Pie plates vs snorkels advice

[TheTanSedan@xxxxxxx]

The single snorkel air cleaner housing, its design, shape and filter size 
have everything to do with clean & quiet operation (with minimal maintenance) 
and nothing to do with "performance" beyond efficent operation.  You'll note 
that in the pre-emissions cars the snorkel is correctly angled forward so as 
to catch hot radiator air; first, to help the engine warm up (fuel 
atomisation) and, second, to keep carb icing away.  An extra-heavy car with 
numerically-low rear gears (like an Imperial) just ain't gonna REQUIRE a 
great deal of air (especially with restrictive exhaust manifolding/tubing; 
like an Imperial) as the carb can only flow as much fuel as the vacuum signal 
from the motor will indicate.  That is, it accelerates slowly because: 1)
mild cam; 2) restrictive intake/exhaust 3) tall tires/high gears 4) smallish 
carb 5) Real, REAL HEAVY (like an Imperial) Something like this needs:  a) 
large cubic inch displacement
b) high compression ratio c) tight [low] stall torque convertor, because, it 
can now have a carburetor very sensitive to slight throttle changes [driver 
perceives less effort],
quiet intake and exhaust [same; plus car interior quieter], motor operates 
"inside" of 
envelope given it:  ALL TORQUE.  That's all the old luxury cars ever really 
did was to torque around town.  This is why, with the end of high compression 
they turned into slow, gas-sucking pigs in comparison.

Put an open air cleaner housing on board and the noise level goes up, (big 
deal), but mid-range acceleration/towing ability goes up.  Add dual exhaust 
and you're starting to get up towards the cam/convertor/gear combination 
potential.  Just be aware that with a stock carb fuel mileage can go down w/o 
re-tuning, and the timing curve should be changed for optimization.  (And 
it'll take longer to warm up.  Read about carb icing, too.)

Ross