Crites Ram Air hood

The Era of The Square Body Racing Comets
Indian1941
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Crites Ram Air hood

Post 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

A/FX
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Re: Crites Ram Air hood

Post 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
‘64 Cyclone/ Boss 302,quads,4spd, Winters 9”

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poboyjo65
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Re: Crites Ram Air hood

Post by poboyjo65 »

A late member Roy Pool had his balloon apart during a run. his son Doug said this was the run & you can see the edges curled up. he told me on the next hood he drilled relief holes & poured extra epoxy in the hood & turned the hood up so it would run down in the voids & help glue the top & bottom together better & added hoodpins.
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I have the other hood with smaller openings & I dont race it but I drilled some anyway on both sides of the snorkel which is just like the crites hood. I also put rubber flaps so it would only open up if needed. may be overkill but its done & dont eat.
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Johno

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Re: Crites Ram Air hood

Post 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
‘64 Cyclone/ Boss 302,quads,4spd, Winters 9”

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Indian1941
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Re: Crites Ram Air hood

Post 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.

Rocket989
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Re: Crites Ram Air hood

Post by Rocket989 »

If I was dialing 10.30’s, I’d wanna make sure my hood didn’t lift also!! :D :D :lol:

Jim - I’d like to see the hood!

OP - Sounds like a spiffy project...post up some pics!! :mrgreen:
'cause Johno says you gotta have a sig pic! :)
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poboyjo65
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Re: Crites Ram Air hood

Post 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.
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Johno

A/FX
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Re: Crites Ram Air hood

Post 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/
‘64 Cyclone/ Boss 302,quads,4spd, Winters 9”

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Indian1941
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Re: Crites Ram Air hood

Post 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

Rocket989
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Re: Crites Ram Air hood

Post by Rocket989 »

Neat hood Jim!! :D

Greg - your experience with Crites mimics mine...x2!!
'cause Johno says you gotta have a sig pic! :)
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Indian1941
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Re: Crites Ram Air hood

Post 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.

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poboyjo65
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Re: Crites Ram Air hood

Post by poboyjo65 »

Jim I had this pic of the 64 afx hood from the Fran Hernandez page.
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Johno

Indian1941
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Re: Crites Ram Air hood

Post by Indian1941 »

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Here are some pics of the Crites hood on my 65 Caliente. Motor is a 331 stroker and carb is a Predator.

A/FX
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Re: Crites Ram Air hood

Post 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
‘64 Cyclone/ Boss 302,quads,4spd, Winters 9”

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poboyjo65
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Re: Crites Ram Air hood

Post 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. :roll: 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 . :lol:
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Johno

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