Thread: 1968 Plymouth Valiant 1st Gen HEMI

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".....what about an A12 cloned scoop to keep it in the Mopar family?....."

Thanks Robert. That’s pretty much what the Green Valiant currently has, and I think it looks great on the car. If this car was going to be used basically as a toy I’d be keeping it and not look back. That being said, the issue I have with it is that it’s open in the front.

This car will become my daily transportation once it’s running. From first hand experience bad weather (like our monsoon season) at best usually leads to a lot of ruined air filters and nasty looking engine compartments. I think I could buy an A12 scoop with the front not cut out but think it’d look ridiculous. I could build a removable plug to fit in the scoop for inclement weather (been there, done that) but really don’t want to go through the hassle.

Before we raised the engine I think I could have probably used the flat hood with no problems. With the engine raised it’s looking more and more like I’ll need a scoop to clear the air cleaner.

A lot of people don’t realize that the teardrop “hood scoop” on the TBolts was never intended as a way to get air to the engine, actually just the opposite. The air to the 427 was actually provided by an air box over the carbs fed by 2 LARGE hoses that picked up air through where the inboard High Beam headlights used to be. The “scoop” was actually just a bubble to clear the air box. By opening the 2 holes in the back of the teardrop (which by the design of the teardrop was a low pressure area) the teardrop actually helped evacuate hot air from under the hood.

When we had the engine set lower one of the potential problems I wonder about was hot air backing up under the hood at highway speeds and I filed the teardrop idea away as a potential solution. With the engine in it’s current location I don’t think getting air out of the engine compartment is going to be an issue but air filter clearance may be.


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For those unfamiliar with what Mike has described for the Thunderbolt arrangement, here's a couple thousand work depictions on the Lightning Bolt (small block version of Thunderbolt) Fairlane I did a while back. Intake plumbing and hood scoop profile.

Thanks for posting that Bob. I always loved the 64 Fairlanes. Up until several years ago I always figured I'd come across a builder someday as a project. By the time I got serious about finding one they had gone up way out of my price range.



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Originally Posted by Mike P

Thanks for posting that Bob. I always loved the 64 Fairlanes. Up until several years ago I always figured I'd come across a builder someday as a project. By the time I got serious about finding one they had gone up way out of my price range.

When I finished college and moved to Kansas City in 1976, I was perusing the Used Auto ads in the KC Star and saw a '65 Mustang Fastback, 289HiPo and a 4 speed listed for $1800. I said to myself, "That's an 11 year old car and he's asking more than 50% of the new list price!! No way it's worth THAT!!"

Duh, guess I should have revisited page 1. We had clearance issues with the Crites hood as delivered and converted it into a teardrop on steroids. Not good as a daily driver either.

Originally Posted by rspears

When I finished college and moved to Kansas City in 1976, I was perusing the Used Auto ads in the KC Star and saw a '65 Mustang Fastback, 289HiPo and a 4 speed listed for $1800. I said to myself, "That's an 11 year old car and he's asking more than 50% of the new list price!! No way it's worth THAT!!"

I suspect many of us here have similar stories. One of mine would be when my line foreman came into my office one morning in 1973 and said he needed some money. He knew I was a car guy so offered his 63 Silver, split window Vette with factory fuel injection..............$1500. Nothing to get too excited about, that was about right pricing for a 10 year old used car like that. At that moment I had neither space nor free money to do the deal that was just ho hum for the time in history. Sigh..........

Damn Robert you poured the WHOLE bottle of steroids on that one.

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