Dan,
I have the same set up as you do, except for one very big difference: my
carburetor is a double pumper with center pivot fuel bowls (the DP also uses
a full-width fuel block vice a metering plate on the secondary side). The
float adjusters on these bowls are positioned at the front and rear edges,
allowing the EC-1 filter housing to nestle down between them without any
interference or modifications at all. My K & N filter is a little thicker
than the one you show, and I even use some thin spacers (aluminum, fiber,
aluminum) between the F4B and the carb. I use the original "big fat" Tiger
head wing nut (down in the recess, of course), and it still all fits under my
LAT hood.
Center pivots bowls would not only allow you to use your air cleaner housing,
they would also eliminate fuel starvation in sustained RH turns. The cost of
installing center pivot bowls on your carb could be greatly reduced if you
could find an old carb which had them.
You can probably repair the holes in the bottom plate of your housing by
welding them. Maybe you could even weld a new ring around the center hole,
or as Larry Wright suggested, just use fiber gaskets to achieve the correct
spacing. Another solution might be to trim the spacer ring off the bottom of
an inexpensive steel/aluminum aftermarket housing.
Whatever you do, I certainly would not let your body shop touch your carb or
housing again!
Good luck!
Dick Barker
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