[ZeGermanHam]

Originally Posted by wolf

FYI, the ram air pan is designed to cope with a reasonable amount of rain. The carb inlets are raised and it has water drain holes.

Also FYI, I have an open scoop and ram air pan on my '66 tripower car. I've dynoed my car hood open and closed, and it loses almost 20 RWHP with the hood closed, because the stock scoop opening is too small to feed air to that engine (@ 400+ RWHP). It starts pulling a vacuum through that tiny scoop inlet. I didn't glue my seal to the pan for that reason - when it starts pulling vacuum, it pulls the side of the seal in to grab more air (albeit hot underhood air). Another reason to not glue the seal is if you're caught in really heavy rain, you can plug the scoop openings and remove the pan seal to get home.

I was planning to use adhesive-backed velcro strips to keep the foam in place while still being easily removable. As you say, the ram air setup can deal with a moderate amount of rain. When you're driving, I'd be willing to bet that the low-pressure zone surrounding the hood scoop inlet doesn't actually see much direct rain. If it starts raining cats & dogs, remove the pan foam, plug the hood scoop with your socks, and you're good to go.

I actually have two hood scoop inserts (one open, one closed) and I plan to keep the extra one in the trunk. If I feel truly compelled to do so, I can swap the open insert for the closed insert while on the road and on carry on. But most likely I'll just remove the foam and jam my socks in the open scoop. Most of our cars probably never see rain at this point in their lives anyway.

Originally Posted by fyrffytr1

You do know that there is more to it than just opening the scoop, don't you? I do not mean to sound offensive or anything, I bought an open hood scoop with the same intent until I learned what else had to be done to get the ram air. I didn't feel comfortable cutting the bracing out of the hood so I ditched the idea.

It is definitely worth mentioning this to OP. Not everyone knows it isn't as simple as replacing the insert. Personally, I wasn't concerned with the removing the hood metal that needs to be taken out, but I totally get why someone else might not want to do it to their GTO. My car was so far from original by the time I got it that I figured adding some period correct performance enhancements would be worthwhile. And a metal fabricator could easily return it back to stock if it really came down to it.