this maybe a retarded question but im upgrading to a 4bbl so i need a new air cleaner assembly (pretty sure anyway) I'm looking to keep a semi stock look but stay cheap and since im not looking to build a GS and under my hood isnt detailed i dont need a true GS intake. I'd like to still use the breather into the air cleaner (although my oil cap is a breather) would i be best off snaging an air cleaner assembly off of any old v8 gm vehicle? I could just go with a chrome setup but it would be nice to minimize the intake noise. nate
breather into air cleaner I put an aftermarket chrome air cleaner on my '69 350 for awhile and there was a knockout on the bottom of the air cleaner to install the breather tube, it came with the 90 degree elbow to bolt on the bottom of the air cleaner as well. It was actually pretty easy to get this all hooked up, I just fit a small piece of metal tube inside the original rubber breather hose and added another short piece of rubber hose to connect to the air cleaner elbow. A couple of small clamps to hold it tight and it was done. Actually looked pretty decent, and kept the breather functioning. Ken
Here's what I did with an aftermarket chrome air cleaner, when the "cobbled" together breather tube became so ugly that I had to replace it with SOMETHING...
I hate how the Red paint on the intakes cooks like that. My 350 did the same thing. The paint I used was supposed to be the high heat stuff. Figures I pay $7 for a can of paint. When I did the 4bbl conversion, I found a 4bbl air cleaner base at the junkyard when I bought the intake. I don't think it would be too hard to find one in a yard...the Buicks in the yards around here had lots of engine parts left in them still.. There's a complete, probably running, 455 sitting in an electra a few miles away from me. I need to go down there and haggle the guy down from the $200 he wants for it:grin:
engine paint adam: i too paid about $8.00 / can of buick engine paint from t/a , and yes, it burnt off. i should have spent the extra & bought the engine paint from hirsh auto . his paint is rated @600 degree f. i think the other suppliers' paint rated to about 450 degrees . can of hirsch buick red paint is $12 . gerry 72 gs 350 ht #s
Is that common practice blocking heat risers? Seems like a scary thing to do, but I don't know. Would it affect performance, temperature?
In warmer climates, it shouldn't be any problem. You'll have a cooler intake, resulting in more power. In cold climates, if you only drive in warm months, it should be fine too. For those of you that drive in 40-50 degree temps in winter, you may have poor idle and warm-up driving characteristics, until the engine is really warmed up.
The chevy/ford/mopar guys do it all the time, just look in any performance catalog, the gaskets are available with this option. It keeps the intake manifold much cooler, hence no paint blisterring.
