Venting 1st Gen Camaro Hood

[572Camaro]

We have a fuel injected 572ci engine under the hood that likes fresh air. After viewing many really nice venting options, we decided to try something a little different. Take a look.
Hood grilles are custom billet and twice height of factory pieces.
Engine is "stuffed" into engine bay as you can see by the pic.
First, and with great hesitation, we cut eight square holes into hood.
Then, we went to the waterjet and cut 316 alloy stainless steel pieces, including the box tubes you see, out of 1.5" thick 316 alloy stainless.
Next, we sanded and sanded and sanded over 100 hours on all stainless pieces.
After welding in the tubes, we then resanded for what seems like forever.
Finally, we shaped the crown on the underside vents, cut fresh studs, loctite, and did the install.
Believe it or not, the engine compartment temp, as measured by my fuel injection air inlet sensor, has dropped noticeably. Just got home from GoodGuys Lone Star Nationals and snagged the "Innovation Award" sponsored by Snap-On tools. Judge thought the vents were killer. I don't mean to brag, just really excited about the award.
Thanks for looking! any feedback?
572Camaro

[LonghornJPS]

Absolutely stellar work!

[clill]

Wow !!! Can I have em ?

[572Camaro]

You guys are WAY too kind. But thank you. The only reason we used stainless is because all the hand made parts on the car is stainless. Frankly, I wanted to use aluminum for weight purposes, but my wife said "NO". She demanded stainless steel, 316 alloy to be exact. What's a guy to do?

572Camaro

[gofastwclass]

Well... I would listen to her. Sounds like you have a pretty cool wife.

[rocketrod]

Originally Posted by gofastwclass

Well... I would listen to her. Sounds like you have a pretty cool wife.

What he said....

Originally Posted by 572Camaro

You guys are WAY too kind. But thank you. The only reason we used stainless is because all the hand made parts on the car is stainless. Frankly, I wanted to use aluminum for weight purposes, but my wife said "NO". She demanded stainless steel, 316 alloy to be exact. What's a guy to do?

572Camaro

Very nice! Is the overall length of the vents and the individual opening the same as OEM vents?

[Dr. Jekyll]

Looks like a lot of precision work. Well done! Any pics of the complete car?

[130fe]

Phenominal job on the vents! Any information on those hood hinge actuators? Yes, please more pics and info on the entire car!

[572Camaro]

Thanks again guys. My wife "belly-laughed" when I read your replies!
Anyway, here's a couple pics of the car.

[572Camaro]

Notice the ground effects on the car. We added two inches to the rocker panels out of 16ga sheetmetal, also extended in front of front wheel opening and extended behind rear wheel opening.
See the rear spoiler? It is all welded steel.
Notice the hood is embellished? We took an SS hood and raised the roof about 1/2", thanks to Paul Morgan at DSE.
Hey Rocketrod, the grilles are EXACT to original footprint. We embellished the grilles on the outside to twice height. The underside vent bezels are EXACT to within .001" dimensional variance. That is why I could not use box tubing, but had the square tube pieces waterjetted out of a 4' by 10' by 1.5" thick of 316 alloy stainless. So yes, they fit the factory "hood ornament" location, but I did redrill the two center holes on both grilles for symmetry purposes.
Hey 130fe, thanks for noticing the hood actuators. I know, I know, everybody is supposed to use the billet hood hinges from any of several manufacturers. Not me. I redesigned my factory hinges, and designed my own gas struts, had them manufactured in Germany, and installed. They are made through EasyLift company.