The cross fire was removed from my 82 as it no longer worked according to the previous owner. It has a 4 barrel Weber carburetor on it and some kind of funky air filter. I'm looking to put an open side type air filter but don't have a clue what to look for. It seems like the lower part must drop down to keep the top from hitting the hood. I've seen a lot of different housings but can't figure out where to start.

JT

 

One of the best "low clearance" drop bases for a carburetor is the one designed for use on the L88 engines. The one used on the 1970 LT1 C3 might be another close fitting base plate. I am using an L88 hood and the air box beneath it on my 1968 C3. With this combination I was able to make the carburetor have the correct sized air filter for the engine. Too many of the short air filters are not very good at flowing lots of air which an engine needs to run high speeds.

If you used a snorkel type air filter assembly then you might be able to incorporate a Cold Air intake which really helps the engine run better and makes more power with the cooler air. The snorkel might be the easiest way to get cooler air into the engine reliably. We have a few people who swear by the dual snorkel air filters and they have great experiences with them.

Pictures of this Weber carburetor would be helpful as would pictures of your existing air filtration system. This gives some folks a better idea of what you are dealing with. I am not familiar with a Weber four-barrel carburetor. I used many side draft Weber's but never a down draft unit.

There are air filters that pull air from the sides only that look a bit weird but they work. I am always trying to get the "coolest" air into the engine's combustion process to help make power and prevent detonation.

Some of the newer K&N air filters have lids that are actual filters and this helps draw air in from the engine compartment. There are many different options for good filtration and flow.

 

A Weber is a rebranded Carter with a 5 1/8" air horn diameter. I would recommend a Summit air cleaner. I use this on my 82 also with a intake manifold height of 4.595". However you will need to cut a hole the CFI fresh air ductwork or remove it entirely which is what I did. While it's not cold air it has little restriction and it's simple.

 

Thanks for the information, now I have something to go on... as soon as I get the front suspension done I'm going to remove that CFI duct work.

JT

 

The air cleaner I meant to link you to is This one. I saw your front end suspension thread, very nice work your doing. Removing the the CFI fresh air ductwork is a PITA. I'll pass along how I did it. First used a cut off wheel to removed most of the ductwork. Next I used a belt sander to grind down the remaining ductwork until I got it paper thin. At that point the sanding action heated up the bonding agent to where was soft enough to get a razor blade under the paper thin ductwork to remove the rest. I used auto body filler to fill in any gouging and rattle can some flat black paint.

 

I might try my heat gun to see if that loosens the adhesive, I'm assuming the hood is fiberglass and the duct is plastic?

JT

 

We just did this on another thread... I cut mine with a dremel and a 2" cutting wheel while still on the car, the fresh air intake still works-I permanently opened the door...That's a 2" drop base air cleaner... works fine...

 

That's a 2 inch drop base air filter and it works fine???
Compared to what?

 

Can't post photos properly so ta heck with it

 

Army, I think you're leaving some horsepower on the table with that air cleaner. You want as much clearance between the air horn and roof of the air cleaner. That's a air gap intake, correct? That's a 1/4" lower than mine so you could definitely run a 3" drop base air cleaner.

 

IF i was ever to do a CFI delete, i'd keep the hood tunnel like Army has, dremel the tunnel opening for a 14" cleaner, and use a 3" drop base with filter top to draw that cold air from the tunnel in thru the TOP

 

Yeah, I know what you mean and you may be correct. I think 2" all the way around is good, as long as you have that two inches inside around the horn of the carb and I do. I measured that air cleaner with play dough, inside and hood clearance, the front is real close to the hood not mention the top. I have one of those filter tops and it hits, I bought two different drop bases-(this one has less drop than the other), 3 lids, filters, I even found a 10" to better fit the curve of the hood..no go with 3"-(anyone what my leftover air cleaner parts?)..

I had a fuel percolation problem and was getting fuel in the oil, when I got the car it was so diluted I was afraid of engine damage. To fix it I used a heat deflection plate and phenolic spacer, and a return line, the carb runs very cool now. Along with those I also have a Bowtie Overdrive TV cable bracket which mounts under the carb. Add in the 4 extra gaskets and the carb is raised about an inch...

Best I could do with what I have, if the intake ever comes off I'd certainly look into a lower one... Thanks!

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It was a form over function decision to remove the fresh air ductwork. I was going for the clean, under the hood look over a few extra horsepower.
Army, what carburetor do you have on there?

 

Skids,

I'd have to look for sure but I think its a 4160/600cfm Holey-been a few years since I messed with it. I have it tuned very well, zero throttle hesitation and the secondaries deliver the goods when I get on it. Engine is a Blue Print 355, dyno'd at 322HP/388ft-lbs, 9.5:1, If I keep my foot out of it I can get 13-14MPG around town. Did a little racing this summer and the car held it's own against similar street competition including my buddies son's turbo'd 5.0 mustang. We were window to window when we ran out of road, If I had a 1st gear selection for the 700r4 I might have had him by a few...lol

Why did you ask...have an idea?

60

 

I couldn't tell what carburetor your had on there from the picture. I thought it may have been a Quadrajet. A few months ago I was watching Uncle Tony's garage and he mentioned that the Quadrajet was the worst for fuel perculation problems. In fact it was so bad that it was mandatory to run a cool can with that carburetor at the track. He said the problem with fuel perculation stems from the floatbowl being centrally located.

 

Oh-got it, The bowls on the Holey got so hot you could not touch them, now they are much cooler...Oil is good and it starts right up under any conditions.

I noticed in your pics you now have a blue print engine...when did you do that, last I saw you had just redone the EFI on the stock engine?

60

 

Zero drop, actually 1/2 Inch rise.

14 × 3 sitting over the top of the factory ignition shielding. This flows.

 

Yes, it worked good at first. Then it started to suck oil between the heads and TPI baseplate along with the Megasquirt started acting up. After the third time replacing the intake manifold gaskets and regretting not doing a roller cam or having a 4 bolt main block, I decided to go with a Blueprint engine and Tremec TKX. I love this combination.
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I looked into the Summit TBI system a while back. It has slightly less height then most carburetors.

 

I cut out the ductwork for the crossfire quickly while I had a friend to help take the hood off and back on. I was concerned about clearance so I put a camera under the hood set to movie and put a styrofoam peanut on the top front of the air cleaner to see and to my surprise it looks like I have about 3/4" of clearance between the hood and the air cleaner.

Here is a screen shot of the peanut with the hood fully closed.


@Fly skids up! Thanks for the help.

JT

 

How did you add the clutch pedal and linkage?

JT