Wondered if anyone liked these so much that they tried to cut them down to fit a cutlass. Think I would have to take out good 1.5 inches at least and re weld them. Pipe Dream?

 

If they fit a 455 they will fit a 350.

 

Sorry. As they are now they are too tall to clear the brake booster and heater box on my 72 cutlass. Putting a 455 in so clearance is now an issue over 3 inches tall. I think these are close to 5 inches. Thinking outside the box maybe too much. Everything I'm seeing really looks fairly cheap and or thin. Lacking in the cool factor.

 

Not a pipe dream as I may do that on a similar pair sometime in the future.

I guess it would be nice to get a super straight cut/slice so separate the parts...some sort of bandsaw setup where they could be slid down the saw table surface perfectly straight.

Then again...you could scribe a line around the outside and just air saw, etc them apart and then "true them up" prior to welding with a file, etc.

I assume they'd need to be TIG welded.....BUT be aware of one thing. You may find that the TIG weld aluminum has a slightly different color/shade to it compared to the aluminum that the covers are made of. Not sure, but I've seen that before with TIG welded parts.

Then again, if they are highly polished after all the work is done that MIGHT help hide any "color"/shade differences.

Paying someone to TIG them nicely would not be cheap......hopefully you "know someone" that won't charge the professional rate they usually get.

Custom ideas like this are A LOT OF FUN to work with. You get the satisfaction of "figuring it out" yourself and then end up with a "one off"/unique part. I did up a set of custom Buick 455 cast aluminum valve covers years ago...started w/TA Performance's cast alum covers and after about 35+ hours of work I had my "only-set-in-existence" custom version.

 

Perhaps it would be worth the effort to cut one of the down nicely and have them recast with the shorter option... I'm certain that there are other folks who have had this problem. I've wondered how many people bought these when they were first released only to find out that there was not enough clearance to install them on A bodies with air/brake booster?

 

Might be cheaper/easier to modify the AC box(or AC delete) and a smaller brake booster. Even if you get them to fit side to side, they're still to tall for stock brackets for AC and alt!

 

I thought using a booster from a late 70's F body would work...They are smaller in diameter but a little longer.

 

Unless it's a a dual diaphragm, the smaller booster will provide significantly less boost. At that point, just go with manual brakes. Alternately, use a hydroboost.

Of course, that only fixes one problem. The taller covers still won't clear the accessory brackets.

 

It's a dual diaphragm....But ya...the other side...hm..

 

I have the newer olds script covers, as others have said if you can get away with it a AC delete and dual diaphragm booster is the way to go. My booster measures roughly 7" wide if I remember correctly and its still tight. As for the accessory brackets when I put my 455 in I modified the standard brackets to work the the higher covers.