I just picked up a lower base for the OAI W25 today from a gentleman on ebay. Removed from his 70 w30. He said he has the dual air breathers from the valve covers, the rubber tubes that connects them together, and the heat riser tube. He is selling these parts separately and wants 100.00 for it all. I already purchased the lower from him so the rest are the hostage parts for the 100.00 bucks. My question is.....He told me he has 2 heat risers and he is unsure which one is correct for the w30. One is 10 inches long, the other about 12.5 inches long. So which one is correct for the oai?? The other question is 100.00 bucks to much for this stuff?? I know the rubber parts can be purchased aftermarket. These parts he has are all original so I cant see how the rubber can still be decently usable.

 

The base is the expensive part. The other parts i would think you could pick up for less. You are right about the rubber parts. You will have to get new anyway. That leaves two breather tubes and two filters at the valve covers and the hot air pipe. If he is including the heat shroud around the manifold and it's in good shape, That would be a differant story. That part alone is not that cheap. Without the shroud I would say more like $50 + shipping.

I have a pile of the hot air tubes but not sure what one is correct. I am not sure if I have any of the big block breather tubes.

 

I would send both tubes on the agreement that the one that doesn't fit gets sent back. If it never happens, oh well.

 

FWIW - I recently had experience with what I believe was a REPRO big block heat riser tube and an otherwise original/factory OAI setup on a car. The tube SUCKED in terms of fit/alignment...couldn't get other parts to line up correctly until we dug up an original heat riser tube.

I'm fairly sure it was a repro part....didn't have the same stamping lines/defects/definition as an original tube. Customer wasn't sure where it came from as some place that had worked on the car put the stuff on.

So....try to get an ORIGINAL TUBE...even if it's a bit beat up (common to see dents in these things).

How is the guy taking measurements of these tubes??? Tape measure following the curves OR just the overall height??? It matters and may help you get a useful comparison on here.

Also, the metal tubes that run from the valve cover breathers up to the air cleaner base are different lengths on a 350 car VS. a 455 car so you might get measurements on those as well.

Yes, even those 40 year old rubber pieces can still LOOK great....but they'll likely crack or break when you try to take things apart or put them back together.