holley projection with 7.4L GM TB with edelbrock billet oval AC.
mocked up without gaskets it hits hood slightly(84 vette).

option #1 is to mill manifold top surface. costly? pick up 1/8 inch. may not be enough.

option #2 is to mill the top of AC and remove the pretty groves plus not use the large knurled plastic nuts. use a flat nut or acorn nut.

option #3 is to use flat aluminum plate with acorn nut 1/8 inch thickness.

keep in mind had to use oval AC to clear the throttle linkage. a flat AC hits linkage and a spacer would not provide any clearance. drop hits linkage as well.

any ideas??

 

I actually bent the bottom flange on my air clearner in order to tilt the air cleaner forweard. This allowed everything to clear. Depending how your ac is hitting and what it is made out of it might work. I just pushed really hard on one of those cheapy stamped steel cleaner bases and the little lip that actually seals to the TB bent over and gave me the clearance needed. If you want you could trim that lip down or even at an angle to do the same thing I did with my getto rig aproach.

 

Is this air cleaner one of the cast aluminum ones? How much clearence do you need with a standard air cleaner? I got some extra clearence around my holley pod by beating one of the cheapo sheet metal ones with a ball peen hammer to round it to the right shape.

 

You can also screw in the intake stud a bit to help the wing nut clear.

 

This worked for me in getting clearance for a non-drop OA element. The problem now is the stud is now getting stripped. This part appears to be discontinued by GM parts.

 

thanks. found a summit AC that is oval. 3/4 inch shorter top/bottom. 2.75 vs 3.5 inch. the only issue with that is clearance to pod on the TB. we measured about 3/4 inch to pod to edelbrock bottom of air cleaner top. this summit will cut it close but give me room so hood does not rub. with edel in place it barely touches.

 

I'm going to assume the $250 low-pro holley air cleaner is not an option?

 

absolutely. saw it at summit. actually i gained some clearance this noon by removing a "tang" hanging on throttel linkage on TB. the summit i referenced is wider than edelbrock so it will be close to bottom of AC base as far as throttle cable when butterflies open. i trade off pod clearance with hood clearance. another option is a plastic pod that fits on top of TB and tubing routes to cold air with a filter there. that is a KN product for trucks BUT not for a modded vette for sure. also procharger offers a bonnet with the same idea.

 

Those bonnets might actually sit taller. When I installed this intake I just screwed in the bolt as far as it would go and bought a 2 1/2" tall element, everything clears fine for me. Must be a different story with the Vette, in that you need an oval shaped one. Did you say how tall of an element you're using, I didn't catch that?

 

flat base. tried a 3.00(edel) and a 2.75 inch(summit) oval. . unless i use the air cone(?) that comes with stock GM TB it hits the linkage. that lift the AC assembly 1 inch(?). with the cone in place i need a drop style and then the hood hits. i found a 2 inch flat element and a 2.5 inch drop base which i have not tried. think i am going ram air with $100 unit i saw at summit(truck TB) and then somehow link to c4 TPI ram air set up. combo so to speak.