RPM Air Gap with AFB and stock air cleaner to hood clearance measurements

In another thread I mentioned that I have an Edelbrock RPM Air Gap intake with a 1/2" carb spacer, AFB carb and a '72 trap door air cleaner and didn't have clearance issues with my hood. This prompted a request to take some measurements to see how much clearance there was. Instead of cluttering up that thread, I figured I would start a new one.

Gotta say, this was kind of a pain in the ***. Partly because I expected it to be kind of a slam dunk with multiple little balls of playdo and not much clearance. Clearances ended up being pretty large so I ended up with playdo columns and only a couple at a time.

Here was my first attempt. No contact. ???

first-try-jpg.jpg

Here is my second attempt, still no contact. WTH?

second-try-jpg.jpg

Started making contact after that. Here is a shot of all the clearances along with the "reference point" numbers. The circles are where the playdo made contact. I started putting a little piece of tape on top of the column so I could see better, then started putting a number on the tape with a number next to the column to make it easier. That made it much easier to keep track of things.

measurements-jpg.jpg

Here are points, 1 and 2. Playdo on the far side didn't make contact that I could tell.

1-2-jpg.jpg

Points 3 and 4. Playdo column on the far side didn't make contact that I could tell.

3-4-jpg.jpg

Point 5. Not really sure how, but seems I lost the point marked as "4" in this picture.

5-jpg.jpg

Points 6-9. I started putting a piece of tape with a number on the hood at the contact point, which is when I realized it would be smarter to just put the tape on the column before I closed the hood.

6-9-jpg.jpg

Points 10 and 11. This is where I started to get a little smarter and put the number next to the column as well as a piece of tape on top of the column.

10-11.jpg

Last reference point.

12.jpg