Finally got my 81 restomod project moving again and its time to make some decisions. I am going with the L88 hood scoop and air box, cheaper than a new L88 hood and no hood to dispose of when I am done. Paragon has complete air cleaner kits for about $180, but which one to get? Does one year or another work better to fit the Quadrajet carb? Also keeping the E4ME carb, but I think the air horn opening is about the same on all of them.
TIA

 

What's being offered? Seems to me 68-69 is what you want. Since all L-88s had huge Holley's, you may be on your own matching things to the E4ME.

 

Looks like they have the 67 427 L-88, their number 2517K $170 and 68 to 69 L-88 430 hp kit their number 1629K $180. Might have to call them and ask, of course I don't know what the air horn measurement on my carb is..
Grrr

 

the off set in engine location is different between BB`s and SB motors and L88 hoods were designed for the BB and not a SB.....so I would think that there is some minor alignment problems as I have seen a lot of pictures with the hood on the SB powered Vettes....a popular conversion so there must be an answer

 

Danny...glad to hear you are almost there with your ride. Sorry have not dropped by to say "hi". Here are pics of my setup that was on the old red 69 you helped me with that really gave me a huge step forward to doing all the work on my own with my vette that I still owe ya a beer or two







btw...I did not order/use the "special" L88 base as the black foam sealer ring fits perfectly around the stock base. This saved me some good $$$. I had the breather pipe re-welded more downward to match up the angle better of the hose and it worked perfectly you can see in some of the pics due to the 3/4" carb spacer which I needed to lift up the base to seal with the hood and also I could feel a nice seat of the pants increase in HP too with the carb spacer. I did have an aftermarket dual plane intake also.

 

Hey Rob, good to hear from you. I have been in Texas since January but back now and ready to get this thing moving again. I liked your setup so thanks for the pics. I have the stock carb with an Airgap intake so I know its going to be too high, will probably have to wait til I get all the parts together to see how it will set up inside. Bad news is Parqagon has them on a No Date Backorder. Don't worry about the beer, I have been making my own for 3 years now and have become a snob, come by for a few!

 

WooHoo! ZIP had the air cleaner kit so I ordered it and will have it Friday. Also got my rear bumber and the air box from Ecklers today and expect the hood scoop next day or so...

 

This is my set up.

If your air box is similar to this one, you'll find a 14" X 3" K&N filter will fit right in. You just have to work with it a little, but it's not tough as it's flexible and will "fold" enough to work in. I then went to Home Depot and got a package of 1 1/4" (I believe) window air conditioner open cell foam insulation. It will compress and fit in the small space between the filter and hood very easily, making a tight seal that will keep the filter in place.

In my case, the air box was about 1/4" above the foam seal on the bottom air cleaner "lid" (mines the standard L88 part). So, I added a little open cell foam of about 7/16" in height around the opening in the air box, and I now have a complete seal around the whole carb.

That 1/4" was a good thing, as it allowed me to use a 3/4" spacer to raise the screen and lid off the carb. If your carb has a horn on it for the choke flap, bend over and look how close the flap is to the underside of the lid. It's about 1/2" to 3/4". In other words, you've got all this air trying to be pulled into the primaries at WOT, and it hits the "wall" of the carb horn. Being able to raise the screen and lid off the carb will raise the lid off the horn and give you much better airflow. That's what the large clamp is on the bottom side of the screen; it keeps the screen attached to the spacer. If you had the parts in front of you, you'd could figure out why it's necessary. A little simplistic, but works really good. But, the spacing is critical clearance wise, and you have to be really careful not to accidentally poke a hole in your hood with the air cleaner mounting bolt.

 

Cool, thank you

 

Got my kit from Zips right on time. Got a couple issues so far.
The rear of the base contacts the front of the distributor cap. The original has a cutout back there, OK so I'll put a cutout on the new one.
Next, the fuel line from the filter interferes with the base, probably need a new fuel line and fuel filter assy, something that will take an AN90* fitting so as to rout the fuel line forward right out of the filter eliminating the hard fuel line. Suggestions for a setup?
Also, the TPS on the front of the carb is in the way. I don't plan on eliminating the CCC system, so I need a solution for this. Thought about heating the area with a torch and hammering in a dent from the bottom side, any other ideas?