Got a 72 cutlass supreme and am considering an aftermarket 442 fiberglass hood from summit. Anyone know if it'll be a direct fit? Also, the hood H6004 from Glasstek says it has the holes for pin mount/lock but doesn't specify if the hardware comes with it. Anybody done this before?

Love the forum!

 

Everyone and their mother is putting a Outside Air Induction (W-25) style hood on their 70-72 Olds A body. Even 69s. I'm expecting to see it on vista cruisers and 4 doors now. So, it's not a "442" hood because most of the 442s did not have it. That being said, the original hoods are a steel frame, fiberglass panel hood that didn't fit very well. The expensive Thornton aftermarket hood fits better than originals, even. Pay up front for good fit. All fiberglass hoods, especially no-branders from Summit, are cheap and will fit poorly. They will require a lot of effort to get to fit right. Glasstek might be the best all fiberglass hood, but it still will fit horribly and need much tweaking. But, they're much cheaper than Thornton.

They also will be pin on since they do not have the strength (no frame) to have hinges. What you see is what you get, so no hardware. You will have to get a hood pin kit and mount it to your core support and fender hinge mounts, then fit the hood, then prime, block, and paint.

Most people who put a cheap OAI style all fiberglass hood on are not concerned with any sort of engineering function at all; it's all about looks. I should warn you, there is a reason the real hood seals to an air cleaner. Part of how the radiator cools is air is forced through it and out under the engine as draft. If you have an OAI hood, but no OAI air cleaner, air will come in through the snoots that could have come in through the radiator, and the same amount of air will exit under the engine. Thus, your car will run hot in this condition.

Your car, but a Cutlass Supreme was the formal roofline gentleman's car. The OAI hood system was for the 442s. The only Supreme hardtops that ever got the W-25 OAI hood were the H/Os, and they have about a mile of reflective sticker on them to tell people they aren't their dad's Oldsmobile.

 

Good post ^^^

Kind of an "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About OAI But Were Afraid to Ask" primer.

 

Since I have a W-30 that I took new car delivery in April 1970, my OAI hood fit well when NEW and from the factory. .

As far as "aftermarket OAI" heads: several companies have made them over the years. Molds and quality varied. Some fit well enough and others not so much. If you are thinking about Glasstek, call them and talk to them. Lets be clear, there "4 pin" hoods (no hinges) and "2 pin" hoods. The "2 pin" hoods are generally used with hinges, and the pins are to look sporty and keep the hood down. You will need to install a compatible hood latch with whatever year car you install the hood. If you are using hood hinges, you can get the correct low tension hood springs from Glasstek.

As far as cooling without an OAI air cleaner, it won't make much difference if you have the proper stock radiator, gravel shield and shrouds. I am running the factory style OEM radiators.
Aftermarket OAI hood with hinges and low tension springs.


Aftermarket OAI hood fits well.

 

I've had a Glasstec all fiberglass hood on my 71 Cutlass since 1998. I hit a deer and bunched up original hood- repair was covered by insurance. Body shop and I both looked for a original steel hood and couldn't find one here in Mi that wasn't rusty. Found out that insurance company would buy the Glasstec hood and front hood pins, etc. So that's what happened. I don't know how much work was required to make it look good... and it has it's issues- where the rear edges go up it doesn't really match the fenders, also the rubber seal that goes on rear of hood has to be left out or hood will be too high in rear. I have never had any problem with car getting hot. Oh, I also used the lighter hood hinge springs. Perfect? No.. But looks nice. I did it when car was a 27 year old driver- Now it's a 53 year old nicer driver- I prolly would have put a steel hood on it now to keep original, if fact I have since found a perfect red steel hood which is in storage which will go on maybe someday....

 

I'm not sure I buy this. The air openings on the hood are quite a bit farther back on the hood (a good 12 inches or so) so I don't see them 'robbing' air that should be going through the radiator - at least through the grilles. Also, given the boundary layer of air on the hood, it's questionable how much air is actually forced into the openings. I'd argue it's minimal. I would expect the majority of benefit (to the engine) to come from it 'sucking' cooler air in through the nostrils on the hood. Cooling flow around the engine compartment is another matter.

 

Gentlemen, I can claim no experience with this effect as both my OAI cars have ran with factory cleaners 100% of the time. I was referencing two threads.

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...scoops-141555/ post 21

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...ram-air-12205/

I am fine with being wrong.

 

I saw something in an Olds Performance Chapter newsletter about the OAI hoods back around 1985-ish. It mentioned that the scoops were really too far back to make any appreciable difference until running at over 100 mph. The article mentioned if they had moved the scoops a few inches further to the front, the ram air effect would be much greater and more efficient. Although I would say it's partly functional as just allowing cooler, outside air to enter the engine, I'm sure placement was more of a style factor in how they wanted the car to look vs max performance. And yeah, they certainly do look cool.