Open air cleaner on tbi

[Taiedman45]

hey guys i was just looking at some f-body tbi's and they had some
open element air cleaners on the tbi. i tried using a flat cleaner bottom
with the tbi spacer off and it was hitting the distributer, pretty much
right on top of it. i have an 87 gp with the 4.3 v6 motor and was
wondering if anyone knows the right sizes for an air cleaner that will fit
with or without the spacer.

plus the car has been stalling out every once in a while, especially
when i go in reverse when its started up and i turn the wheels the engine
dies and stalls out. any ideas? and you think its a good idea to remove
the weather stripping to let in cold air behind the hood?

will have pics soon.

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

There is no cold air under the hood, only warmer-than-outside air. The spacer may be needed for proper air flow into the TBI, and removing it could cost you power. For my money, I would build a true cold air system using some dryer duct hoses and a spare air cleaner base. Take the snorkel off the second base and attach it to the base you have now. Then, run the ducts from the now dual snorkel base to the front of the car behind the headlights. This will give you true cold air, and better flow to boot.

Also, the shape of the air cleaner base is critical to air flow into the engine. Disturbing this would cause it to have fuel distribution problems, so think carefully before changing this area. Now if you have the flatter lid, you could use one that is taller to allow for a taller filter element too. That is what I did when I used a 1984 HO 305 Camaro dual snorkel base with a Monte Carlo lid and filter. I got 1 inch more filter height with better air flow from the dual inlet base. On a stock L69 305, this base alone is worth 10hp. I run it on a 355, so it may be even better in my example.