Installed my reman. Edelbrock carb this weekend, and my big ass thunderbird air cleaner will no longer fit. I'm kind of pissed. I liked it a lot. This is on a 390, but pics on any V8 will do. I'm just looking for ideas outside of the cliche round chrome thing.
Is there any way to modify that aircleaner to fit the Edelbrock carb? I am not familiar with that aircleaner... but maybe there is a way to keep it?
Well, I looked at doing that. Odd situation. The factory carb sat longways front to back. I put an Edelbrock on it, as it was cheap and I'd read good things about them. They're longer side to side, and don't fit the indentation in the T-bird air cleaner. I'd have to cut a pretty good size chunk out of it on 2 sides to make it fit, and i'm not sure I want to do that, as I may go back to a holley-type carb in the future, and then I'll be able to use it again.
try the bottom part [base] of an aftermarket aircleaner that fits the new carb, then the air filter element that came with the aftermarket base. trim the bottom of the t bird air cleaner so that it will fit down over the carb and linkage, and use it for the top of the new air cleaner.
Hey! That's not a bad idea. I really didn't want to chop it up, but I guess I could look for another one, or at least the bottom of one. Not a bad idea at all!!!!
If you have the hood clearance, you can get an air filter spacer to raise the filter up and clear the carb. Holley makes a nice one, TransDapt makes some that are cheaper, but work ok.... several different heights as well. Set just the base down and measure the distance from the carb to the base... then get the closest larger spacer. Usually doesn't take much.... an inch or so. Don't forget...you'll need a longer stud too. If you don't like the way it fits on the carb or filter, FelPro makes a nice stick on gasket that will help quite a bit. Kamp
You can get spacers from throttle body equipped GM cars at the lcoal Pick-a-Part junkyards. Sometimes you'll find them laying around the yard in piles. Some are plastic, some aluminum, some stainless, and vary in height from an inch or so to fout or five inches. This would allow you to use your 'Bird housing.
On several of my heaps I use a combination of an after market base with a stock top. Find an aftermarket air cleaner that is a little smaller in diameter than your stock air cleaner, find a filter that fits the after market base and is the height that you want and use the top portion of your stock air cleaner as the top. With the stock top in place, you can't really tell that the base is not there and with the base open all the way around, you get great airflow.
Anything can be made to work. I modified some 57 Vette aircleaners to fit on a pair of Edelbrock carbs.
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