Search the Community

Hi All, I'm working on a 69 Mach 1 with a 70 385 series 429 engine. It's a tight fit but it runs and drives fine. Those of you with a 385 series engines in your car do you have these same issues? 1) The engine has cast iron exhaust manifolds but it still looks impossible to change the plugs without pulling the engine up. How do you change plugs? 2) The air cleaner is the typical 14" round style but only 1" tall so very small. I don't think there is a mm to spare under the hood with the Edelbrock Performer intake and carb. What air cleaner do you use? Thank you! -John

Here is my dilemma. I currently am getting ready to paint my 69 coupe. I was planning on doing the engine/tranny first, but circumstances arose that I am now going to be doing the paint prior to the drivetrain. I currently have a 302 with an Edelbrock Performer intake manifold, 2" Carb Spacer, an Edelbrock 600cfm carb and the short edelbrock Pro-flow 1000 foam air cleaner. Currently that setup barely clears the stock hood. My eventual plan is to drop in a 351w with an edelbrock performer air-gap intake manifold (likely drop the 2" carb spacer) and get a standard sized air cleaner. I figure that this setup will not fit under the hood so the question is how best to proceed. I have considered these three options: Fiberglass Ram air hood Pro: I think this is a very cool looking hood, light weight Con: Not sure how much additional clearance this will give me. Does anyone know how much clearance that gives you? Fiberglass Cowl induction hood Pro: light weight, can obviously get as much hood clearance as I need Does anyone have an estimate on how much additonal clearance I would need? 2", 5", etc? Keep Stock hood and cut a hole in the top and purchase a carb mounted scoop Pro: Cheapest method, I have always digged the look of the carb scoop Con: Hole in my hood :), Not sure how large to make the hole, How do people typically trim the edges of the hole? Would I have to do this before painting or could I do it after? What if down the line I wanted to install a blower? Not sure how you open a hood with a big scoop sticking out of it? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Also if there is an option that I haven't considered (other than lowering the engine mounts - dont want that much work) please let me know. Thanks!!! Con: To me this is the least attractive of all the options