69Laurentian wrote:

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Great looking LeMan's. I actually prefer the early round headlight models over the 76-77's.
Todd

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Thanks 69Laurentian, I'm  throwing up a shot with the NASA hood in progress and my daily driver.









-- Edited by 73SC on Monday 17th of August 2009 10:46:11 PM

I remember wanting to get one of those hoods for my dad's Lemans. Rare as heck. I like those Olympic edition LeMan's that came out in '76 with the red and white two tone. I think they had the NASA hoods as well? Your next challenge will be to make those scoops functional!
Todd

-- Edited by 69Laurentian at 07:18, 2008-03-20

Carl Stevenson wrote:

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I think if you poke around a bit you will find the hood is actually called a NACA hood, not NASA. I forget what it stands for, but I know it's a pet peeve of some guys that it is often called by NASA rather than NACA.

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You are correct in that it is a pet peeve of some guys. No matter what it is called it always stirs up conversation. In fact these style of scoops were developed by the US under NACA - National Advisory Comittee for Aeronautics which existed from 1917 - 1958. Then NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration took over from 1958 to present and is the short form generally used today.

All marketing materials I have ever seen from GM Canada and in particular the dealer brochures refer to these as NASA style hoods. I have never seen a piece of GM literature refer to them as NACA. So in the end the style of scoops were developed by NACA but for marketing reasons GM decided to call them NASA in their marketing materials.

There are two styles of this hood, one with cowl louvers and one without. The one with cowl louvers is "correct" for 1973 and part of 1974 then these louvers were removed. The one I have is the later style but it is stamped 1973 on the underside. I understand that service replacement hoods had no louvers. Originally they were standard on the GTO in 73 and optional on the Grand Am and LeMans. They were offered through 1975 as an option. Production figures show 4,806 73 GTO's for North America so that number for sure were produced in 73, making this one rare part. In 1975 a LeMans GT in the red and white paint scheme was offered with these hoods, Blue and white in Quebec only. These are generally known as "Cup" cars. The red and white 76 Olympic Edition did not have this hood since 75 was the last year they were offered.

Anyway your description of Pet Peeve fits these well. Probably could start a thread on them as this is not the only question about these hoods. It has never really been determined whether the scoop inserts were black or body colour leaving the factory as examples of both have been found. Some think it was dependent on what plant made them. For me I think they should be black since I have never seen an Oshawa car that was otherwise.




-- Edited by 73SC at 11:48, 2008-03-20

-- Edited by 73SC at 11:59, 2008-03-20

Great looking car. I had a 74 Sport Coupe in 78 with a 400 Pontiac. I grew up in Mount Forest and at the same time there was a 75 cup car, a 75 GT with a 455 4 speed and a 73 GTO with a 400 4 speed. I wish I would have bought one of the 4 speed cars when they were for sale. I ended up trading my SC for a 69 Beaumont. When most people were trading up in years I was going the other way. I guess things haven't changed much today.

this is my father in laws 73 olds 4 speed car



-- Edited by 73SC on Monday 17th of August 2009 10:47:33 PM

guy i worked for back '78-'80, friend of his had a '73 455 auto cutlass we serviced for him. man that thing would fry the tires easily.

we have been in contact with a cutlass club in the states,they cant give any numbers for the car,ive seen a few 442 s with a 4 gear ,not too many 350 four gears on the cutlass s line though.its funny cause when he first bought it i didnt think it was all that much,70s car and all,now years later its way rarer than any of my cars.plus it has swivel buckets,really cool







-- Edited by 73SC on Monday 17th of August 2009 10:48:11 PM