I just bought an 73-75 air cleaner for my -75. I thought that it's going to be two minute job to install it, but...

First I noticed that the base of air cleaner is not touching the top of the carburetor all around! I have factory rebuild Quadrajet. Obviously the air cleaner base hit the linkage that controls the secondaries not to open when the choke is on. I figured that there was an abnormal bump in the air cleaner and I straightened it. Then it sit almost correctly, but still not touching the carburetor cover from the front. There is three "pockets" in the air cleaner base and the one in the front passenger side hit the small cone in the carburetor... It needs a bit more hammering if I want to make it sit correctly, but I'm not sure if I want to do that... On top of that the vent pipe from valve cover is attached further backwards in my "new" "original" cleaner. That's easy to fix with a short hose though...

My main guestion is that is there any differences between the air cleaner boxes between -73, -74 and -75? Is my carburator newer model or is the air cleaner older than -75?

Here is two pictures about my setup, they are not too good though and the engine compartment needs to bee touched up badly, so don't mind about it... The air cleaner is not in perfect condition either, but it was cheap! In fact the whole air cleaner box was cheaper than the hood gasket itself...





Edit: Forgot to attach the pics...

 

Post a picture of your carb so we can see what you have. The air cleaner looks like my 73 air cleaner but I don't know if anything changed for 74-75. I replaced my Q-jet with a Holley and it didn't fit until I made a 1/2" spacer to sit on top of the carb.

 

I don't know what year that air cleaner is from, but it's not a 75, although it is quite similar. The valve cover vent tube connection should point directly at the valve cover vent tube hole when the base is properly oriented. Both snorkels should be the same length. From what I can see the throttle linkage looks correct on your carb, a picture with the air cleaner off would be helpful.

 

Hello,
I have a 73 454 engine with the air cleaner assembly on it.
The picture you show looks a little different. I dont know if
it is the snorkels on it, but it just looks different. Also on the back where the tube runs from the valve cover to the air cleaner looks to be different. The photo looks like it is more to the rear of the engine than what I have. If I knew how to post photos I could put a picture of mine as a reference.

I found a link for a photo of a 73 air cleaner.
See if you can cut and paste this to a browser for reference.

http://www.contes.com/73blu.htm


kdf 1973 454
kdf 1986 L98

 

Try removing the flange for the seal. THAT was definately different on 73-74 vs. 75 . The flange comes off the base unless It's rusted together.

 

OOPs... the more I look...! That engine or at least the manifold is probably not from a 75. The blue engine paint came along a few years later. A photo with air cleaner off would be great!

 

The 73 & 74 are the same. The base on both are the same while the seal ring will be slightly different between the 350 and 454. The base for the 75 is different from the 73/74 due to the HEI distributor that was introduced in '75. The HEI distributor is larger than the previous so the base has to make room for it.

tom...

 

That picture from the link that kdf1986 send looks a lot like my cleaner... The flange is not rusted and it is possible to take it off. With a very lillte work it's possible to fit that flange into a -76 air cleaner that I had on previously, but I'd like to put that base on top the engine that I just bought.

I had no problems with the air cleaner base touching the distributor. There is a cove at the rear of the air cleaner base to clear the distributor, I suppose the same "hammered look" cove was also in -73 to -74 cleaners?

The intake manifold is not original, but I suppose the height is about the same as the original had.

What is the difference between the 350 and 454 seal rings?

I take some photos this evening, so I will be able to post them tomorrow morning (night at your time...).

 

I have a '75 with the L-48 motor. The air clearner looks like the one in your picture. Two snorkels the same length. But my engine block is orange, not blue. As far as I know, my motor is the original one for the car/year.

 

Im at work and can't look at mine (75 L48) but yours looks about right. I can't help but think there is something different though. The base of the air cleaner on my 75 (stock) is resessed and the carb fits right into it very snug. I am almost going to say that the aircleaner base you have isn't as big as it is on a 75. I agree with the above poster that there was more room on the back to accomodate the HEI distrib. Again I can't just go look at it now, but I would say that the air cleaner base is different on a 75.

As for the block being blue it could have been painted and means almost nothing.

I will try to remember to check mine when I get home. I have a digital camera too.

 

Here are some pictures of my 73 air cleaner, see if they match yours.

I wonder if you have a chevelle cleaner, or something, did the new hood seal fit or did you have to cut it? I noticed it has screens in the snorkels.

Is your factory rebuilt Q-jet for a 75 and earlier or the newer 76 and up with the raised part throttle feature in the top of the float bowl? Just throwing out ideas, you'll have to see exactly what is hitting on yours to be sure. Your manifold shouldn't be the problem (especially the color ) Joe

 

Joe: Could you post a photo of your carb/top engine without the 1973 air cleaner in place? I would like to compare my 73 Q-jet carb hoses to yours. Also, my 73 air cleaner is identical to yours--top and bottom. Patrick

 

No problem, Patrick. However you can see that it isn't completely correct. The solenoid valve is missing from the front pass side of the manifold, and there are a couple of plugged ports on the carb, that may or may not be original. Also, despite the L82 valve covers, it's an L48. Fortunately it's pretty original, if not totally correct. Joe

 

The flange difference is that the small block is cocentric, whereas the big blocks is offset to match the hood. The two engines sit in the engine bay a little differently.

 

Joe: You are great! Thank you for the photos!--Patrick

 

By the looks of the photos that joe73vette posted the difference (at least one) is where the vent tube opening is. Here is a picture that Joe postedof his 73:

http://www.photohost.org/gallery/dat...0_0984-med.JPG

Here is a picture of my 75, sorry if it's a little dark, but if you look carefully you will see the vent tube points directly at the valve cover vent hole. Maybe there are other differences as well?:

http://home.earthlink.net/~steverieb...s/vette47s.jpg

 

My flange is a bit offcentric, so I suppose it's from BB. Anyhow it seems that it fits nicely and almost correctly between my carburetor and hood...

My air cleaner base looks a lot like the one in Joe's pics. Here is a pic of mine, you can see the offcentricity also if you look the pic carefully:


But my carburetor looks a lot different than the one in Joe's pics! So, is my carburetor -76 or newer?

Here is a pic from passenger side:


And this is Joe's pic for reference:


This pic is from drivers side:



The cone just behind the bolt in passenger side carburetor picture hits the air cleaner base. The accelerator pump (I suppose) on the drivers side barely clears the cleaner base...

 

You could always look your carb up right here: http://www.corvettefaq.com/redir.asp?site=215
The carb number is stamped on the driver's side, scroll down this page until you find "figure 1" it's about halfway down the page, then just find your carb number. They are all listed by year and application.

I just looked again at my setup. The base is rolled up about 1/2" all the way around the air horn flange and there are no clearance issues arond that cone you described. Your carb does look correct for 1975.

 

I believe that is a '76 and up carb - integral choke and part throttle device under that cone at the front. That makes sense with your blue manifold, too. The number on the side tells all, if it starts with 70 it's the older style, if it starts with 170 it's the newer. The link that Big Fish posted is something you should read. Joe

 

Thanks guys! I have that Lars paper at home. I have to check the carb numbers next time I visit garage. Anyway this isn't such a big deal because I can make the air cleaner to fit correctly with litlle effort.