driving with out a hood - NJFBOA - Home of New Jersey's Camaros and Firebirds

heavy_chevy29 · 07-25-2005, 05:13 PM

is it illegal to drive in new jersey without a hood. it would just be locally. i have a feeling that it is but i was just wondering if anyone knows.

Ian · 07-25-2005, 05:51 PM

I dont know. I thought that if you had an electric cooling fan that you could, but I dont really know.

V · 07-25-2005, 06:28 PM

as far as i know, it is illegal. i did it once just around the block at my old shop when i had my 84 z28 and didnt feel like putting the harwood liftoff back on for the test drive. but to drive anymore than that im sure i would have been stopped and probably towed.

heavy_chevy29 · 07-25-2005, 06:44 PM

i figured that it was illegal but just wanted to check. dam, i guess im going to have to wait a while

12secondv6 · 07-25-2005, 06:51 PM

W/O an air cleaner.... yes.

You must have a carberator arrester <--- BS

Also.... w/o a hood can be considered (by the officer) an unsafe vehicle... which is potential ticket.

I am not aware of an official law that says "you must have a hood on your car" but.... there are ways of giving tickets FOR DAMN near everything!

I have asked 3 town officers.... they all said they would give tickets for it... "unsafe vehcile."

Tru2Chevy · 07-25-2005, 09:51 PM

Our friend Marcus used to drive around with no hood on his (70 or 71) GTO. He had a big ole roots-type on top, so there was really no point for the hood....

- Justin

07-25-2005, 10:09 PM

theres a monte and a camaro that run around with big roots style blowers and no hood... as far as i know they have no problems

9secfirebird · 07-26-2005, 11:14 AM

a cop would have to be a real dick to give someone a ticket while driving around in a classic or show car.

Fasterthanyou · 07-26-2005, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 9secfirebird

a cop would have to be a real dick to give someone a ticket while driving around in a classic or show car.

Is that's supposed to be unusual? I've driven around the block without a hood a couple times. I don't see the harm in it nore do I remember there being a law about it. If anything, it's easier to put out the fires without a hood

jims69camaro · 07-26-2005, 01:57 PM

i couldn't find anything under Title 39 of the New Jersey law resource (pertains to motor vehicles) with specific language banning the use of a motor vehicle on the road if it didn't have a hood. i do agree that cops can get fairly creative when writing tickets and most people are ill-equipped to fight those tickets by themselves in the court system.

i would like a cop to back up the presumtion that a car is unsafe merely because it doesn't have a hood. especially if it's a fuel injected vehicle with a closed system (unlike a carburetor that's open to the air). it'd be one for the lawbooks, that's for sure.

funny how most cops don't enforce the laws that are already on the books, though, like the ban on hand-held cell phones. and i heard some cops would laugh if they put a ban on smoking while in your car in the laws - they say there are far more dangerous things that motorists engage in while driving (smoking related to only one percent of the 39,000 traffic accidents last year - i haven't seen cell phone numbers yet). if someone is involved in an accident while talking on their cell phone, how likely are they to admit to it once the cops arrive on the scene? same thing with smoking...

heavy_chevy29 · 07-26-2005, 04:26 PM

i talked to a guy at my work and he said that there is no law against it but i could get an unsafe vehicle ticket(anyone know how much that it). he said that if the belts are covered than im fine. the only reason i ask is because i want to bring it to a local cruize night. its about 4 miles from my house. its probably going to be another 2-3 weeks until i get a hood that fits.i really just want to drive the dam thing.

Squirrel · 07-26-2005, 10:59 PM

if its only 4 miles from your house than dont worry about it, youll be fine

Slow Z · 07-26-2005, 11:37 PM

I was told by a cop that you can drive without a hood as long as you have an air cleaner and a radiator support

Ian · 07-27-2005, 12:30 PM

yeah, you just need a shroud around the cooling fan, and something to keep flames from shooting out of the carb. besides, you're going to a car show, I doubt you'd get in trouble

Fasterthanyou · 07-27-2005, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 12secondv6

You must have a carberator arrester <--- BS

Even with EFI you need a flame arrester (air cleaner). EFI isn't any different than carbs except that the fuel is introduced further down stream of the throttle body... can still shoot flames, ask me how I know.

Savage_Messiah · 07-27-2005, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fasterthanyou

Quote:

Originally Posted by 12secondv6

You must have a carberator arrester <--- BS

Even with EFI you need a flame arrester (air cleaner). EFI isn't any different than carbs except that the fuel is introduced further down stream of the throttle body... can still shoot flames, ask me how I know.

how do you know

Fasterthanyou · 07-27-2005, 04:38 PM

I blew apart a very expensive custom carbon fiber intake for our FSAE race car that shot the air cleaner across the room with a tail of fire... wasn't my fault. The guy that was showing me how to build the engine installed the cams incorrectly so we had no compression and the intake valve was opening when we commanded spark. Exhaust valve closed... yeah, only one way out.
It wasn't a huge deal because the intake was our first of 3, the one that eventually got coated with an epoxy to seal all the holes

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