72 TA : New Project

[njsteve]

I just finished restoring the Trans Am's air cleaner base plate. The original had been run over by the previous owner in his haste to put out the engine fire that was attempting to immolate the entire car. I ended up using a small chisel to remove the passenger side snorkel and transplanted the passenger side snorkel from a standard four barrel dual snorkel 1972 air cleaner (they use the same snorkels), that I got off of ebay reasonably cheap. Instead of trying to weld that paper thin metal back together, I used some 2 part steel epoxy. It is actually holding it together better than any weld would and looks just like it was factory installed.

The fun part was removing the thermactor heat riser valves from the snorkels. It's easy to bend the tab and get the units out, but to reinstall the retaining tabs you need to use a special tool: My late Grandfather left me a pair of long wood vise clamps. You put one leg of the clamp down the mouth of the snorkle and the other on top of the thermactor bracket and tighten. It bends the interior tab forward perfectly. Sure beats trying to pry and tap with a long chisel and hammer. Thanks Grampa!

I also used paint stripper to remove all the factory paint. Once it was together I used Rustoleum Satin Black which duplicated the factory finish exactly. Another backyard auto restoration success story.

BEFORE:

[njsteve]

AFTER:

[njsteve]

The finished result looks just like this $2000 NOS air cleaner from ebay a few months back! Total repair price: $3 for epoxy, $3 for primer, $4 for paint, $75 for extra 4 bbl air cleaner, which I can probably resell on ebay for the same amount I bought it for. Total investment, minus labor = $85.

[69rsz28]

Really nice job Steve. I hope I have that kind of success when I start working on my project.

[CamarosRus]

Steve, Is it correct that you removed the BAD snorkel and installed a good one from another cleaner......If this is the case can you elaborate on HOW you did the amputation and reattachement........
Also if you used Rustoleum 7777 Satin Black, and it matches Pontiac OEM......may I assume that Chevrolet's Air Cleaners were in fact somewhat glossier.......than factory Pontiac ????

Chuck

[njsteve]

You can see from the photos that the color is a very close match to the NOS air cleaner's color. The same transplant procedure works for any of the chevy air cleaners as well. You just have to know which snorkel is the correct one to swap. There are only four tack welds on the outer flange perimeter that hold the flange of the snorkel against the air cleaner base. Using a very small chisel you gently split the seam between the flange and the base. The metal is very thin and once you get it off, you can tap it flat again. Attaching the new snorkel is relatively easy as the snorkel fits over the 1/2" tubular section that is on the base with a snug fit. You dont even need clamps to hold it on. Just apply epoxy to the flange and tap it back into place, and wait for it to set.

[njsteve]

The driver's side snorkel on any Pontiac 4bbl air cleaner from late 60s to 72 is the one you need to replace either of the snorkels on a 70 to 72 Trans Am air cleaner. Unfortunately you need two of them. (Even though both sides have the Thermac valve, the passenger's side snorkel usually doesn't have the heat riser tube mount on the bottom, but sometimes you get lucky). In these photos you can see the 4 bbl donor air cleaner, the flange area and the underside which shows the passenger side snorkel without the tube mount. This would be a similar process for any GM air cleaner. KevinW seems to be the expert on donor snorkels for Chevy stuff. He knows which are the right ones for the cowl air cleaners, especially the rarer automatic equipped ones that had the Thermac heat riser.

[CamarosRus]

Kevin W, Might you know of another G.M. application that used the same snorkels as the ONE YEAR ONLY 1970 Camaro L-78 or 70 LS-6/L-78 Chevelle W/O Cowl Induction Hood ??

Chuck S