Classic Mustangs List Archive

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: Philip Young (email redacted)

Hello fellow Mustangers,

I am buying a '72 Mach I Mustang. Dark Metallic Green and silver
stripes. New green interior also. It has BF Goodrich T/A Radial tires
and Magnum 500 wheels with pony caps. Engine is a 351 Cleveland 2V.
Automatic C-6 transmission, I think. It has a ram air hood but no ram
air. My question is what exactly does ram air do, can I get it hooked up
without any major work, how mush roughly would it cost, and is it worth
it? Thank you!

Philip Young
(email redacted)

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: Mr Fomoco (email redacted)

Philip Young wrote:
>
> Hello fellow Mustangers,
>
> I am buying a '72 Mach I Mustang. Dark Metallic Green and silver
> stripes. New green interior also. It has BF Goodrich T/A Radial tires
> and Magnum 500 wheels with pony caps. Engine is a 351 Cleveland 2V.
> Automatic C-6 transmission, I think. It has a ram air hood but no ram
> air. My question is what exactly does ram air do, can I get it hooked up
> without any major work, how mush roughly would it cost, and is it worth
> it?

I'll leave the final determination up to you, but here
are the basic facts:

- For a good definition of Ram-air, go here:
voicenet.com/~fomoco/eng/engfaq.htm#ra
- 1971-73 Ram-air consists of the special hood, two
"duct & flapper" assys., a large fibreglas plenum
(chamber) behind the ducts, and the special air
cleaner assembly. There are two air cleaners: one
each for the 351C and 429 engines.
- Installation is no big deal - two hours, at most.
- Cost: even though you already have the hood, if
you want original Ford parts, this can be a very
expensive set-up...easily from $500-$800...and the
flapper assys often need rework. I've heard that
some repro parts are available, but haven't seen
them.

Hope that covers it for you.
--
MrF
Allen Cross
------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE online source for 1960-1973 Ford information.
voicenet.com/~fomoco
Original articles, NOS stuff, tech advice & more!

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: Scott Hollenbeck (email redacted)

Philip,

If you want to get an idea of what the high end cost of a '72 ram
air unit is, call Perogie Enterprises in New Jersey. They advertise
in all the Mustang magazines, Hemmings, etc. They're expensive, but
some times they might be the only place with the parts you need.

Scott

At 07:20 PM 8/25/97 PDT, Philip Young wrote:
>Hello fellow Mustangers,
>
>I am buying a '72 Mach I Mustang. Dark Metallic Green and silver
>stripes. New green interior also. It has BF Goodrich T/A Radial tires
>and Magnum 500 wheels with pony caps. Engine is a 351 Cleveland 2V.
>Automatic C-6 transmission, I think. It has a ram air hood but no ram
>air. My question is what exactly does ram air do, can I get it hooked up
>without any major work, how mush roughly would it cost, and is it worth
>it? Thank you!
>
>Philip Young
>(email redacted)
>
>

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: Philip Young (email redacted)

Thanks for the info!!\

Philip Young
(email redacted)

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: John M. Dettori (email redacted)

On Mon, 25 Aug 1997 23:20, Philip Young <(email redacted)> wrote:
>
> I am buying a '72 Mach I Mustang. Dark Metallic Green and silver
> stripes. New green interior also. It has BF Goodrich T/A Radial tires
> and Magnum 500 wheels with pony caps. Engine is a 351 Cleveland 2V.
> Automatic C-6 transmission, I think. It has a ram air hood but no ram
> air. My question is what exactly does ram air do, can I get it hooked up
> without any major work, how mush roughly would it cost, and is it worth
> it? Thank you!

Phil,

Answering your questions in order:
1) Bring cold air into the fuel charge
2) Yes, it's a bolt on if you have the right hood
3) $500 - $1,500
4) No, not in my opinion.

I bought a '72 Mach I, 351C-2V years ago very similar to yours. Like yours,
it had non-functional ram air (plastic honeycomb pieces blocked off
the scoops). Since I was a kid and didn't know any better, I was smitten
by the stories of friends who told me how much better their Trans-Ams,
Corvettes & Z-28s performed w/Ram Air. I did alot of research, and found
magazine articles showing me what the setup would look like. Eventually,
I found a junk yard that had a ram-air setup that I paid $200 for. The
chamber was cracked, and it didn't fit right. I then stumbled upon a
Ford mechanic who told me that the 429 & 351 setups looked similar but
were different. I found out about Hemmings, and located the correct parts.
$350 (total) later I had the setup on my car and realized it made no
difference. I was convinced at the time it was because I had 2V heads.
My mechanic friend convinced me the money would be better spend on a set
of 4V heads, manifold, and a larger carb. I sold the car, w/o the Ram Air
setup. Later, I sold the Ram Air parts to a guy for $500.

Ram air simply brings cooler air to the fuel mixture, which should result
in more Oxygen in the mixture. Yes, there is an increase in hp, but it's
rather small. Many cars feature some type of hood scoop for just this
purpose, but IMHO on the street it has little value. Looks aside, I've
heard claims about dropping times at the drag strip, and many other won-
derous things. I think you'd do more performance improvement with a tall
open element air cleaner & a K&N filter.

BTW, don't loose the plastic honeycomb pieces. They keep water from
getting in the engine compartment. If you remove them, just to get
more air to the motor, you end up with rust everywhere underhood.


---------------------------------------------------------------
John M. Dettori 86 SVO (2.3l IT)
Divisional VP, Program Trading 70 Mach I (351C-4V)
Paine Webber, Inc. 67 GT conv (289-4V)
New York, NY <reserved 4 67 GT500>
212 713 4683
(email redacted)
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