I have a 1969 350 small block with a 1979 intake manifold and Quadrajet installed in my 1986 Trans Am. The air cleaner that came with the 350 is a 14" diameter by 3" tall, open element filter in a chrome housing. The hood will not close. Is there a 14" diameter filter that is shorter that will fit in my housing, so my hood will close?

 

You need a drop-base air cleaner...

 

or try the shorter filter. might be a STP(or Fram the label is red/blue/white) 3648. I saved that piece of label in my shop drawer in case I needed a replacement for whatever car that particular filter went on.

 

looks like that STP fits the edelbrock 14" OE

 

Will a 2" tall filter allow the hood to close?

 

It might, depends on the drop of the base part of the cleaner and the height of the manifold/carb.

 

My filter housing is not a "drop" style. I guess I'll try a 2" spacer of some kind to test it out. Otherwise, does a "drop" style filter housing with a 3" filter restrict the airflow any more than a 2" filter in my housing?

 

You have to watch out when using a drop-base air cleaner with a short filter because the lid will end up very close to the top of the carb, restricting the airflow.

 

Drop the base as much as possible ( they often hit the fuel inlet and might need to be "massaged" to fit best ) and then use the tallest air filter possible.

There's just not a lot of room - at all - under the Firebird Hood !

 

After some easy measuring, I bought a 14" Edelbrock 3/8" drop air filter housing that came with a new 3" filter. It fit perfectly, with no room to spare. I did have to change to a shorter filter rod, so it didn't poke up into the hood insulation. The housing easily cleared the Quadrajet carburetor on all sides. And, it looks great!