Educate me on 1979 air cleaner assembly

[Rusty Nail]

I bought a coo assed Kenwood eq from @82sbshortbed while back.

 

[Marc Rexroad]

I should clarify. Do you have the shield under the manifold. The oven where it is making heat go to. And then the tube off the oven thing which is the circle to the pipe which that pipe prob sits out forward morel

Yes I have that shield

 

[AuroraGirl]

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Well if you have the manifold shields, the tube off the stove, and you just need an air cleaner..... my question is have you made any plans or sourced a cleaner yet? Are you using a quadrajet or edelbrock or holley etc etc. I know on my edelbrock, it sits different than a where a qjet would be on a stock manifold, and to use a stock air cleaner i need to use a spacer. If you have a cast manifold and a qjet, you should not have a clearance issue with your distributor.

 

[75gmck25]

The fuel fitting on an Edelbrock prevents the stock air cleaner from fully seating on the carburetor top, so you need the spacer ring on top of the carburetor. Edelbrock also sells a replacement 90 degree fuel fitting that is supposed to resolve the problem without a spacer, but I’ve never tried it.

 

[AuroraGirl]

The fuel fitting on an Edelbrock prevents the stock air cleaner from fully seating on the carburetor top, so you need the spacer ring on top of the carburetor. Edelbrock also sells a replacement 90 degree fuel fitting that is supposed to resolve the problem without a spacer, but I’ve never tried it.

hmm. Odd. I for some reason remmebering at least the air cleaner I have that matches the topic one(wide snout vs the small circle one) and when I sat it on I felt the distributor was in the way, I just chocked it up to the edelbrock and new intake maybe sitting lower than where a qjet on a cast manifold would sit, but Its also from a 77 with a 400 so maybe it had a high rise cast iron or something(I feel my dads 75 400 had one of those maybe... idk) but I just tried one or two before determining I needed a spacer or just to use a different cleaner. Since I have missing heat stove parts and such, and would need a new thermac for sure, I just gave up at the time. I dont have a duct either, so I would have to dump a bit into those parts, change my manifold(Which evidently they dont match side-side ANYWAY..), and etc which I didnt find worth the time yet.

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Looking at it, I can see how the fuel fitting would obstruct the air cleaner though.
I dont have any phenolic spacer and the intake is just a generic performer from edelbrock(got it on sale ) so not sure. The edelbrock is slightly shorter than a qjet just eyeballing but it wouldnt be THAT different.

The fuel thing sounds neat, I wanted to get the one that has a banjo kind fitting and it just does a straight down to the base of carb, and shoots forward with hard line toward the accessory drive. Its not very expensive but it would make that not a clearance issue too I guess on mine that is.

 

[Craig 85]

I'm going to guess the base are pretty much the same from 77 to 86. The first picture is my '79 K15. I added the the taller lid from an 81 & up. The filter element is 2" taller. Second picture is my '85 454 set up. The main difference is the metal heat riser tube. BBC and SBC have a different shape.

The one thing I can't confirm is which snorkel tube a round eye 454 needs. I found out the 454 version is different than the SBC. I ended up buying a section of silicon tube from Summit Racing and adapted to fit.

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[AuroraGirl]

I'm going to guess the base are pretty much the same from 77 to 86. The first picture is my '79 K15. I added the the taller lid from an 81 & up. The filter element is 2" taller. Second picture is my '85 454 set up. The main difference is the metal heat riser tube. BBC and SBC have a different shape.

The one thing I can't confirm is which snorkel tube a round eye 454 needs. I found out the 454 version is different than the SBC. I ended up buying a section of silicon tube from Summit Racing and adapted to fit.

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is the angle different on the snorkel or something that it aims closer or sits closer perhaps? or the hole in support is diff?

 

[Craig 85]

is the angle different on the snorkel or something that it aims closer or sits closer perhaps? or the hole in support is diff?

You know I'm not sure. I just know I ordered the tube from LMC and it was a little short even though it said it was for an '81 and up. I was able to the locate the 454 part number and it's still available through GM (GM 14024596). You can see here the 454 version has less ribbing up by the air cleaner snorkel tube.

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[75gmck25]

This used to be the solution to getting the clearance to make an Edelbrock Performer work with the stock GM air cleaner. I assume it still works.
https://www.edelbrock.com/banjo-fitting-for-edelbrock-square-bore-carter-afb-carbs-5-8-20-8089.html
Or use one of these. https://www.edelbrock.com/chrome-st...d-end-inlet-and-wothout-fuel-filter-8126.html

 

[AuroraGirl]

This used to be the solution to getting the clearance to make an Edelbrock Performer work with the stock GM air cleaner. I assume it still works.
https://www.edelbrock.com/banjo-fitting-for-edelbrock-square-bore-carter-afb-carbs-5-8-20-8089.html
Or use one of these. https://www.edelbrock.com/chrome-st...d-end-inlet-and-wothout-fuel-filter-8126.html

Yeah one of those. Looks nice

 

[Raider L]

So, on my 350 when it was stock had the oven thing down on the exhaust but no long tube, but up to the tube on the underside of the snorkle was this crappy foil covered corrugated hose thing. That thing was so worn out after a few years, it was torn and frayed on the snorkle end from having to put it back on after changing the air cleaner and pcv filter, it finally fell off on the street. I left it off. I figured if the engine wasn't drawing in enough hot air in the engine compartment going down the road, to bad.
Besides, this is Louisiana, not Nebraska! I'm surprised you don't have to start a fire under the motor when you get up just to get the thing warm enough before you leave in the morning!

 

[Powerhouse Ranch]

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Well if you have the manifold shields, the tube off the stove, and you just need an air cleaner..... my question is have you made any plans or sourced a cleaner yet? Are you using a quadrajet or edelbrock or holley etc etc. I know on my edelbrock, it sits different than a where a qjet would be on a stock manifold, and to use a stock air cleaner i need to use a spacer. If you have a cast manifold and a qjet, you should not have a clearance issue with your distributor.

Wow Taylor is this your motor???

 

[AuroraGirl]

Wow Taylor is this your motor???

no the only two sbc i have that are orange is the 72 350 laying next to the 67 283. my squares is in the later post pic i showed, mine has a lot of missing blue paint from 1) age and stuff 2) the pressure washer when I jetted the ******* grime off to where it belongs
and then one sbc is... john deere green.. but its just right over the blue. that was my gpas brother. he did the th350 too. no prep, right over everything with no regard at all other than probably a piece of paper over the carb top because the Qjet is green too.At least I hope a cover...

Anyway

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this is about what mine looks like rn under the hood

At some point I need to loosen valve cover and free the coolant sensor wire from under it because whoops. worked up until my wire end broke. Was just gonna re-wire it a second time to bypass that smushed wire and put a thing on to grab the sensor part. also need to put a 4 barrel throttle bracket on. i have one just havent got that far. that is a 2jet/th350 bracket while I need just a 4 barrel, and since manual i might just get a nice simple one that can adjust for future needs.
need a vacuum advance vac tube that one is older than this truck lol. need an oil fill cap gasket. i can prob cut one with cork sheet.
The missing shroud and touching plug wires is noted. I also would like to get a head mount PS pump brackets in the aftermarket(those OE ones are always so finicky) and that will fix a slight rig on the pivot for the current one. I also would like to get a matching set of pulleys so the grooves and offsets are rather the same. I know my alternator pulley is a different groove than the others, too. But until I go to nicer newer alternator with more power, I will prob live with that as it be.
Also could go for a new fan clutch once I get a shroud, prob do that together. Fan is nice. Air filter is due soon but I would like to put a factory air cleaner on and use that setup as to 1) take longer to dirty the filter 2) have better cold weather driveability ... but..... that also depends on the THERMAC heat stove which my manifolds dont have any of that on them. Not a huge deal whatever, right?
Well the manifolds are DIFFERENT styles side to side.....
but i have a set of matching ones with a stove so I will probably put those on some time too.
I can still do an air cleaner with a snorkel, just not a THERMAC. I would want a new one put in the air cleaner anyway so i could just wedge the OE open till I fix the stove situation.
To also do air cleaner I would prob do the 90 degree fittin for the fuel so it clears the edelbrock fuel fitting
PCV and breather element are due for their change. I could probably Use a air cleaner and put the factory integral one on the valve cover and cross that out of equation.
Will be getting a bigger radiator put in once i get it refreshed just because I can and mine has a broken return nipple thus natrually its destined to have a larger one put in. its only the right thing to do even tho I wont need the trans cooler part and have no AC lol. Its why im holding off on shroud too, its actually not getting hot despite being a little low from just purging to air when cap opens to overflow, and no shroud. but i wont pretend that would stay that way.
At some point when a lot of that is A-OK, I will whip out the timing light and properly time it since all I know was it was WAY to retarded when my gpa last touched things and I just used feel/sound to set it much closer to normal. I will service the advance weights at that time too because the bushings are bad. I could use a new cap and put some thermal paste for the coil. New wires at some point in a bright color, probably accel yellow because I like yellow and would soley chose on that alone. When doing these future activities I would actually do the adjustments to the choke and the carburetor overall for proper settings. I Just figured trying to dial that all in is pissin in wind unless timing and all maintenance parts are to be refreshed etc.

In distant future a fuel pump would be wise, if im using the edelbrock then and not a qjet, I would simply get a edelbrock pump so its proper PSI but just for convenience. if its qjet, I would just get quality replacement. The metal line up to the top you can see would be wise to change because I cut the old 2jet line and put a flare and hose with worm clamps for edelbrock. not so neat or confident long term kinda thing. I would prob drop my tank from driver side, move it to the passenger side and just run one tank until I replace the bed with one that has an OPENING on driver

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If you cant tell where this is peeking over by... lol..

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Wheel. tub. And there is the 45 degree rise on the driver side of the tub snipped open to allow fueling. I did not do that i must clarify. But when i put a new tank in I just kept with my gpa oh-my choices. I Would just rather put onthe side with a fuel door and the neck will work I just need 2 hoses which can be bought new and some switcherooing on the brackets I think to be on that side an then replace the rubber line bypassing my switching valve since it looks a little dated. Maybe I would fix my fuel gauge at this time too lol. I think I would bend the opening back over and just install a slotted brace over and put a few bolts to hold it closed so its not kicking dirt and crap up like the pic shows on the neck

that was all engine related running stuffs I could think of.

Then the non-running stuffs I need to do is replace the motor mounts, cups, and the t case mount. Also readjust the crossmember for the t case so its proper on the frame (backwards atm)
Need new leafs put on
Need frame bracing which I saw aftermarket kits make nice box-sections. I can tell my frame is slightly kinked on both sides and That is what prompted my gpa to make braces but doesnt do much when its kinked. I think the box sections would be wise to 1) see how badly it is pushed on the front end and 2) Just add more external support since it was stressed and kinked. looks kinda equal on both sides so it just would kinda jack up the front a tiny bit Lol?
Need to do u joints on the front drive shaft, and also for the passenger half-shaft (driver I would have to check but might as well its a party)
Front leaf suspension could use some auxillary help to at least level when using plow. new leafs would be hard to spend when these arent broken just tired but the back ones are yike. at some point I could do some brake hoses prob for safety (cracking) and fix the rear wheel cylinder that leaks like a mFer and do the brakes back there too, there is one spot on the hard line that leaks. (to the rear)

At that point, other than being loud bad gas mileage, the road kicking gravel at me from the not-floor, and etc I could actually use the square on a road LOL. time will come.

I know you in no way asked for any of this expositioning but I felt like talking so this is what came of it.

Oh and because i Have headers on my shed wall, some time I will put headers on because the leaky straight pipe thats just sad to look at isnt really quiet anyway lol. I do have exhaust hangers new on my bench and my gpa had a dual exhaust at one time and there is still one intact pipe section I could probably put back in and just custom rig the hanging to at least get 1 pipe

 

[AuroraGirl]

So, on my 350 when it was stock had the oven thing down on the exhaust but no long tube, but up to the tube on the underside of the snorkle was this crappy foil covered corrugated hose thing. That thing was so worn out after a few years, it was torn and frayed on the snorkle end from having to put it back on after changing the air cleaner and pcv filter, it finally fell off on the street. I left it off. I figured if the engine wasn't drawing in enough hot air in the engine compartment going down the road, to bad.
Besides, this is Louisiana, not Nebraska! I'm surprised you don't have to start a fire under the motor when you get up just to get the thing warm enough before you leave in the morning!

when i started my square in -30 degree super windchill temps one day, I had the charger on through the night(plow would ding the charge a bit, so I would do that to keep it full) even having been keeping a constant charge during this weather

It turned over SLOW and it took a long time for it to warm up. I think i idled 30 min before I could get meaninful melt on my windshield lol. I even didnt have the fan on till it was warmer. I just went and got a space heater and heated the cabin while waiting with extension cord

But when it that cold the driveability is very slllloooow GOOO
and the sm465 doesnt want to move very fluid or fast either lol. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA for the 7 feet in reverse you went and you have to wiggle to get into 1 lol. once you get moving tho not too bad. sucks when the vents smell like rat poop and you dont want to crack the windows cause the frigid air lol. stinky.

 

[Powerhouse Ranch]

no the only two sbc i have that are orange is the 72 350 laying next to the 67 283. my squares is in the later post pic i showed, mine has a lot of missing blue paint from 1) age and stuff 2) the pressure washer when I jetted the ******* grime off to where it belongs
and then one sbc is... john deere green.. but its just right over the blue. that was my gpas brother. he did the th350 too. no prep, right over everything with no regard at all other than probably a piece of paper over the carb top because the Qjet is green too.At least I hope a cover...

Anyway

You must be registered for see images attach

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this is about what mine looks like rn under the hood

At some point I need to loosen valve cover and free the coolant sensor wire from under it because whoops. worked up until my wire end broke. Was just gonna re-wire it a second time to bypass that smushed wire and put a thing on to grab the sensor part. also need to put a 4 barrel throttle bracket on. i have one just havent got that far. that is a 2jet/th350 bracket while I need just a 4 barrel, and since manual i might just get a nice simple one that can adjust for future needs.
need a vacuum advance vac tube that one is older than this truck lol. need an oil fill cap gasket. i can prob cut one with cork sheet.
The missing shroud and touching plug wires is noted. I also would like to get a head mount PS pump brackets in the aftermarket(those OE ones are always so finicky) and that will fix a slight rig on the pivot for the current one. I also would like to get a matching set of pulleys so the grooves and offsets are rather the same. I know my alternator pulley is a different groove than the others, too. But until I go to nicer newer alternator with more power, I will prob live with that as it be.
Also could go for a new fan clutch once I get a shroud, prob do that together. Fan is nice. Air filter is due soon but I would like to put a factory air cleaner on and use that setup as to 1) take longer to dirty the filter 2) have better cold weather driveability ... but..... that also depends on the THERMAC heat stove which my manifolds dont have any of that on them. Not a huge deal whatever, right?
Well the manifolds are DIFFERENT styles side to side.....
but i have a set of matching ones with a stove so I will probably put those on some time too.
I can still do an air cleaner with a snorkel, just not a THERMAC. I would want a new one put in the air cleaner anyway so i could just wedge the OE open till I fix the stove situation.
To also do air cleaner I would prob do the 90 degree fittin for the fuel so it clears the edelbrock fuel fitting
PCV and breather element are due for their change. I could probably Use a air cleaner and put the factory integral one on the valve cover and cross that out of equation.
Will be getting a bigger radiator put in once i get it refreshed just because I can and mine has a broken return nipple thus natrually its destined to have a larger one put in. its only the right thing to do even tho I wont need the trans cooler part and have no AC lol. Its why im holding off on shroud too, its actually not getting hot despite being a little low from just purging to air when cap opens to overflow, and no shroud. but i wont pretend that would stay that way.
At some point when a lot of that is A-OK, I will whip out the timing light and properly time it since all I know was it was WAY to retarded when my gpa last touched things and I just used feel/sound to set it much closer to normal. I will service the advance weights at that time too because the bushings are bad. I could use a new cap and put some thermal paste for the coil. New wires at some point in a bright color, probably accel yellow because I like yellow and would soley chose on that alone. When doing these future activities I would actually do the adjustments to the choke and the carburetor overall for proper settings. I Just figured trying to dial that all in is pissin in wind unless timing and all maintenance parts are to be refreshed etc.

In distant future a fuel pump would be wise, if im using the edelbrock then and not a qjet, I would simply get a edelbrock pump so its proper PSI but just for convenience. if its qjet, I would just get quality replacement. The metal line up to the top you can see would be wise to change because I cut the old 2jet line and put a flare and hose with worm clamps for edelbrock. not so neat or confident long term kinda thing. I would prob drop my tank from driver side, move it to the passenger side and just run one tank until I replace the bed with one that has an OPENING on driver

You must be registered for see images attach

If you cant tell where this is peeking over by... lol..

You must be registered for see images attach

Wheel. tub. And there is the 45 degree rise on the driver side of the tub snipped open to allow fueling. I did not do that i must clarify. But when i put a new tank in I just kept with my gpa oh-my choices. I Would just rather put onthe side with a fuel door and the neck will work I just need 2 hoses which can be bought new and some switcherooing on the brackets I think to be on that side an then replace the rubber line bypassing my switching valve since it looks a little dated. Maybe I would fix my fuel gauge at this time too lol. I think I would bend the opening back over and just install a slotted brace over and put a few bolts to hold it closed so its not kicking dirt and crap up like the pic shows on the neck

that was all engine related running stuffs I could think of.

Then the non-running stuffs I need to do is replace the motor mounts, cups, and the t case mount. Also readjust the crossmember for the t case so its proper on the frame (backwards atm)
Need new leafs put on
Need frame bracing which I saw aftermarket kits make nice box-sections. I can tell my frame is slightly kinked on both sides and That is what prompted my gpa to make braces but doesnt do much when its kinked. I think the box sections would be wise to 1) see how badly it is pushed on the front end and 2) Just add more external support since it was stressed and kinked. looks kinda equal on both sides so it just would kinda jack up the front a tiny bit Lol?
Need to do u joints on the front drive shaft, and also for the passenger half-shaft (driver I would have to check but might as well its a party)
Front leaf suspension could use some auxillary help to at least level when using plow. new leafs would be hard to spend when these arent broken just tired but the back ones are yike. at some point I could do some brake hoses prob for safety (cracking) and fix the rear wheel cylinder that leaks like a mFer and do the brakes back there too, there is one spot on the hard line that leaks. (to the rear)

At that point, other than being loud bad gas mileage, the road kicking gravel at me from the not-floor, and etc I could actually use the square on a road LOL. time will come.

I know you in no way asked for any of this expositioning but I felt like talking so this is what came of it.

Oh and because i Have headers on my shed wall, some time I will put headers on because the leaky straight pipe thats just sad to look at isnt really quiet anyway lol. I do have exhaust hangers new on my bench and my gpa had a dual exhaust at one time and there is still one intact pipe section I could probably put back in and just custom rig the hanging to at least get 1 pipe

wow Taylor, it really sounds like you got your work cut out for you. And don't worry about the "novel", i love to hear about other Squares and their story/progress. I appreciate you sticking to this truck and doing all of this compared to getting a new one. Very admirable, especially being at a younger age (knowledge level is impressive). You're gonna have to come give me a timing lesson too. I'm in dire need of one and can't figure out how to use the light. My dad's knows and he's to help me with a few things before the Jimmy goes to body work, but he's a busy man.