. Also there should be drain holes in the air filter housing to let out any water that gets in. I worked for Pontiac when those cars were new. We had a customer that cut his scoop open and got caught in heavy rain damaging his engine. It was not covered by his warranty. A small amount of water won't hurt and chances of getting a lot of water in are slim (scoop facing backwards). If you get in a bad situation I would pull over, stuff a cloth, etc. in the scoop and wait it out.

I do not remember seeing any holes in the bottom bowl portion. I can take some pictures of it this weekend, I will have off then. There are beginnings of surface rust on that anyway, I can see what it will take to remedy it and then possibly put a hole in it on both sides.

If it was me and I lived there i would either seal or get a sealed scoop.

The actual performance benefits - cool factor aside - prolly not worth yer while.

I have the aftermarket vacuum actuated opening door type.

You'll never ingest enough water for it to be a problem. Almost every TA I had/have has an open shaker, and not once has any had an issue with water consumption.

Hell I took one with an open scoop into a touchless car wash so I could look for any water intrusion in the interior. Those car washes are hurricane like when it comes to the amount of water flying around. Never missed a beat.

That would not be my case. I washed her for the first time last week. All new door seals, window sweeps, etc but the passenger side window looks like it is not going up enough. Definitely got a minor amount of water in the passenger side.

Open shaker with heavy rain isn't a problem when driving. But not ideal when parked outside. My 74 has a fully open (no flap) shaker and when storing outside under a cover, I put a large "contractor" trash bag flat over the whole shaker then close the hood to retain.

The open shaker performance gain is substantial .
I had a 79 daily driver for years with an open shaker , and found a piece of dense foam rubber that squeezed into the opening real nice and firm.
Would pullover and put it in there if really bad rain came up.
And when washing the car.

Forgot and left it in after a wash one time , decided to kick it and see what happened ,
it sucked it into the breather pan.
They much prefer breathing through the shaker than through the snorkel under the hood.

Congrats on the new ride.
Share a picture or 2 if you can.

Not sure why they needed a non-stock breather pan.
Was your car originally a 403 or 301 engine car , and replaced with a different Pontiac engine ?
Automatic ?
Single plane intake manifold ?

Take a picture of it also.
If it doesn't have a snorkel on the breather pan , you might need another pan to be able to cap off the shaker in foul weather driving.

My windshield leaks more in the rain than my open shaker!