Hood clearance - what a suprise

ski4evr

Well-known member
My stock autolite 1100 and air cleaner (the snorkel thing) come very close to hitting the hood already. I did the recommended mod - cut up another base as an adapter and then added on a Ford Racing 10" chrome air cleaner (with a 2" element). The setup squeaks right in there. Just under the hood. It is within 1/8" of the stock setup. Looks nice.

For a future mod: I found another Weber 38/38 and I still have the Clifford adapter (Weber to 1.5" carb throat adapter). I measured the height of the adapter/Weber and compared it to the height of the autolite 1100/stock carb spacer (the one with the heater hose running through it) and the adapter/Weber height is 1/2" taller than the stock setup. I think it's actually closer to 3/4"! There is no way it will fit under the hood. Has anyone done this set up? I didn't do an actual test fit. I merely used a ruler and eyeball to spec it out before I pull the stock setup off.

Also, the Clifford adapter does not have a 1.5" opening at the base. It is closer to 1.25" than it is to 1.5". Dremel time. Does everything have to be modified?! Frustrating.

ski
 
I just looked at Slades site again and I'm baffled at how an Offy intake and three autolite 1100's can fit under the hood of a 65 stang. Slade, did the Cobra oval air cleaner sit right on top of the carb throats (i.e. air would barely have room to get from the element and into the carb)?

ski
 
if i remember correctly, he had to A) cut it down an inch or B) cut it so that it was an inch tall

not sure
 
Correct, or very close. I had to cut the filter element down by about an inch for it to clear the front part of the hood with the Offy and 1100s. I set up the air cleaner so that the carb was basically sticking about 1/4" into the air cleaer area and that left about .75" between the top of the carb and the top of the air cleaner.

Make sense?

Slade
 
When I checked the clearance on mine, I used some oil-based clay. Make yourself four little points that sit on top of your air cleaner. Make them to resemble a stalactite or stalagmite (can't remember which is which), a wide base going up to a point at the top. Then you can close your hood very slowly to a point that you know will clear. When you raise your hood again you will see the clay is deformed representing the clearance that was left to the inside face of the hood. You can follow this process a few times. Each time, making your little clay mound smaller and smaller. If you are able to close the hood all the way you can measure the exact clearance by the remaining height of the clay.

Good luck, Ric.
 
It's a stalagmite. :wink:

A cigarette packet or two works fine for rough guessing - at approx 4×3×1 you can get a pretty good idea of what'll work. Allow 3/8" for engine movement during high torque situations or your aircleaner will "wop" the bonnet underside.

Cheers, Adam.
 
I did what 66200i6 explains, but I used the bubble gum I was chewing at the time (and promptly threw it away, lol) and it helped. I did the Cliffy adapter and 2300 carb with a H.O. 5.0 air cleaner. The cleaner I got had the right main part, but the lid was obviously not what came original. The part I needed wasnt as flat and was made of aluminum instead of steel. To fix it, I found an old lid from a Comet with a 200 and put it on the air filter itseldf...resulting in half ram air, half open filter, lol. Looked kool but it was purely to make it fit under the hood.
Matt
 
you CAN lower the engine with different engine mounts...might simplify the whole sha-bang

chaz
 
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