Air grabber / scoop questions

[Confederate1969]

Since I have a 383 car, it came with the standard air grabber hood with the two air intake vents. There is no actual air grabber set up, however, and the vents are closed with metal panels. So the grabbers are only for looks. I have no idea why this is other than possible cheapskateness on behalf of the first owner of the car when he bought it. Well, I want a functional air grabber system... Is this something that is reproduced these days? Taking it one step further, is it possible to use an A12 style hood with the scoop on it with a 383 car? :huh: I think the air scoop is one of the coolest features of the A12 cars. It gives it a meaner, more aggressive look in my opinion. Not to mention, it would lighten up the car to swap out that old iron hood, I should think. Is this doable or does that A12 air scoop only work with the 6bbl air cleaner set up? The reason I am asking this is because I have seen advertisements for 6bbl intake manifolds for Chrysler 383s. I won't be doing this, of course, but it got me wondering about the A12 hood.

 

[Basketcase]

the Six Barrel hood from the A12s will work. Dobie has one on his '68. I've been kicking around getting one myself, but I have new 1/4 skins and F8 that needs done first.
IIRC, someone is repopping the ductwork for the air grabber.



"Dear Santa"

 

[droptop]

There are more and more reproduction parts hitting the market for the '69 air grabber system everyday. AMD is making the scoops, BE/A just released the screens and retainers, the air duck is available, the air cleaner is available, etc..... Do a goggle search for '69 air grabber and you will be amazed at what is out there now a days.

 

[dobie]

Great idea, as I too love the Air Grabber set up! The A12 hood will fit perfectly for you. The 68's had a tiny amount of differences in the core support area, so I gotta drill for the pins just a tad different. It's really up to you as far as what you want. On a 68 hood, the vents aren't open, so to install that stuff it would've made more work. That's why I decided to go the A12 look-alike route. Well, that and I think it looks bad ass! The A12 hood will work no matter what you do, and it sure does push a ton of air straight in. One small thing though, to use the correct Air Grabber air cleaner set up, you need a 3 speed wiper system. It's no biggie, just something to remember. I originally had a regular air cleaner on my 383, but once I got the wiper stuff switched over, I put on my AG oval stuff. I gotta say the AG stuff looks better. I love looking into the scoop and seeing nothing but air cleaner!

:cheers:

 

[Big John]

The A12 hood will fit. From what I've heard, the Year One repop is one of the better ones. You'll need a pin kit and the pin brackets.

One thing that woud suprise you, the stock A12 hood is pretty heavy for a fibreglass hood and it can be a PITA to find a good place to put it when you need to work on the car. A friend had a Six Pack Superbee hood get caught by a gust of wind once when he was removing it. It took the hood up over the car and put a big dent in the top of the rear quarter panel. I believe some repops have a option to use the stock hinges. That's something to consider.

The A12 air cleaner seals to the hood, so you may have to fabricate something if you want your's to seal too.

 

[Plymouthfan]

I'd definitely consider the hinged A12 style hood.

There's a guy on ebay who sells the duct work if you decide to go that route. I think it's like $575. You can buy repopped fiberglass air cleaners for as little as $200, expect at least $350 for a decent original that'll need to be restored, or $500 for a really nice metal repop ready to bolt in.

As said before, to use the big air cleaner you'll also need a three speed wiper motor, a three speed switch, and the little cam that comes off the motor.

Air Grabber=$$$$$

Wasn't this a something like a $59.00 option in 1969?

 

[dobie]

If you look at my pics, you can see that mine is set up right now with the hinges. This winter though I plan on taking the hinges off and using the pins on all 4 corners. To me, that's all part of having the A12 hood.

Now, after a few months of using the pins, I may wish I had the hinges back in place!!

:jester: