Anyone running an Air-Gap under their stock hood in a Firebird? Just wondering if it will fit with a drop base air cleaner.
Thanks

 

Thats a good question because i was thinking about installing one in my camaro under the stock hood I have a 350 c.i.

 

Well heres my experience. Tried it on the camaro failed miserably only had a little over about 1 inch between the top of the carb and the hood with a holley 4 barrel. The firebird on the other hand although i havnt tried it ive heard it will work. That might sound strange but because of the slope of the hood the firebird hood actually sits a little higher than the camaros in back. Although again thats what ive heard and never tried it on a firebird but i love the intake performs pretty good except it dosnt like cold weather too much.

 

On my Camaro I had to use a 1/2" spacer in between my Holly DP and Air Gap due to the vacuum fitting and it was pretty close. I decided to cut out the inner hood metal and haven't had any issues. Could weld up the loose ends if you're concerned about it I guess. I also have a dropped air cleaner. I've seen one on a Firebird and it looked like the center part of the air cleaner rubbed a little.

 

Performer Aip Gap has the same height as the Performer RPM, and the Performer RPM works under both hoods, so won't have any issues with an Air Gap either - you just have to find the right drop-base air cleaner. AND - you can't use a 3inch element - need a 2 in element. Of course I'm basing this off Edelbrock carbs - have no experience on carb heights with Holley. You also have to use the banjo fitting for the fuel line on the Edelbrock, along with a 1/2 in spacer between the carb and the drop base.

BUT - I also found another alternative. Spectre makes a 9 in diameter open air element cleaner with a 2 in element that is reuseable, sells on the shelf at Autozone for $30, and it fits - IF you take a long bolt with a few washers and a nut, run it through the entire unit put together, and tighten it slowly so as to bend the center hump in the top lid to flat instead of a hump, then you can use it (or any other open air housing) with a 2 in element with no fitment issues under a stock hood. The problem always seems to be that most top lids have a higher center, but if you bend that center hump down flat, then fitment works well.

I hated the dropped base housings - by the time the housing drops enough for the hood to clear, you are only getting 1/2 inch of air flow space - and it drops down around the carb so far that you can't even tell there's a carb (or anything else) under there. And I always hated the 14 in housings as they always rub a spark plug wire on the distributor.

Check out the Spectre - it's a nice cheap piece that works well. You can see it under my hood here - first post this page: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/auto...er-hood-2.html

Hope that helps!

 

My RPM air gap fits just fine under the stock hood, its also got brand new motor mounts so its not sagging any. Along with a holley dp, and a 3" air cleaner.

 

Thanks all. I'm currently running a performer air gap and have plenty clearance with a billit flat air cleaner lid. Allen headed screw that runs flush. With my current setup I just think the car would breath a bit better with the rpm instead of the performer. I'll do the clay thing to make sure. My BG has all the ports without the spacers so thats pretty helpful. The Edelbrock website says the performer is 3.72" in front and 4.92" in the back. The RPM runs 4.2" front and 5.25 in the back. Half inch higher. Just dont want to go with an aftermaket hood.

 

Oh - my mistake on the heights - sorry

I was thinking we were talking about RPM's, either air gap or performer - but you have a standard air gap. The heights of the RPM designated intakes are the same, and I have a RPM Performer. The RPM Air Gap is the same height as the RPM Performer - so either will fit under stock hood as I stated before - just might have to do some air cleaner housing changes as I stated.