Hmm what am I doing wrong here? I have a 72 El Camino, former owner had a 350, Edelbrock carb & manifold, a cowl induction hood and air cleaner. The air cleaner had a spacer abt 2”-2.5” high under the filter base.
This winter I have switched to a 454, have proper motor mounts, engine can not go lower, have another Edelbrock carb & manifold, no hi rise stuff, I had assumed that spacer under the carb would be eliminated? Have been focused on getting the tune up issues resolved etc, all is good so I tried to install the air cleaner and found that the spacer was required to make the filter base clear the carb, then I install the hood and it will not close, I remove the filter get the hood all adjusted, all is good there. If I remove the auto choke and the fuel line from the carb the filter base will fit right and the hood close, all is good. It appears that to make this work I need to cut out some of the filter base and reshape/weld in a new section but that make no sense other than the Edelbrock carb everything should be the same as a stock 454???? Any thoughts?

The 70-72 Chevelles with a FACTORY CI hood installation came with EITHER a Holley or a Q-jet, NOT an AFB (an Edelbrock carb is the former Carter AFB design). Sooooooooooooooooo, therein may lie your problem----------------wrong carb!
My 70 with a CI hood has a hi-rise Z28 intake and Q-jet, plus an adapter plate between the manifold and carb. Thus, no need for the spacer between the top of the carb and air cleaner base. Fits perfect, hood closes just like Chevy designed it.
I've seen other Chevelles with a hi-rise manifold and a Holley and no spacer and they fit and the hood closes just fine. So, again, I suspect your misfit problem is because of the AFB.
Rather than modify anything or butcher the air cleaner base, I'd change carbs. :thumbsup:

I'm running a SBC with a Weiand stealth intake & Edelbrock AVS 650 carb. The original spacer (around 2") was too tall so I used one out of a 88-95 Chevy pickup. It's about 1.25" tall & works perfect. It will gain you almost an inch if you need the room.

LK

I had the same issue with my Edelbrock carb. I had to buy the banjo fuel inlet for the carb and also switch from the electric choke model to the manual choke. I also bought a 1/2" spacer and now the air filter fits perfectly over the carb and allows my hood to close.

I did not suggest a shorter spacer because I understood that there was no room left for an spacer at all. If a short spacer will fix the problem, then by all means go with a short spacer.