If you've been on these forums long enough, you may remember the Brian Greene "BG" Ram Air Kit. This kit created a smooth transition from the WS6 hood nostrils and sealed them to the airbox. At one point it was tested by one of the GM magazines and showed a gain of a few mph and a few dropped tenths in the 1/4 mile. Unfortunately due to production costs, it was discontinued in ~2008.


When I picked up a $99 Ender3 V2 3D printer on a whim last year, I decided it would be a fun project to create a similar system. My goal was to come up with something simple that did not require drilling additional holes (after removing baffle rivets) since these hoods are going for $1500+ today. The first prototype I came up with in July 2023 was a simple “nozzle” from the ram air grille inward:








This was a nice simple design, but in order to incorporate a seal to the airbox I decided it made more sense to just have it mount from the rear. I went through dozens of iterations of a single-piece "snap-in" design, but it was difficult to balance a tight fit and damage during removal. A whole bunch of prototypes and a new 3D printer later:




I'm finally happy enough with a design to share:





These are printed in ASA (basically ABS) which should be able to withstand the temperatures seen at this location. If I ever have an issue, I'll just reprint them in carbon fiber reinforced Nylon on Polycarbonate, but at this point I don't think it's necessary.

Installation is simple:
- Remove stock grilles
- Drill out rivets and remove baffles
- Pop in nozzles
- Assemble bases
- Insert foam (self-adhesive 1"x1/2" or 1"x3/4" closed cell foam)
- Reinstall stock grilles








These are some custom trim pieces I designed to minimize restriction, but you can reinstall stock honeycomb grilles as well:


Feel free to provide suggestions for improvements. I really just did this for fun, but I'd be more than happy to sell a few prototype sets to offset my investment in the printer and materials.

 

Looks great! I was an owner of the original BGRA system, I bought it shortly after buying my '00 WS6 in July of 2000. It was a great kit, but the channels weren't actually molded as nicely as yours. I would say that the gasket construction was more solid on the BG kit though (it was a solid formed gasket that was attached to a plastic backing plate which could be popped in and out - in place of which could be installed a rain blocker plate).

Just to clarify though, the performance improvement (in my case) was more like ~1mph in the 1/4 mile. I don't recall anyone (even in a magazine) gaining several MPH nor dropping off several tenths. The biggest change was the noticeable reduction in IAT readings (IAT would be just a few degrees higher than outside ambient, rather than being so close to engine bay temp). There's definitely a gain to be had, and you can probably tune a little more aggressively with the (consistently) lower IAT values (perhaps this is how the magazine got such a noticeable gain), but it wasn't a significant enough difference that I could actually "feel" it. Pretty much like doing an air lid, I'd say.

 

Thanks!

I considered adding some sort of rain baffle, but my car hardly ever sees rain these days. Maybe that’s something I’ll add eventually though.

Going through the old threads I saw a few mentions of 2mph and 2 tenths but agree it’s not going to be anything big, it’s really just for the novelty of making the hood as functional as possible.

 

Nice work dude!

 

Thanks!!

I've been following your thread for years. Your OEM Z06 setup was definitely part of the reason I jumped on these Ace Alloys when they popped up for sale locally:


It's amazing how many of the same issues and upgrades I've gone through too

 

how do the stock vents come out ? I have looked but not seeing it ....

 

What do you mean by "vents"? Do you mean the baffles?

 

the ducts inside the hood

 

The rear baffle needs to have the rivets drilled out. I think the inner baffles need to be cut out.

 

I haven’t watched the full video but this should explain everything:

I removed mine years ago but I don’t recall any cutting, I think I even saved the baffles for a while in case I decided to reinstall them. After you drill the rivets out there’s just some adhesive and then you have to find just the right angle to get the large baffle out.

 

I love that. It looks great!

 

Looking great! Most impressive!

Would it be possible to print with a honeycomb hex mesh? Like this?

 

Those are bad *** looking! Id like something like that for my SS hood.

 

Thanks!

If you’re just looking for a grille similar to OEM with a larger honeycomb, they wouldn’t be too difficult at all

 

This is great - awesome work! I bought a use BGRA kit years ago, even though I don't have a WS6. It was the fact that they were becoming so rare, that I thought I should grab it while it was available. It's currently on a buddy's car, but he's considering selling it and if so, the kit will come out.

I cut through the upper hood brace on my Formula hood to provide fresh airflow from the vents to the airbox, and my IAT's were consistently much lower than my friend's stock WS6 hood. After the BGRA kit, his IAT's were similar to mine. You might not see a tenth, but as the old LS1tech mantra goes, every little bit helps!

 

if you decide to sell any I will definitely buy one! but hopefully u could implement some rain baffles or a block off piece lmk

 

@RevGTO Is your buddy selling the BGRA kit?
If so I might be interested.

 

No, it's still on his car and will stay there until he decides to sell it, at which time I'll pull it. He has talked about selling it since he never drives it anymore, but for now it doesn't amount to much but talk. So don't hold your breath.

 

Didn't I see you selling these somewhere with a before and after installation dyno sheet.

I swear I did

 

@therealcreeper PM'd you - any chance you can make/sell me a set?