i was thinking of putting a six inch or four inch bolt on cowl scoop on my 86 trans am for clearance issues i was just wondering if i needed a special scoop to fit the shape of the hood or if any scoop will do the trick

 

I don't think you will find a bolt on cowl that will fit the firebird hood, Most bolt on cowls are made for flat hoods and our are not so flat.

 

so i would need a one piece hood then? there is no way to put any sort of scoop on there? im just having probles with my hood shutting with the air cleaner on. and i read cutting a hole in the hood lets too much air to the carb so it messes up the air to fuel ratio....so thats out

 

There is a way to mold in a cowl onto our hoods, But first do not believe that about cutting a hole in the hood lets too much air to the carb so it messes up the air to fuel ratio. That is wrong.
To install a cowl hood you will need to cut a hole in your hood, Get a fiberglass cowl, one that and then trim off the mounting lip . You will also need to trim the cowl to fit the contour of your hood. Get it centered on your hood and mark its location, cut the hole you need inside those marks leaving at least an inch from the mark,Then using fiberglass mat and resin mold the scoop from the inside to the hood, and let it set up. After it has set up use some fiberglass mat and resin to the outside to secure the scoop to the hood, after it has set up sand with 100 grit sand paper, then get some fiberglass filler with the short hairs and use it like you would regular body filler, Sand this down like any filler, then use some regular filler to help smooth out any imperfection and prep for paint, This is the best way to install a fiberglass scoop or cowl on a metal hood and not end up with it cracking or separating .
This is how I mounted my ZL1 cowl hood scoop, my fender flares and fiberglass GFX

 

how close is the hood to closing? anything bigger than about a 1" bump will look goofy on a Firebird..

have you tried cutting out the bracing on the bottom of the hood to see if that gains you enough room? also try different air cleaner bases..