Edelbrock carburetors and aftermarket air filters

[Kern Dog]

I have almost no experience at all with Edelbrock carburetors. I've used Holley and Holly based carbs if I don't have a Thermoquad in place.
Recently I noticed that a car in my shop has an air cleaner assembly that doesn't sit right on the Edelbrock 800 cfm unit.

The air filter base shaped like this:

Works fine for a Holley because they are longer and thinner due to where the float bowls are on the Holley style carburetors.

The Edelbrocks are more squared off and have a couple of things that cause interference with the air cleaner base:

The choke assembly and the fuel inlet....

These sit out wide. If the neck on the air cleaner base is too short, the whole thing won't sit down right and possibly even obstruct throttle lever movement.

The fix?

 

[Kern Dog]

You can shop around for another air cleaner with a taller neck. The diameter is right at 5". Speed shops have them in a small range of designs.
Another way is to swap in a base from another air cleaner if you have some laying around.
I went through the stash and found one that had a taller upward dish on the underside but the diameter of the base was smaller than the filter.
An Idea that I had....

I took an old closed element air cleaner setup I had in the stash and went to work.

Look at the height of that neck and the depth of the dish...

The base has a reinforced ring where it rests on the carburetor.

 

[Kern Dog]

I took a spare air cleaner base....

Test fit the cut down section....

It laid flat and even.

It gains 7/8" over the unmodified base and fits the carburetor nicely.

The additional height allows clearance to the coil, the choke and fuel inlet.

 

[Kern Dog]

The neck will be plug welded through these holes:

The inner neck/rim will be cut back.

The clearance around the throttle lever is a good thing....you sure don't want the throttle hanging open, ever.

More to follow....welding, painting and such.

 

[moparedtn]

I applaud your fabrication skills, my friend. I love seeing what a lot of you guys get up to
in that regard!
(It should be noted by the way - the factory unsilenced air cleaner works just fine on either
brand of carb in my experience, despite its' relatively low profile).

 

[hunt2elk]

(It should be noted by the way - the factory unsilenced air cleaner works just fine on either
brand of carb in my experience, despite its' relatively low profile).

Except they are tall and don't allow hood closure with many aftermarket intake manifolds. Looks like Richs' car that KD is working on may have a RPM intake.

 

[Curiousyellow71]

Looks like a nice permanent fix once welded on KD.
We usually use one if these spacers on top the carb. It has a seal built in. It seems most air cleaner bases are for holley's.
Sure Seal 2 Inch O-Ring Air Cleaner Spacer

 

[496 polara]

Nice work. For lazy guys such as myself a simple spacer/riser of the appropriate length is a click away.

 

[lewtot184]

Drop base air filters and AFB carbs generally don't work good together. I thought there was somebody out there making drop base filters for those AFB carbs,.....?

 

[Darter6]

I thought there was somebody out there making drop base filters for those AFB carbs,.....?

At one time Mancini had them. Not sure now a days.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Except they are tall and don't allow hood closure with many aftermarket intake manifolds. Looks like Richs' car that KD is working on may have a RPM intake.

Dennis H prior to going EFI had a stock un-silenced air cleaner on his R/T running a 440 with an Edelbrock RPM manifold... So apparently they fit better than many folks expect...

 

[moparedtn]

Except they are tall and don't allow hood closure with many aftermarket intake manifolds. Looks like Richs' car that KD is working on may have a RPM intake.

I didn't address anything to do with their height in my statement, thanks - but they do have a pretty decent "droop"
to them, in no small part making them lower profile than say your garden variety factory dual snorkel deal.

 

[hunt2elk]

Dennis H prior to going EFI had a stock un-silenced air cleaner on his R/T running a 440 with an Edelbrock RPM manifold... So apparently they fit better than many folks expect...

I didn't address anything to do with their height in my statement, thanks - but they do have a pretty decent "droop"
to them, in no small part making them lower profile than say your garden variety factory dual snorkel deal.

You guys are no doubt correct. I would have swore I couldn't get that combo to work on a car I had 35 years ago, but my memory skills surely aren't what they used to be.

 

[Kern Dog]

I'll have to get pictures but I had a guy TIG weld the outer rim of my MP air cleaner base into a drop base from another setup. The RPM intake and air cleaner won't clear a stock Charger hood.

 

[Kern Dog]

Rich's car has an A 12 style hood....

Clearance is just fine.

 

[MWbirdLOVER70]

The neck will be plug welded through these holes:

View attachment 1563883

The inner neck/rim will be cut back.

The clearance around the throttle lever is a good thing....you sure don't want the throttle hanging open, ever.

View attachment 1563884


More to follow....welding, painting and such.

KD a drop base bottom in AM? Like on my air grabber cleaner but I too only use Holleys

 

[68-500]

I bought an Edelbrock air cleaner to go on my Carter (Edelbrock) carb. It doesn’t work as well. It hits the fuel inlet. Haven’t got past thst hurdle to see if choke linkage interferes.

 

[not so famous bob]

I bought an Edelbrock air cleaner to go on my Carter (Edelbrock) carb. It doesn’t work as well. It hits the fuel inlet. Haven’t got past thst hurdle to see if choke linkage interferes.

been down that route myself, have resorted to building my own, and having a prof. welder heliarc them , even have tunnels arced in for the throttle linkage to swivel back and forth on..
throttle body is up in the 6 pack scoop w/ a victor on raised port heads..

this is with a shorter intake than the victor...

 

[Don67Satellite]

@Kern Dog I am running the AVS2 650, and my old air cleaner would not fit properly. I found out that the recommended base from Edelbrock is the #1221 Signature Air Cleaner, so I bought that just for the base.

Base looks a lot like your first photo.

On mine, the electric choke is not the issue, but the fuel inlet fitting. I use the #8087 fitting with a 5/16 45 degree that works, but just clears. Strangely, a 90 degree I tried was a worse fit, go figure.

I think they just want everyone to use the banjo style fittings.

 

[Kern Dog]

KD a drop base bottom in AM? Like on my air grabber cleaner but I too only use Holleys

I don't understand what you mean here.
The K & N setup had a base that didn't have much drop. What it needed was an inverted dish as much as a slight height increase to fit and clear.