Drop base units open up a lot of options for "other than stock" air cleaners. The WFO 1, and Gen 2 units that Butler Performance sells will give you plenty of space to run a shaker with a taller than stock intake. I've run the Performer RPM/WFO-1 with no problems.
The problem with the Performer RPM is that there isn't enough "meat" in the runners to port match KRE ported heads (which I have). I'm running a ported Holley Street Dominator that I got from our own Steve Coombs, plus a 1 inch spacer which he well documented that makes more power than without the spacer. With the G2 drop base, I needed a half inch aluminum spacer between the carb and air cleaner to get the shaker height that I want.
I'm not suggesting that anyone try to copy my formula: HSD+ carb spacer - drop base + air cleaner spacer - shaker gasket = final height
I'm just saying there are a lot of options out there to run intakes other than stock. I've found that the limiting factor has been spread vs square bore. I'd run a Kauffman Northwind, but they don't make it in spreadbore so it won't work with a Q-Jet.
Here is a link to the puzzle pieces.
https://butlerperformance.com/c-1234...s-filters.html
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77 Trans Am, 469 w/ported E-Heads via Kauffman, matched HSD intake, Butler Performance forged rotating assembly, Comp custom hyd roller, Q-jet, Art Carr 200 4R, 3.42s, 3 inch exhaust w/Doug's cutouts, D.U.I. Ignition. 7.40 in the 8th, 11.61@116.07 in the quarter...still tuning.
