[Ben M.]

Okay, so I've got the broken in engine and transmission in my '75 and now it's time to hook everything up and get it ready to drive around the block and potentially across the country. Unfortunately over the last 3 years the air cleaner base for the car has wandered off and I can't find it. I've got a factory '73 intake and '77 quadrajet on the engine, so a factory base is what I need. What years will fit and allow me to put the shaker on and close the hood? I am assuming that a '73 big car and a '77 big car air cleaner base will sit too high and cause the hood to not close.

[Rack776]

Long winded but might help later if you cant locate the correct part in a pinch,

Shakers are weird, my stock 75 set up pressed tight against the hood and the
aftermarket edelbrock intake installed gave me more room with no other changes.

Trial & Error might make something work, The Q Jet vent tube is on different
locations depending on year & model, Example: My 75 T/A base would not fit a
72 T/A Q Jet, all I had to do was drill a new vent hole at the proper location
and plug up the old one and it worked great.

The carb opening on the intake relitive to the hood opening should be the
same for all pontiac V/8s in a 75 Bird, as long as the correct motor mounts
were used in the correct space. The tough part is getting the shaker ring
to mount to a donor base if your not using a T/A specific one, and setting the
height. A possible cheaper source for a base might be a base or formula
75-78 pontiac v/8 4bbl firebirdbird, The letters "T/A" tend to raise the price
on an identical part.

Maybee you can use a big car base if the shaker ring clamps arround it,
Give it a try first, I have also seen people take a junk 2bbl pontiac aircleaner
that the shaker will mount to and saw/cut the bottom out, then rivit or weld
a Moroso or other cheap chrome air cleaner base to the bottom of that and
be able to adjust the final location of the scoop for a quic fix. It takes some time
and trial & error to get a good fitting shaker when using mismatched parts but
it can be done.

If it were me and I was in a big hurry to get it drivable I'd mount a standard/chrome
aircleaner to it and drive it, worst care you can do the "mount the scoop to the hood"
trick temporally with some underside support straps screwed/tack welded to the under
hood bracing (not the hood surface) untill you can get a correct base.

Check on line for photos of Nunzi Romano's 74 SD T/A he attached his scoop that way
and it looks like it can be undone later if needed. I dont have any under hood shots to
share right now. http://www.nunzi-pontiac-expert.com/index.html

I also have seen guys silicone sealant to attach them to the bottom of the hood but I think
it would break the lip of the glass scoop if you went to pry it back off later.
Some old-school "temporary" Hillbilly tricks should be done with caution.

Good Luck - Jason

[Rack776]

I forgot a few things, The big car base might be the one that works,

The Can Ams used a shaker on a stock base the difference in height was made up
with a taller mounting ring on the bottom of the fiberglass scoop, so the big car base
might fit your scoop at a lower height.

70-72: shakers mount with wing nuts & metal tabs welded to the base
Crazy Expensive unless you really need one

73-76: should have the big trim ring to attach it and should have no
issues with Olds, Chevy, 301 Pont allignment issues.
Your best bet but they are not easy to find or cheap

77-81: Has a million different applications and could become a headache
unless you know for sure it was from a Pontiac V8, also the fresh air duct
will be different than the early style.

Watch out for guys selling 77-81 Olds, chevy or 301
aircleaner bases unless your going to really need one.
If your planning to swap your 75 to a 77-78 style
hood & front end there is no sense spending a lot of money
on a 75 only base.

[2manyT/A'S]

Originally Posted by Ben M.

Okay, so I've got the broken in engine and transmission in my '75 and now it's time to hook everything up and get it ready to drive around the block and potentially across the country. Unfortunately over the last 3 years the air cleaner base for the car has wandered off and I can't find it. I've got a factory '73 intake and '77 quadrajet on the engine, so a factory base is what I need. What years will fit and allow me to put the shaker on and close the hood? I am assuming that a '73 big car and a '77 big car air cleaner base will sit too high and cause the hood to not close.

You need to find a 73-79 filter housing from a Firebird/Trans am application (with a Pontiac V8 engine,350,400 or 455.
301,305 & 403 WON'T work.

Big car (fullsize) & A body Grand Prix,Lemans WON'T work.

The Firebird/Trans am one sits down closer to the intake & allows the hood to shut.

[Ben M.]

Originally Posted by 2manyT/A'S

You need to find a 73-79 filter housing from a Firebird/Trans am application (with a Pontiac V8 engine,350,400 or 455.
301,305 & 403 WON'T work.

Big car (fullsize) & A body Grand Prix,Lemans WON'T work.

The Firebird/Trans am one sits down closer to the intake & allows the hood to shut.

That's pretty much what I was afraid of. The breather tube is 1" shorter on the TA vs. big car, so I've got to come up with one from a Trans Am. Sadly, when people do actually sell them they want $250-300 for just the base and none of the major vendors have one right now.

[steve v]

Ban,
I may have a spare one, I'll get some pics of it tomorrow for you.

[formulaguy]

Ben,
I got mine from Ecology. If not, check Ebay.

I just sold a 403-specific one.. but may have a line on a Pontiac one. I'll let you know..

[Ben M.]

I've been cruising Ecology for the last month and only a 1981 301 car has come in the yard (air cleaner and shaker promptly taken and advertised as "W72 shaker!" on eBay). I checked eBay and like I said, there's either 1 or 2 for $350 with shaker on the other side of the country or a ton of 403 ones around.

[abefromen]

Ben, I am in the same spot as you....I have been searching for a 400 specific air cleaner assembly for some time but no luck. Found a few priced out of the reality range and several off of 403's but thats it.

I remember back in the day they could be had for $25!
Ahh the old days........

[Rack776]

Maybee you can give these Want Ads/Boards a try if you have not hit them yet.

http://www.frankspontiacparts.com/

http://www.firebirdtransamparts.com/
These guys might have one if you ask, they had
All of the A/C stuff I was missing, Good Prices

http://transamcountry.com/community/index.php?board=8.0

http://www.classicalpontiac.com/

http://forums.highperformancepontiac.com/index.html

http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/partsforsale/

Good luck with the hunt.

[Rack776]

I once had an Aircleaner base from a 76 350 pontiac bird with a 2bbl carb,
The entire aircleaner base was indetical to my 75 T/A Base Except
for the diameter of the opening for the Carb.

If you could find one of those 2bbl bases (Cheap $$$ no one wants them)
Maybee you could have the 4bbl mounting area out of your
big car base cut and weld it into the donor 2bbl base for next to nothing,

Would not hurt to Ask arround for a 2bbl firebird base to use as a "back up plan B"

Last time I looked, T/A shaker bases were selling for $350-$475 ,
at those prices it would be cheaper to get a parts car with a scoop
on it and sell the rest off.

[71GP76TA]

This guy might have what you need.

http://modesto.craigslist.org/pts/1176385086.html

[bnorris_74]

Originally Posted by Rack776

I once had an Aircleaner base from a 76 350 pontiac bird with a 2bbl carb,
The entire aircleaner base was indetical to my 75 T/A Base Except
for the diameter of the opening for the Carb.

If you could find one of those 2bbl bases (Cheap $$$ no one wants them)
Maybee you could have the 4bbl mounting area out of your
big car base cut and weld it into the donor 2bbl base for next to nothing,

Would not hurt to Ask arround for a 2bbl firebird base to use as a "back up plan B"

Last time I looked, T/A shaker bases were selling for $350-$475 ,
at those prices it would be cheaper to get a parts car with a scoop
on it and sell the rest off.

My car is not a T/A but I did exactly this last fall for my Formula. I had my old 2bbl, low profile air cleaner and brazed a center out of a Grand Pix 4bbl air cleaner to it.
It works great.

I would recommend using an old QJet as a jig for brazing the parts together. This will help with centering the lid.

[Rack776]

I figured I'd Bump this
Looks like a potential parts car with what you need in this thread
http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/....php?p=3662846

[Rack776]

Originally Posted by bnorris_74

My car is not a T/A but I did exactly this last fall for my Formula. I had my old 2bbl, low profile air cleaner and brazed a center out of a Grand Pix 4bbl air cleaner to it.
It works great.

I would recommend using an old QJet as a jig for brazing the parts together. This will help with centering the lid.

Everyone probebly thought I was goofy for sugesting my "quick fix"
to the problem, it does not take very long after pricing a base to
search for other options, Might not be the hot ticket for a real resto but
if someone's building a race car or T/A clone its a mutch cheaper alternitive.

[72blackbird]

You would think that with the demand for a T/A Pontiac V-8 air cleaner base someone would make a repro part- guess I'm going to have to go the fab route as well. Of course, one of the few parts missing on my '76 T/A is the air cleaner base.

Geno

[bnorris_74]

Once the air cleaner element and lid are on the carb, no one will know.

[72blackbird]

$350-500 for a T/A air cleaner base? I could buy alot of replacement parts for that kind of money. My T/A is no longer numbers matching (project car w/ no motor), so I'm cool with fabbing up an air cleaner base from a couple of GM air cleaners as long as the end result looks stock.

Geno

[Ben M.]

My fab skills are not up to par with something like that sadly.

I cruised the yards again and no new Firebirds or Trans Ams have come in. A 6 cylinder 1979 Camaro did show up though, which was funny to see.

[72blackbird]

I went down to my garage to see if the shaker base conversion is possible. I took a 2V air cleaner base from a complete 350 I bought some time ago and sized it up against my T/A shaker scoop- sure enough it's close enough in diameter to make it happen. Now all I need is a 4V base to see if the swap will work.

Can any T/A owners w/ a stock setup chime in and tell me the lid diameter and air filter element size I need? Thanks.

Geno