Install Pontiac Trans Am Hood Vents on a Turbo Regal Hood
After looking at our previous post where Pontiac Trans Am hood vents were merged onto various Turbo Buick Regals, we thought that would be a good mod to attempt to do.
Luckily, we found someone willing to let us hack up his car, oops, I mean perform this miraculous transformation into beastual decadence and dazzling detail…
Grafting the late 1980s Pontiac Trans Am hood vents onto a turbo regal looks semi-normal, even though this wasn’t a factory option.
They look sort of correct, since both these cars are of the same era. And they are functional as well, since the rear vents let heat escape from the engine compartment, and the fronts let fresh cool air in.
Note that these hood vents vary slightly in style depending on exactly what year they came from (available on 1985-1992 model T/A’s).
Buick purists may fret at doing an install of this nature, and I would tend to agree…
That’s IF the car you are putting them on has the factory stock type turbo regal hood on it.
They ain’t making any more steel hoods with the bulge in it for these cars, so chopping one up for this use could be detrimental in the future value of your car, so think long & hard before attempting such a task.
However! The 1987 Buick Regal Grand National that we are putting these on, has an aftermarket buick fiberglass hood that was previously installed! So it’s all good! (at least in OUR minds!)
I have to admit, I think these trans am hood vents look better on a light colored Gbody car than they do on a black car, (specifically if the louvers are painted black), but that’s only my opinion, and only perhaps because they stick out more… meaning they’re way more noticeable. Especially if you’re into the wow factor. Not that that’s necessarily a good or bad thing.
They are pretty different looking though, even when installed on a black buick grand national (black on black). It does give the turbo buick a tough, mean look though. And as I’ve stated before, your car, your choices…
Parts:
~ Can of gloss black paint ($8 autozone)
~ double sided tape [about 10 feet] ($10 autozone)
~ 4 vents (ebay $75)
~ masking tape (whatever kind you have laying around is ok, but 1.5″ works great)
~ 2 sheets of 8.5×11 paper
~ epoxy [glue; weld; something to bond fiberglass to itself] ($6 autozone)
Tools:
~ cutoff wheel
~ file
~ tape measure
~ pen
~ scissors
~ straight edge
~ razor knife
Time to Completion:
~ the better portion of a day
Here’s the how-to on the installation:
{NOTE: the pictures show the mesh screens, tabs & clips still attached, as a visual reference, but you should follow the directions below & disassemble everything}
[when we did this installation, we actually had all of those still in place, but discovered later they aren’t needed, & it’s easier to take it all apart from the get go]
1a. Considering you will probably buy these used (these were acquired off ebay for about $75), there’s a bit of prep work needed on them to make them fit onto your turbo buick.
You’ll also need to wash them so the new paint you put on them sticks!
1b. First step, remove all of the mesh screens. (the fronts are held in place via 5 cut thread nuts & the rears are clipped on in 3 spots). Remove the 2 metal clips off each rear vent & discard (they won’t fit on the turbocharged Buick hood).
1c. Front louvers: cut off the 2 tabs on the top (the ones with the holes in them) + the center tab & the bottom 2 posts as well. Make sure you cut flush (or sand down) these areas so they are flat like the surrounding surfaces.
1d. On the rear vents (the long & skinny ones) remove (cut off) the 4 tabs at the top of louver {the hood won’t sit inside them since the fiberglass is thicker than the steel Trans Am hood}.
1e. Depending on what shape your vents are in, consider sanding them down (a little or a lot) so the new paint adheres.
2. after you clean them, do these next few steps first (creating a template). Then paint them & let dry while you’re doing the other steps & they’ll probably be ready later on when it’s actually time to install them! (helps to do it on a sunny day).
3. take 2 sheets of 8.5×11 paper & cut into 1″ strips.
For one sheet, cut 1″ x 8.5″ strips. For the other sheet, cut 1″ x 11″ strips.
(you’ll get 11 strips out of one & eight from the other).
Make sure you use a paper cutter, etc., as you need the cut edges to be straight, since you’ll be using these edges as a guide when you cut the hood.
[if you have legal sized 8.5″ x 14″ paper, that works good too, create 12- 1×14″ pieces]
{you could also just do steps 3-? by cutting out of piece of cardboard and using it as a template as well, but make sure you have straight edges on the inside as well as the outside so you have some sort of guide as to where to cut the holes in the hood!}
(we chose to use the paper strip method so we could visually see where the inside holes & outside guidelines would be when placed onto the hood {later steps} ).
4. If you used 8.5×11 paper, take 4 of the longer strips & tape the ends to 4 of the shorter strips. (so you end up with 4 pieces 19.5″ long).
Make sure they are straight (length wise). A bit of overlap on them is ok (they need to be at least 16″ long).
5a. Starting with one of the rear vents, place one of the 19.5″ strips under all 4 of the tabs (where the grill is).
[when laying the strips down, try & keep them as tight up against the vents as you can, if the hole is too small, thats fine, you can always make the hole bigger in your hood, but if its too big to start with, well…]
5b. on the other side, do the same. Make sure the paper rests up against the plastic tab (where the pen points) & NOT the metal tab!
[it’s useful to temporarily tape this paper to the vent!]
5c. using 1 of the 8.5 long strips, cut it in half length wise (1″x4.25″) & complete the box frame around the vent by taping all 4 pieces together.
5d. flip it over & write on the template which side vent this is.
6. do steps 5a-5d for the other rear side vent.
7. now, do the front 2 vents. (the square-ish louvers). start with the top (the side that has the 2 tabs). use an 11″ strip. insert the paper under the tabs. (flush up at the top, where the tabs would have been)
next, use an 8.5″ strip to do each side. Tape them to the top piece.
For the bottom, use one of the 11″ papers.
You want to line the paper up with where the curve (the slope) comes off the opening (from the other side).
Flip it over, and again, mark down for which side this goes on.
8. ok, for the front vents, where I have marked the stars on the papers, as shown in the below pic, these are the sides where you will line these up with the seam that runs down the middle of your hood. 
[later steps, shown for reference here].
{the stars go on the side that is straight, the vent openings face towards you}
the second pic, same deal, these are the rear vents, stars indicate which sides you will use to measure up against the outside hood lines.
{the stars go on the side that has the mesh insert}
you might want to mark your own templates with stars for easy reference!
{the pics show a positional view of the vents as if you are standing in front of the car looking at the hood}
9. your templates are almost done. Using a bending & twisting motion, you should be able to remove them from off of the vents (keeping them taped together in a box shape). set aside for now.
10. Now is the time to paint everything. Be sure to do both sides! {start with the back side, the top is more important!}
11. Fun time! It’s almost time to cut holes in your hood! (yikes! don’t screw it up!!)
You need to decide exactly where to place all the pontiac trans am vents on your buick regal hood.
Thats what the templates are for.
You can position them pretty much anywhere you like, but be aware of the inner support structure of the hood.
We chose to position the fronts (almost) half way between the hood bulge & nose of the hood. Seems like a visually appealing spot.
(and mostly beneficial, as too far forward on the regal hood puts the openings on the underside right on top of the core support; too far back looks funny because of the hood bulge & doesn’t let the cool air get directed towards the hot turbo).
12a. Once you have your 4 spots chosen, you’re going to be placing the templates on the hood in those spots.
You’re going to use the earlier created “stars” to line the holes up straight on the hood.
12b. For the fronts:
{this is exactly where we chose to position them, yours might be different, but the how to do concept remains the same, just use your own measurements}.
Standing at the front of the car, from the center hood line, using 1.5″ wide masking tape, lay down a 16″ long strip, halfway between the nose of the hood & the hood bulge, on both sides (left & right) of the hood line.
The hood line should not be visible after you lay the tape down, the edges of the tape will meet each other, over the top of the hood line.
Draw a straight line on the tape, 1/2″ out from the center (1/2″ out from the center hood line). Now draw another set of lines 3/8″ out from those lines (7/8″ out from the center hood line).
[the 2 horizontal lines you see on the tape is a center reference mark, approx 11″ from both the hood nose & the hood bulge]
Lay your 2 front vents down on the hood, using the 2 guidelines you just made. The edge of the vent should line up with the 1/2″ mark. The 3/8″ mark is where the cutout area will be.
