I have clearance issues with my chevelle. It has a 454 w/ airgap and a demon 750. There is no room to run an air cleaner of any size. The motor mounts and frame mounts are correct. So I'm down to buying a new hood, Goodmark is supposed to be coming out with a 2 inch cowl this month. My other option as I see it is an SS hood, but I don't know if they actually give more room. Any help is appreciated. Thanks

I cant say for sure about the 66, but on my 67 BB hood, my 14" air cleaner fits right up in a perfect size 'hole' in the center of the hood. And I think the 'regular' hoods have a different support that may not allow this.

Something for you to check into...

I don't believe a 66 SS Hood will give you more clearance. The only difference I can see is the sheetmetal is flanged to accept the cast hood inserts on the SS hood but the supports underneathe are identical, thus allowing no more room than a standard hood.

I take it that airgap manifold sits higher than the stock cast iron or aluminum.

If you want a "stock" look you may be forced to go with a intake that sets lower.

You said no air cleaner of anysize, I take it you've tried a stock 396 cleaner? The thing has a very deep bowl and actually covers nearly half the carb when in place.

Good luck

I have a 454 with RPM airgap and Edelbrock carb. I am running a drop base K&N air cleaner (14x3). It's a tight fit, but it doesn't hit the hood. I am running the stock 67 SS hood.

It looked really tight before I put the air cleaner on and did some test fits and such. It fits. You may want to do a few tests with some different air cleaners. My big thing was that I wanted to keep the stock hood.

I use the Moroso drop base open air filter on my 67 and have 3/8 inch clearance with a Peformer 2.0. E-bay has some GM style drop base air cleaners that should work also.