[Bluesugar]

I hope there is a logical answer for this!..I took the upper ram air hood plate pan off my '70 Judge to weld in new metal around where the thermo actuators brackets were pop riveted and rusted out(the finished product looks like new).The upper seal was pretty much gone,just a few pieces left that were still glued on..I ordered from PY's a new upper pan seal and hose kit.I tested the diaphragms with a vacuum tester and they close and hold at 7 psi.so they weren't replaced.New seal arrived.I'm trying to understand how I am suppose to glue this down to the pan and then install.The flapper cable needs to route itself inside and through the seal and I guess under the seal to the slotted hole in the rear of pan out to the allen screw locking junction block or just route the cable through the seal and down under the pan to the j block.Either way you can't get to the flapper door where the cable connects to with the pan in place so do you hook cable up to flapper door and then get a helper to hold the pan and snake the cable in and out the seal and pan unit and try to align it up?I test fitted the seal and flapper door housing with the pan on the table and the front part of the rounded foam thats on each side of the scoop openings in the flapper housing are blocking 1 inch of the air inlet outsides of said opening!!,.(.am I suppose to cut this excess away?)..Also, what is the purpose of these therms anyway?..If they close at idle and part throttle(most vacuum) then they don't open back up until you're stomping on it?,..or do they get heat soaked and open and stay that way,hince thermo???.Looking at this mess, all I see is a bunch of restrictions in the way and not much ram air effect and oh yea, you got to know when to open the ram air pull cable(under the dash) to gain anything anyway. All I see is a leaky system that lets in water(even when the flapper doors are shut) and harbors water in the soaked seal for the whole thing to rust out again.I'm about ready to put in regular closed hood scoops and a dual snorkel cleaner(like my '69 has) and be done with it!!..Please, someone enlighten me about this prestiged option.

[gtohurstjudge]

I too have always been mystified by the upper ram air
seal for the same reasons you point out. What I have always done on my
car is put the whole system together with no upper seal at all. Then I take the
new upper seal and cut off the rear portion and throw away the rest of it, then stuff
the rear portion in between the upper pan and the hood. Nobody at any car show
I've ever been to has ever noticed this. This way also you can change the upper foam without dismantling anything if it starts to turn brown. On my car I don't glue the
foam to the lower pan. I keep the foam in the trunk and when I get to a show I plop
the foam on top of the lower pan. If you glue it on there, engine heat makes the foam turn brown and the hood compresses the foam making it look bad. Obviously if I wanted to,
I could keep two foams in the car, one for driving and one for show. Most people don't
let their GTO Judges get wet anymore. If you are using it for a daily driver and it's going
to be in the rain all the time I would leave the foams off of it so everything doesn't rust
out. I don't drive my car in the rain and I don't wash it. It stays covered with a car cover
when not being driven and it gets a wipe down with a damp micro towel after every
road trip. I think the last time my car was wet was around 1978.

[Bluesugar]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this dilemma,..I was wondering if anyone else cared about the maintenance of said option,..How many out there that have this option plug your vacuum port (that is FEEDING THERMO AUCTUATERS)at the manifold and leave the thermo valves open all the time?

[3goats]

Those thermo actuators are only open when engine is cold to let hot air into carb. That's why it has vent down to exaust manifold. The temp switch in the air cleaner lid should leave them closed after engine is warm. Then it only gets cold air to the carb. That's what is suppose to happen.