It's pretty well known among thirdgen F-body enthusiasts that the Camaro has a bit more hood clearance than the Firebird.
My question is; does anyone here know exactly how much more hood clearance the Camaro has?
I'd also like to know if the hood on the Firebird will clear the cowl induction air cleaner if an intake manifold that is 3/8" to 1/2" taller than the stock intake is installed...

 

It's not an issue of "how much" the hoods are different, like one is an inch different from the other or something simple like that. They're actually a considerably different SHAPE. Some parts of the hood are at the same height in the 2 cars, but others are not. The Bird hood kinda slopes down more in the front and is a bit flatter as it goes over the front of the engine and the radiator, where the Camaro hood is kinda more bulged up front. The engine also tilts BACK, meaning that the front of the engine (all parts thereof that are in front of the engine mounts) slopes UPWARD toward the front and thus are higher than the back, which means that the larger the air cleaner dia, the more likely it is to hit the hood. Plus, not all intake manifolds hold the carb at the same angle, so it makes a big difference WHICH manifold it is. In fact, I'd almost be willing to bet that if you could put a spacer under the carb that was a wedge, such that it raised the back of the carb and tilted the front of the air cleaner lid down, the front might get lowered enough, to make a big difference. There's usually plenty of clearance at the rear anyway.

Also, if you lower the rear of the transmission in any way for any reason by any means, that will raise the front edge of the air cleaner lid, by increasing the tilt.

In short, lots of variables, and no real good "one size fits all" answer.

 

my trans am hood was having mild clearance issues at the intake. I have a profile xt intake, it's like a LS style setup. I asked my body guy to clearance it well when the car was in paint. It you look at the main brace in the middle of the hood, he flattened/cut and braced the support to clear the throttle body.

sofa is so right about the slope of the hood and the raising/lowering of the trans.

years ago I machined an air cleaner base so it has a slight tilt down to add clearance at the front of the air filter, the area over the thermostat housing. My Camaro friends had less issues!

 

Thanks for all the good information. I'm still wondering if anyone with experience can tell me if the firebird hood will tolerate 3/8" to 1/2" more height...

 

That's gonna be close. Are you looking to stick a taller air filter in a stock housing, or an all new air filter housing? Do you still have the hood insulation? Stock intake and engine mounts?

 

Stock air cleaner. Looking at a Edelbrock 3701 intake manifold. It's no more than 1/2" taller. Maybe 3/8".
I don't have hood insularion, and the motor mounts are stock (and fairly new)...

 

In the past I've used little model clay/playdoh *****/cones in the areas I'm concerned. If you put a bunch of 1inch clay ***** around your air filter top you'll know where you have room and where you don't.

your probably good w 1/2 inch but it will be close in spots.

 

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