How's the engine bay room look? Maybe a carb hat with a pipe and a k&n on the end.. I know you got a cool looking air filter and all.. But sometimes functionality beats looks. I think it was scooper even went to a carb hat intake setup.
What about a low profile air cleaner with the base dropped down 7/8" to 1-1/2". If you have the room this would enable you to maybe go with a larger element. Just a thought. http://www.knfilters.com/racing/14inch.htm http://www.summitracing.com/parts/aaf-all26092 Don't remember what carb you are running, but if it has an electric choke you can only use a 7/8" dropped base. Just read the first post you did.....................if the air cleaner is "caving in"...........means you are pulling the cleaner down with vacuum, and either your element is too small or is it a paper element..................paper elements do hurt HP/TQ...............................IMHO
Just a thought, do you have a vacuum gauge? If so, hook it up and see what the motor is doing with air cleaner on and you rev it up...........may prove interesting..................???
Thanks for all the suggestions so far guys, it's nice to have so many great minds working on this problem, I have given myself a headache today what with all the B/S about the master cylinder, I will check out the suggested solutions prolly tomorrow at PepBoys.
It's not about the diameter of your filter, it's most likely the housing top being too close to the carb top. I've found that to be the most limiting factor. Try one if these http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Speedway-Super-Flow-14-Inch-Air-Filter-Top-Black,25129.html SPark
I know my AFR gauge drops 2 tenths when I put the air cleaner on vs without it and that's with a 2 1/2" x 14" K&N element in a drop-base Moroso housing...
my dyno Guy said mine made 15 more HP with the breather off...he also said I could get 10 of that back with a K&N filter (that I now have)...
that was too much to even believe and I was there... but strange enough it didn't loose any with the windows down...