[MarkS57]

Hi all,

Considering buying a 76. Question, does anyone know if the 76 Formula hood can be made functional ram air like the earlier models? I would think not but worth asking.

Thanks,
Mark

[unruhjonny]

afaik you cannot make them work.

they are nice looking hoods though.

[jerry455]

I picked up one also for my 1976 Firebird. I am going to make my plain Jane into a Formula. I have seen a guy who used that silver foam style plastic material to cover the underside of his hood, like a sound deadener mat, seal it all the way around and then cut a round hole in the area of the air cleaner and use a small lid like the 1980 Z 28 setup. I am going to try something also for mine this winter. My air cleaner just barely touches the hood due to Performer RPM. I have been looking at different factory Chevrolet open element air cleaners as I am using an 850 Holley, and they might have a touch more drop. I have an aftermarket Formula dual snorkel air cleaner, but I would need to modify it to fit the Holley. I was trying to find the older Formula hood, but they are very expensive and need a lot of repairs to make them look right.

[Baron Von Zeppelin]

Something like a 68 GTO upper pan system might work to get things going.

You would probably need to make your own version .

[jerry455]

Yes. The biggest problem is the Holley carb and the float adjustment nuts in the bottom of the air cleaner. I had to drill holes for the generic open element air cleaner to sit down on it. I don't really want to modify the formula air cleaner but am trying to find other solutions. People have said some of the older ones used to have "bumps" where it would have fit a Holley back in the day. When I figure something out, I will post some pictures. I am going to order the Formula decals for the car, so it is not just a plain Jane Firebird anymore. The funny thing is now there will be 3 1976 Formulas around here, a red LS converted, an orange and then my blue one.

[PAUL K]

Originally Posted by jerry455

Yes. The biggest problem is the Holley carb and the float adjustment nuts in the bottom of the air cleaner. I had to drill holes for the generic open element air cleaner to sit down on it. I don't really want to modify the formula air cleaner but am trying to find other solutions. People have said some of the older ones used to have "bumps" where it would have fit a Holley back in the day. When I figure something out, I will post some pictures. I am going to order the Formula decals for the car, so it is not just a plain Jane Firebird anymore. The funny thing is now there will be 3 1976 Formulas around here, a red LS converted, an orange and then my blue one.

We bought a reproduction Formula air cleaner rather than screw up the factory air filter assembly. Cut the base out and replaced it with an aftermarket drop base. We machined the lip to lower the aftermarket base, drilled a couple of holes for the float adjustment screws and sealed them with grommets. One could probably gain even more clearance by using a Chevy L-88 base. This allowed us to run deep into the nines with a factory Formula hood on a relatively stock looking Firebird using a 14x3 air filter and the factory Ram Air boots.

[jerry455]

The air cleaner I have is an aftermarket Formula. I bought it for $100 from Craigslist, complete with boots and screens. That is good to hear about the capabilities of the air cleaner. I forgot to bring that with me last year when I had the engine on the dyno. I wanted to see what the loss from it would be.

[unruhjonny]

/\ that was a really good deal!

[burd]

Are you going to do the Olds Ram air set up? You got like 6 months to get this done, lol

[jerry455]

I just took the last ride of the season today, got to 50*, for a Detroit December, that is warm. I filled the fuel tank and changed the oil and filter also. I am starting the list of projects to do over the winter; the hood is one of them. It will definitely be done by your show.

[jerry455]

Hopefully going to get the hood painted shortly. I opened up the scoops on the hood to make them functional. Now I need to start thinking how I can have it seal to the air cleaner. Have a few ideas but will see when it gets installed on the car. Going to finish the transformation into a Formula. Took it out for a drive this week as it got into the 70's on Monday and then dropped back into the 30's again.

[jerry455]

Now that I cut the scoops open and mounted them back into the hood, I think I can make some ducting to run to a formula air cleaner. The opening of the scoops is 11" x 1 1/4". I think I can modify a couple piece of 8" air duct sheet metal into an oval shape and then have the open above the air cleaner openings. I will probably play some more later this week.

[jerry455]

I finally had the 76 Formula hood painted and installed. I have the new turbo 400 and Moser 9" installed also. I put on the Formula decals also. I will get some photos tomorrow. I painted the scoops, normally black, body color. I think it looks better. Next, I will start working on my ram air air cleaner idea.

[jerry455]

Finally got the hood painted and installed. Now that is on the car, I am going to work on the Ram Air portion.