Air Grabber conversion

[ChallengerHK]

I'm getting a TA hood, but I'll be going with a single 4 bbl. An idea I've been toying with for a while is to get a single 4 bbl air grabber base plate and modify it for use with the TA to get something like a fresh air system. The only real issue I see is that the TA air cleaner has the seal mount to the base plate while the air grabber system has the seal on the hood itself.

My thought is to weld a lip around the perimeter of the air grabber base plate, probably an inch to inch and a half high, probably at a roughly 45 degree angle, and use that lip for a TA seal. Air there any problems with this idea that I'm not seeing?

[Brads70]

If I remember right, you got a steel T/A hood scoop made and are grafting it onto a steel flat hood? If so they I see where your going with this. I don't see why it wouldn't work. You would need to modify the hood so it had a flat area for the seal to rest on.
I went with hybrid-fiberglass-solutions but I just tried the link I had and they seem to have disappeared?    They make a T/A style base that goes on a 4BBl out of fiberglass.

What about seeing as you have to do something with the hood anyhow , modifying the hood to use the airgrabber seal and simply use the air grabber air cleaner as is?
At the moment I have my seal removed as I was fighting a heating issue when in traffic . When I removed the seal it allows the heat somewhere to go instead of being trapped under the hood while in traffic. When moving I'm sure there is more than enough fresh cooler air to supply the engine.

[ChallengerHK]

Good info.

You're right, steel hood and scoop. It's another one of those "almost one of a kind" things I have that add no value to anyone but me  I looked at the fiberglass base plates, but after a while I thought that if I'm putting so much money and effort into having an all steel TA hood, why would I want to go with the fiberglass air cleaner. I found a cheap base on ebay; it needs a little work (missing one drain nipple, a little bit of rot toward the front) but it should be an easy fix.

I never thought of modifying the hood to hold the seal. That sounds like it may have potential.

[Brads70]

I just last summer bought a new airgrabber air cleaner( PG classics) to swap out instead of the T/A style to allow the airflow to go up and out of the scoop while in traffic. It did make a noticeable difference. FYI ....

[cataclysm80]

Which engine you have will make a height difference for your air cleaner.

The best option I've heard of for projects like this was to buy a T/A air cleaner, and a shaker hood baseplate for whatever engine you have.
Drill out the spot welds for the flat bottom of the six pak baseplate, and then mount the flat bottom of the shaker hood baseplate to what's left of the T/A baseplate.

[ChallengerHK]

Thanks for the info. I have a small block and will maintain same, in one form or another, but I'll probably go with an air gap manifold.

Your option sounds like it would look great, but it also sounds significantly pricier option. I don't think I was really clear in the initial post, but in almost everything mecahanical I  look for functionality, and originality comes in close to dead last for me. In all honesty, if I can't make something work otherwise, I'd do what I saw at Carlisle last year and surround it with some foam rubber, but I don't think that stuff will stand the test of time. 

[RUNCHARGER]

It sounds like a good idea to me and will look really good with careful execution.

Sheldon