FE hood clearance

[59meteor]

Just wondering how much room there is under the stock flat hood when a FE with a higher than stock intake is installed. I used to have a factory FE 3x2 barrel intake and oval air cleaner on my old 57 Ford Sedan Delivery, no issues there, but I have a variety of FE intake manifolds that I can try on the 428CJ going into my 59 2 door sedan, which I believe has the same engine compartment. I have a iron CJ intake, Edelbrock Streetmaster, Performer RPM, and Victor 427, as well as a Ford Sidewinder, and 2x4 Tunnel Wedge. I doubt that I would try either the Victor or the Tunnel Wedge (not enough engine to warrant them at this time), but it would be nice to see if anybody has used them under the stock hood. The 59 originally came with a 332 FE, which has a very tall air cleaner, so there is obviously some space under the hood, any chance I can use say the Performer RPM with a 14" diameter  3" tall air filter? Has anybody ever compared the underhood room of a 57/58 to a 59?

[SkylinerRon]

Since the V-8 radiator and core support are the same and the hoods are mostly flat between the rad and the cowl
I'd say they are very close.

Ron.

[lalessi1]

I am using a Blue Thunder single high rise intake, a carb spacer with a double pumper carb/ air cleaner no issues at all. I can measure the clearance if you'd like me to, but I think you can use all of those manifolds under a stock hood.

[John Palmer]

Well.........one thing to consider when using OE Ford 3x2's is that they made two different manifolds.  They both looked exactly the same, but the difference was the angle the carb flange was milled.  On a full size car the engine sits in the car at a angle.  On a T-Bird (of the era) the engine was mounted flat with the ground and the T-Bird 3x2 manifolds were "made flat" for the carbs.  There's a BIG difference when you compare two side by side.  Having a correct "full size" car 3x2 manifold will allow the original 3x2 or 2x4 air cleaner to clear the hood.

One of the guys that I worked with (back in the day) had a '59 Ford convertible with a OE 3x2 set up, and for some reason I seem to remember he had to trim the back of the air cleaner base to clear the hood latch release.

[59meteor]

The 3x2 setup that I had on my 57 Sedan Delivery was the Galaxie version. I never had to touch the oval air cleaner or the hood latch or the hoods latch "hook" for clearance. You would think that the engines location on the frame and firewall would be the same between a 57, 8 or 9, but who knows.
Also, although the 59 rad support appears to be the same as a 57, it has a pair of spacer brackets between the upper rad support and the front fenders and inner fenders. Unlike the 57 & 58, which have a lower front hood edge, with a gradual sloping toward the rear of the hood, the 59  hood is almost straight up and down, with a much more abrupt curve to the rear of the hood. I don`t know if the actual underhood height is different, but since my 59 is currently engineless, with all the front sheetmetal bolted on, I could take a measurement from the top of the round crossmember that has the motor mount brackets, straight up, to the bottom of the hood. Can anybody do the same thing his a 57 or 58? Just curious to see if there is any difference.

[lalessi1]

I had a passenger car 3x2 setup on my 428 '57 Fairlane in 1967. No clearance problems, air cleaner cleared the hood latch. I did have '58 332 motor mounts I got from the Ford dealer. I have the sense that the Y block mounts being sold today as the  "same" puts my engine a little farther back in the engine bay than I remember though.

The 3x2 setup that I had on my 57 Sedan Delivery was the Galaxie version. I never had to touch the oval air cleaner or the hood latch or the hoods latch "hook" for clearance. You would think that the engines location on the frame and firewall would be the same between a 57, 8 or 9, but who knows.
Also, although the 59 rad support appears to be the same as a 57, it has a pair of spacer brackets between the upper rad support and the front fenders and inner fenders. Unlike the 57 & 58, which have a lower front hood edge, with a gradual sloping toward the rear of the hood, the 59  hood is almost straight up and down, with a much more abrupt curve to the rear of the hood. I don`t know if the actual underhood height is different, but since my 59 is currently engineless, with all the front sheetmetal bolted on, I could take a measurement from the top of the round crossmember that has the motor mount brackets, straight up, to the bottom of the hood. Can anybody do the same thing his a 57 or 58? Just curious to see if there is any difference.

Since my engine is in my car I am not sure I can measure the distance you are looking for. I will look tomorrow.

[ragtop]

the t-bird 3x2 intake you have to trim the air cleaner and the car intake you don't have to I have had both at the same time in the same model car and had 406 FE in them

[lalessi1]

That is an interesting tidbit! "Splains" a lot! :

Btw, the part numbers are the same the engine mounts for Y block or FE engines in the parts book.

[SkylinerRon]

The part #'s are the same on 57-59 core supports, also 57-59 V-8 radiators are the same.

Ron.