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Crites Ram Air hood
Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 6:18 pm
by Indian1941
After waiting several months I finally received my Crites Restoration Ram Air hood for my 1965 Mercury Comet. I chose to drill and tap the mounting holes. I used a Morosso air box and I put in on top of a Predator carburetor. I cut the intake out to clear a 9 inch diameter air cleaner. The hood is secured down by hood pins.
I have heard some people suggest drilling additional holes on the rear of the hood - to vent any excess air while driving down the road at speed. I have not done this yet.
Does anyone that has one of these hoods for a while have any suggestions?
Thanks,
Greg
Re: Crites Ram Air hood
Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 7:08 pm
by A/FX
I have never had an issue with trapped air under my hood. Mine is a ‘64 Plaza Glas hood but I would think the results would be the same. I also have never seen an original 64 or 65 factory race car with vents to release trapped air.
I have seen some other makes of race cars that have shimmed the rear hinge mounts to raise the trailing edge of the hood, but I think it was for releasing hot air from the engine compartment.
Jim
Re: Crites Ram Air hood
Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 7:27 pm
by poboyjo65
Re: Crites Ram Air hood
Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2018 7:38 pm
by A/FX
I believe that the issue Roy experienced was caused by the hood being constructed by laminating a top and bottom together. The original Plaza Glas hood were not constructed in that way. They were built using light weight “race glass” and unlike the Crites hood they had a separate plenum that connected the twin scoops to the carburetors. These hoods were not pretty, they did not fit well but they were light weight and worked well.
I could post some pictures of mine if anyone is interested.
Jim
Re: Crites Ram Air hood
Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2018 7:17 am
by Indian1941
Thank you all for the advice. The rupper flaps seem like a good idea. I don't plan on racing my Comet, but the 331 stroker should be around 350 hp and should be fun to drive.
Re: Crites Ram Air hood
Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2018 9:47 am
by Rocket989
If I was dialing 10.30’s, I’d wanna make sure my hood didn’t lift also!!
Jim - I’d like to see the hood!
OP - Sounds like a spiffy project...post up some pics!!
Re: Crites Ram Air hood
Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2018 1:09 pm
by poboyjo65
Indian1941 wrote:Thank you all for the advice. The rupper flaps seem like a good idea. I don't plan on racing my Comet, but the 331 stroker should be around 350 hp and should be fun to drive.
My thinking after hearing about Roy's problem was If you flog it & say run it up over 100 mph all that air going in there & sealed around the breather so it gets only cool air, then you shut down the throttle turning off the big air pump , pressure would build up all at once. I thought the rubber flaps are kinda stiff & would prevent it from sucking in hot engine heat but would open up before the hood pulled apart.
Re: Crites Ram Air hood
Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2018 1:39 pm
by A/FX
Jim - I’d like to see the hood.
Here is a link to the ‘64 A/FX hood pictures. Note how the plenum is separate from the underside of the hood and it is held in place with fiberglass. ( I added the hinge supports and threaded bungs when the hood was being made) originally these were a lift off type hood so it had four hood pins, one in each corner. Another interesting feature that the Crites hood does not have is the recesse for the hood ornament, only the factory hoods had this. The lines that are visible on the surface of the hood are parting lines from the mold, these will be sanded and removed. The original mold was a three piece design, the top had two parts so the scoop are could be removed and still have a recesse into the scoop. The plenum was a separate mold.
They were made by Plaza Glas in Toronto for Dearborn Steel Tubing who was sub contacted by FoMoCo to build the 21 1964 A/FX Comets.
I will be cutting two holes in the plenum for the four barrel air cleaners on the Boss engine and will be using two hood pins in the front, there is no provision for a factory type hood release.
Jim
https://postimg.cc/gallery/1h3lz2508/
Re: Crites Ram Air hood
Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 6:14 am
by Indian1941
Jim;
Thank you for the link to the hood pictures. Regarding the Crites hood, the quality is very high, but the customer service is not. I did very little prep work on my hood to get it ready for paint. I chose to drill and tap the mounting holes. The Crites website states the price for the hood comes with drilling and tapping the mounting holes only - but according to Crites this is not right and they have never given away the drilling and tapping for free. Their price is $39 to do this but as I have worked in a machine shop for over 25 years and already had the tools needed I chose to do it myself.
I chose to use the chrome hood trim off a spare metal hood to put on mine. The mounting clips will slide in the trim so I can place them around the air intakes. I will try and take some pics of it when I work on it again today.
Greg
Re: Crites Ram Air hood
Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2018 10:07 am
by Rocket989
Neat hood Jim!!
Greg - your experience with Crites mimics mine...x2!!
Re: Crites Ram Air hood
Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 8:59 pm
by Indian1941
I have the Crites hood on my 65 Comet Caliente. I replaced the stock 289 and 4 speed for a 331 stroker and a World Class T5 transmission. This allows the shift handle to be centered in the floor. The carb is a Predator and the air box is Moroso.
Re: Crites Ram Air hood
Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 11:37 pm
by poboyjo65
Jim I had this pic of the 64 afx hood from the Fran Hernandez page.
Re: Crites Ram Air hood
Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2018 7:42 pm
by Indian1941
Re: Crites Ram Air hood
Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2018 7:53 pm
by A/FX
poboyjo65 wrote:Jim I had this pic of the 64 afx hood from the Fran Hernandez page.
John o,
Do you have a link to that page? I would like to see the details of the underside of that hood. It looks like an original Plaza hood, but I have never seen one that had hinge provisions.
The Comet it is installed on looks very stock, I am curious to know if they just installed it for photos and then distributed them to the race teams afterwards.
Thanks,
Jim
Re: Crites Ram Air hood
Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2018 8:23 pm
by poboyjo65
Indian1941 that is some nice work on the hood!
Jim I thought I got it from this FB page,which is run by his family;
https://www.facebook.com/Fran-Francisco ... 174258948/
But I looked thru the photo section & didn't see it. It seems like when I saved this pic it said it was the very first one, the proto type, but I dont trust my memory any more.
but that may account for it being on a regular car. would make sense that they didnt want the russians stealing any secrets so they sent a regular car for fitment .