Hood Clearance Problems

No, for that year they aren't any taller. You'll need something like a cowl induction type hood scoop, which, to me, looks kinda squirrely on a Pontiac. Is that filter big enough to flow the air that 400's going to need? Looks awfully small to me.

The GTO hood with the scoop doesn't have any more clearance than the flat Lemans hood? I don't want to go with a cowl hood that just would ruin a Pontiac. Does any one know of any options for me? As far as the air cleaner I am not sure if it will flow enough air or not. That is another thing I could use some help on. This is my first Pontiac build so I am learning as I go, I am more familiar with Mopars. I appreciate the help guys.

Maybe you could adapt the shaker from a later model Poncho.

The 66-67 hood had a small scoop, so it's not totally flat, but it's not big enough to clear that thing! It might be tall enough, but it's probably not long enough due to the contour As far as the shaker goes, the hood will still have to be taller because the shaker did seal against the bottom of the hood. How much taller than the hood are we talking? Maybe you can run a string across the engine bay so we can see how much it's sticking up. I can't imagine a Performer intake making the top of the engine too high for a stock hood.

Also, about the air flow thing, are you adding headers? What about the cam? That engine is going to want a lot of air, and you don't want a $15 part choke it off. I wouldn't put anything smaller than what came out of the factory on top, even if it's advertised as high flow.

Can we make a drop base for the air cleaner

Doing a drop base on this air cleaner or another was my first idea but I haven't done anything like that before. Any ideas of where to start or tips on the best way to go about doing it? I know that it is pretty straight forward but I want to do it right. I already ran a string line across the engine bay and it looks like I need about 1" to 1 1/4". I will double check that though. I can't believe that this Performer intake is so tall. I figured I would be safe using it. As far as the engine, I am running headers and it does have a high performance street cam in it. I will have to go back and look to see what the cam specs are. Thanks for all of the ideas.

Check out a Holley sidedraft air cleaner it looks like it might work without changing the hood

Thanks. I will check out the sidedraft air cleaner and see if it will work as an option.

I think any way you do it, if you're trying to fit it under the stock hood you're going to choke the engine in the higher RPM range. You really don't want to spin a Pontiac much over 6,000, but you'll run out of air way before then.

Here's an idea: pick up a repop Olds 442 air cleaner. You know, the one with dual snorkels. That'll probably fit about right. They have a nice sized air cleaner element for airflow, but they also should be thin enough to fit under the hood. Personally, I'd just go with an 850 Quadrajet on that engine unless you put in a huge cam and want to wrap it over 7 grand. 1000 CFM is overkill on a Poncho, especially if you're choking it off with a small air filter.

There was a guy in my home town that built a 67 GTO with a 400. He was one of those 16-year-olds with an unlimited budget we all love to hate. His mom was a prominent lawyer (and pretty damn hot) and his dad was an orthodontist or something like that. Anyway, he put dual Predators on it and a bunch of other stuff, really without much of a plan. He never could get it to run worth a crap. It was just overcarbed. We pulled off the Predators, slapped on a Performer and a Q-jet and it ran like a striped assed ape. He lucked out on the cam because he put in something that was more for low end torque. But he went at the rest of it like he was building a high-wrapping Small Block and it just didn't work right until we got the carb problem sorted.

I love Q-jets. Nothing sounds better than the back barrels of a Q-jet opening up all the way and all that air getting sucked in there.

The carb is a Speed Demon 750. I didn't want to over carb it so I only went with a 750. I haven't had time to check the cam specs but it is street cam that isn't for high rpms. I built the motor as a street driver motor, no high rpms, redline at 5500, lots of low end torque. The engine is nothing exotic just a bullet proof street engine. I will check out the Olds air cleaner though. Thanks for all of the ideas and info.

Oh, yeah. Sounds like you got it set up well. How about a shot of the rest of the car?

I am building the car to drive and like alot of guys I don't have lots of money laying around to pour into it so it is a slow project but I am going to drive the car as a daily driver. I believe that these cars were meant to drive. I am finishing doing some work on the dash right now and then I am going to rewire the car. I hope to have it fired up and back on the road in the next month or so. Let me know what you think of the car, any tips, tricks, advice, etc. I like to learn whatever I can or just B.S.

Man, that's a sweet ride! I miss my Pontiacs. One of these days...

I saw one at a customers house. It was outside, and looked as though it had been sittin there for awhile. But still looked good.

Hey Lou, I've got a question for you or any one else. Can I replace my body mount bushings with the car in one piece or do I need to disassemble the entire car? I thought that I might be able to loosen all of the body mount bolts and then use a floor jack to separate the body enough to replace the bushings. I don't know if it would work or not, just an idea.

I had a neighbor do it that way, seemed to work fine for him.

Shouldnt have a problem. Just take your time and watch for binding. Good luck.

Hey JohnnyC what is the latest with the car?