Hood Clearance

[Treblig]

Good (Cold) Morning,

Does anyone have any experience/advise on whether or not I will have any hood clearance problems using my RPM Airgap on the 318/390 stroker I'm building for my (stock hood) '69 Barracuda. I currently run a performer intake. I want to use the air filter (see pic) I currently have on the car if possible. I can't use the original stock air filter system because it was a two barrel.
Also will the RPM intake interfere with the factory A/C or any other factory accessories as seen in the pic of my engine compartment?

Thanks,
Treblig

 

[Fisher]

Put 4-5 balls of silly putty on the air cleaner and cloase the hood. See if it squishes it or misses it, measure the silly putt to determine how much hood clearance you have. According to Edelbrock site the rpm air gap is an inch taller than what you have now.

 

[Bad Sport]

And you could use a drop base and/or a thinner filter to gain some clearance if needed. I had to go to a 2" tall filter from a 3" when I put my Weiand intake on.

 

[Treblig]

What a great answer!!! I knew about the silly putty trick but I hadn't thought about using some on the set up I have then using that info to determine if the RPM would fit. I wanted to know if it would fit before I install with the 390 so that I can actually close my hood. If the Airgap is an inch taller I should have no problem determining if it will work. You also made me think about the fact that I'm also going to switch to Holley 750 instead of the current Edelbrock 600 so I guess I also need to check for any difference in carb height??

Thanks,
Treblig

 

[ibleedmoparts]

I'm running the air gap and Holley on my 340 duster, factory 1971 air cleaner with zero clearance issues. Btw, where is south Texas are you? I'm in San Antonio

 

[Treblig]

Bad Sport,
Thanks for the suggestion. I have used drop base filters before but I was hoping I could use what I have just to save money. But thanks for the suggestion anyway.:salute:

Treblig

 

[Treblig]

Ibleedmoparts,

That's good to know and that's exactly the type of info I need unfortunately I don't have an original 4 barrel filter system. I may have to find one if the one I have won't work (at least I'll know it works) or get a drop down...I always liked the way the original filters looked!! I'm in Corpus, you must also be freezing way up there in SA!!!
I'm going to try "Fishers" suggestion and see what I have.


By the way...do you also have factory A/C, nobody's answered my A/C clearance question about the RPM Airgap???
Thanks,

Treblig

 

[ibleedmoparts]

Pm me your email and I can send a picture and I can also measure how tall my air cleaner is. Yup, it's frosty up here!

 

[Treblig]

PM sent

Treblig

 

[fishy68]

Can't say anything about interference with the A/C compressor but I have a Eddy Air-gap on my 408 in my 68 Cuda. I even have a 1" spacer under the carb, but I did have to use a drop base to get it to clear with the spacer added to the mix. There is minimal room between the hood and air cleaner so I made sure the engine was going to stay down by using Schumacher Poly lock engine mounts.

 

[Treblig]

Thanks, Fishy!! Great info, so if you had to use a drop base to get it to clear with a one inch spacer then it should fit (on mine) without the spacer. You didn't say what kind of air cleaner you had?? Mine is in the previous pics. I took a trip to Walmart last night and bought some Playdough. I'll either use it to mold a pterodactyl with my grandson or I'll stick it on top of my fancy air cleaner and close the hood to see what happens.
Wish someone would chime in about the RPM airgap and my factory A/C???

You know I've made claims of being a machinist and a welder...but I Never claimed to be an artist!


treblig

 

[fishy68]

Your welcome Treblig. My air cleaner is a 14" x 3" K&N. The base on mine drops down quite a bit. At least an 1-1/2" so I think you'll probably still have to have a air cleaner with a little drop to it. A 1" drop should work but measuring like you are will tell for sure.

 

[Treblig]

Yes, I think it's going to be very close. I used the putty and I have (with my performer and Edelbrock carb) just about 1 1/2" of clearance above my air cleaner. If the Airgap is 1 inch taller it might fit but I don't want to take any chances.

Can anyone out there in FABOland can tell me if I'll have any problem with the RPM airgap and my my A/C as far as interference????

Treblig

 

[fishy68]

I don't know if this helps with your question about possible interference with A/C but here's a couple pictures of my engine with an Eddy Air-gap on it. It looks like to me there's plenty of room up front for the compressor as the coolant crossover looks pretty much the same on the air-gap as I remember a performer being but looking at your pics I think I see a bracket coming off the compressor on the rear pass side going back to the intake and if that's the case I don't see a spot on the air-gap to bolt it down. I can't say positively but judging by pics I think it'll work as long as you can work around the bracket issue.

If you'd like I can take some closer more detailed pics of it tomorrow and post them

 

[Treblig]

DAMN!!!! Fishy 68,

Your engine compartment makes my engine compartment look like CR@P!!! Of course mine is all original untouched as far as the paint goes. I'll look at the bracket more closely tomorrow. I really appreciate you posting pics of your beautiful car. Do me a favor, don't ever park your car next to mine so my car doesn't go off and hide in the corner.


Thanks again,
Treblig

 

[tekslk]

I have a 67 notch with the rpm air gap holley 770 street avenger and I use a 3x12 air filter. I have the hood insulater on my hood and I have no marks on it from the air cleaner. I dont think you will have any issues.

 

[fishy68]

DAMN!!!! Fishy 68,

Your engine compartment makes my engine compartment look like CR@P!!! Of course mine is all original untouched as far as the paint goes. I'll look at the bracket more closely tomorrow. I really appreciate you posting pics of your beautiful car. Do me a favor, don't ever park your car next to mine so my car doesn't go off and hide in the corner.


Thanks again,
Treblig

My car is like me. Takes a good picture but when you see it in person you get disappointed, LOL....

If yours is original paint it looks dang good. Hard to find originals that look that good anymore. Mine sure wasn't when I got it.

 

[Treblig]

Thanks Tekslk,

I'll be looking under the hood today to check my AC bracket. I also have a hood insulator and my air cleaner leaves a round impression on it (nothing major). While I'm there I'll also measure my air cleaner height and diameter to compare.


Thanks,
Treblig in Tex

 

[flyfish]

Yeas ago I had an Airgap on my 67 Barracuda, 360, with a 750dp, 1/2 nitrous plate + 1" spacer....I used a dropped base (I think it was 1.75" drop, cost less than 20 bucks)...just barely cleared with all that.

 

[Treblig]

Fisher was right!!! According to Fisher and the Edelbrock web site the RPM airgap is one inch taller than the performer. Armed with this info I borrowed a performer from a friend who is selling his. I put them next to each other on a flat surface and you can see the pics for yourself.

"tekslk" had it right also, " I have a 67 notch with the rpm air gap holley 770 street avenger and I use a 3x12 air filter. I have the hood insulater on my hood and I have no marks on it from the air cleaner. I dont think you will have any issues."

My air filter is 3 X 10, same height as tekslk. When I used the putty to check for clearance I got about 1 1/2 inches clearance to the hood with the Performer (hard to measure putty accurately). So if the Holley is the same height as the edelbrock I should have 1/2 inch extra. If it does hit it wouldn't be by much and a simple 1/2 inch drop base would fix the problem (or a 1/ 2 inch shorter filter).

As for the A/C. I measured the distance from the forwardmost bolt hole nearest the A/C bracket on the Performer then I measured the RPM airgap. The RPM airgap has 1/16 more material in front of the bolt hole. But since the A/C bracket isn't located directly in front of the intake it should clear. worse case scenario I would maybe have to shave a little off (very little, if any).

So thanks for everyone's help, input and suggestions...I think I have this one solved. Only 1000 more problems to go to get my 390 stroker and 200R4 into the Cuda!!!


PS - anyone want to buy my friends Performer?? It's been blasted and clear coated and is in very nice shape. I can post more pics since I have it here at the house.

Treblig in Tex

 

[doogievlg]

I think it's different with every car honestly. It sounds dumb but I have a friend running the same combo in a dart and his fit fine. I put the same intake and carb on my car and I had to run a drop base. The hood would close but it still hit. Put it on and cross your fingers!