GEORGE hood scoops

george i had a similar experence with a 351 pinto. like you the carb fit pretty much level with the hood. i had a 71 mercury comet gt hood scoop.that only left about 2 inches to the top of scoop. at test an tune it was slower with the hood on as to having the hood on. i bought repo boss 9 scoop that made the airgap aroune 3 3/4 between the carb and hoood ran fine. you talked about a dropped base air cleaner base. i don't think this will work because the carb is flush with the hood sheatmetal.i think the problem lies with the relationship of the carb inlet to top of scoop measurement.i would try removing the scoop and run the car with a velocity stack. think the references these guys are making to the mustang and torino cars with the same scoop arrangement is one flaw. the carbs well below the hood sheet metal so they would not suffer this air starvation effect. if you need a stack to try i'll loan the one i have just let me know......gopher