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Hood Clearance Quandry

H

Hijinx

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Ok, I am putting the finishing touches on my Christmas engine clean up project. Would have had everything completed today, except I couldnt find a heat riser gasket anywhere today. I have lots of pic's to post soon. The engine looks great with all the powdercoated and alumimum stuff!

Anyhow, to my issue at hand. Went ahead and put the carb and air cleaner back on, because it all just looks too tall. Did the high tech Claydo clearance check and I have at least 1/2 inch even using a 3 1/2 inch K&N element. So what's the problem, right? Well, when I put the cowl seal on the air cleaner I can hardly get the hood to close. It doesnt look that much taller to the eye. However, I have to really work to get the hood latched down.

Now, I know there has to be a seal for the cowl to work, and it will sti against the hood. However, I am a bit concerned about it causing the hood to crack. Does any have any thoughts on this? Any help would be appreciated. ;help
 
OK, come on guys. I know some of you have some ideas on this one for me. Chris?
 
I've been reading...

...but I have no skill to answer your dilemma.

However, I think you're on the right track being concerned your hood will crack. Under load the engine will 'flex' within the motor mounts...and if a motor mount breaks...bye, (crack) bye hood.

Did everything fit before?
What have you changed in the set up on top of the engine?
Can you get a shorter air filter system?
Silver
 
I'm not familar with your cowl induction set up. However IMHO if you had to work that hard to close the hood I too would be concerned about the hood cracking with the added stress of a flexing engine. I would opt for a shorter filter element to get the hood seal to a touch/low pressure contact with the hood. At least this way when the engine flexes the seal will have some give. In your current situation I suspect that the seal has no give left as it is already fully compressed. Just my .02 worth.
 
Where is that 1/2" clearance. Is it at the front of the air filter lid or at the front of the air seal ring. My cars are stock and the front of the seal is compressed to less then 1/2". So if that ring is raised any amount it is into the hood.

tom...
 
Silver, thanks I actually was not even thinkin' about engine movement. :( I knew I liked you folks for some reason.

As for the shorter element and where I have clearance. My air cleaner housing is built so that the top is smaller than the base. The top is actually exactly the size of the element (14 inches). The base is actually around 16 inches, which leaves a gap around the element. There is a ring that fits around the top of the base and it sits round 1/2 higher than the top and element. Hence, without it I have around a 1/2 inch clearance between the hood and the top of the air cleaner. When the cowl seal ring is slipped onto the base it causes clearance problems. I will post some pictures of the setup in a few days. I can run without the ring without any clearance issues.

I will post a reply if I fix it, find a solution or just to show everybody how it all sits. The engine looks great now anyhow and I cant wait to show it off.

Any other info would be great. Thanks
 
Hijinx
So without the ring you are okay? Something has changed to raise your carb. Did you change intakes? Or how about the spacer? Could you use a smaller spacer?

tom...
 
Well since you did the clay dough thing the only thing it could be is the latch bumpers.
 
I totally went through the top of the engine. The major change was that I replaced the intake with an Edelbrock Performer. From all the research I did, I should have been able to use my stock setup. I gave up today and ordered a new Holley Hi-Tek side draft style air cleaner. Mainly, the advice I got was correct. The stock air cleaner will fit under the hood with the changes I made, just not with the induction ring on it. So, sans ring. Thanks for the feedback.
 
to correctly compare intake heights measure diff bet carb base and dist base, compare to orig intake measurements. diff in measurements is increased/decreased height. i believe you will find the new setup to be higher.

also might check for ram-air trans am seal (late 70's or early 80's) i seem to recall using one of these and i think is shorter and maybe more flexible than vette item, diameter is the same (basically same setup as vette)
 

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