- Home »
- Catalog »
- Intakes & Accessories »
- Drop Base Air Cleaners for Pontiac TA Shakers
Drop Base Air Cleaners for Pontiac TA Shakers
Pontiac V8 Drop Base Air Cleaners for Pontiac TA Shakers
Keep the Shaker — Drop Base Air Cleaners for Pontiac TA Shakers for Pontiac V8s
A drop base air cleaner is what lets a second-generation Trans Am keep its shaker after the engine outgrows a stock manifold. The base drops down over the carburetor instead of sitting on top of it, recovering the height an Edelbrock Performer RPM, Victor or Northwind intake takes away.
Butler stocks PTF drop base shaker assemblies with washable cone elements, Blocker drop base pans for RPM and Victor intakes by year, replacement filters and the shaker retaining ring. Fitment here is narrow — read it before ordering.
Browse Drop Base Air Cleaners for Pontiac TA Shakers Products
Popular Brands:
More About Drop Base Air Cleaners for Pontiac TA Shakers
1. Which Base Fits Your Car and Intake
These are not universal parts. Each one is cut for a specific intake height and a specific shaker base plate.
| PTF drop base assembly, 1973-79 Trans Am 326-455 | built for the Edelbrock Performer RPM, Edelbrock Victor Jr and Northwind NW-4150 intakes with a Quadrajet or Holley carburetor. Overall height 4-3/4 inches, 16-5/8 inch diameter, carb flange to top 2-3/4 inches, with a 3 inch cone washable element included. It now works on the Olds 403 as well. |
| Tall PTF assembly | for engines making more than 450 horsepower. Overall height 5-3/4 inches with 3-3/4 inches from carb flange to top, using a 4 inch cone element. It requires the taller fiberglass Mega Scoop, which is a separate part. |
| Blocker pan, Edelbrock RPM intake, 1970-72 T/A | the early-car answer for a Performer RPM. |
| Blocker pans for the Victor intake | one for 1970-76 Firebird and Trans Am, a second for 1977-79. The two are not interchangeable — the shaker base plate and offsets changed. |
| All Blocker pans require an HP-style Holley with no choke. | There is no room inside the pan for a choke housing. |
2. The Fitment List That Actually Matters
Butler is blunt about this because the returns are expensive. Check every line against your car.
| Shaker base plate | you must be running a Pontiac 400/455 shaker, or an Olds 403 on the standard PTF base. It will not work on a 350 Rocket, a 455 Olds, a 301, or a 305/350 small-block Chevy — even if that engine came in the car from the factory. Those shakers have different heights, offsets and base plates. |
| Cars it will not fit | a 1974 GTO, and the early 1977 shaker that was only 2 inches tall may not work either. |
| 1970-72 Trans Am with electric actuator flapper doors | to use one of these you must change the shaker base plate to a 1973-76 unit, OER part number F10193, and add a retaining ring. Butler stocks the retaining ring. |
| You will cut the shaker. | The shaker has to be cut for the air inlet. Not for high port heads. |
| Other intakes | the Torker II can work but sits at a slightly different angle, and shorter intakes can work with an air cleaner spacer. Note that a drop base only allows up to 7/8 inch of spacer, so the taller air cleaner spacers are out. |
| Body variation | frame differences, aftermarket engine mounts, body mounts and aftermarket subframes all change shaker height relative to the hood. |
3. Carburetor and EFI Clearance
| Holley and Quadrajet | both work, with electric or non-electric choke. |
| Edelbrock | a non-electric choke carburetor will work using a Russell banjo fitting, part number 640273. An Edelbrock with an electric choke will not fit. |
| EFI | the base suits FAST EZ 1.0 and 2.0, Holley Sniper and Sniper 2, and FiTech. The fuel inlet fitting often needs attention — a 1/4 or 1/2 inch, 45 or 90 degree hose fitting, or a banjo. Butler has found a -6AN to O-ring 3/8 steel 45 degree fitting gives the extra clearance on Sniper and Sniper 2 systems instead of bending the pan around the fitting. |
| XP-style bowls | for other EFI systems and Holley XP style carburetors with large extended float bowls, the radius inside the drop base may need to be massaged to clear. A drop base that has been modified in any way is not returnable, so test fit first. |
4. Filters and Care
Replacement cone elements are stocked in both the 3 inch height for the standard base and the 4 inch height, which fits the standard PTF base and lid but requires the tall Mega Scoop. These filters are oil free. Clean them with gentle soap and hot water only — no high pressure hose, no air hose to dry them, air dry only.
Not sure what your Pontiac needs?
Call our tech team at 866-762-7527. Tell us your engine, heads, car, and power goal, and we will put the parts together as one combination that works.