Re: [FWDLK] Oil Bath vs. Paper Element Air Cleaners

Ken,

Yes, it can be done. I did it on my 56 Dodge oil bath 4 bbl air cleaner, which is the same as all 55 and 56 Mopar 4 bbls. A paper element has less mess and lower restriction.

Cut the side of the lid around the perimeter about 1.5 inches down from the top. Remove the oil element stuff. Carefully chisel the spot-welds, 6 places, holding the oil element vanes to the top of the lid.

Use 2 filters (7 1/2" ID, 2" high) for an early 80's Dodge Colt, Plymouth Horizon, or Honda Civic): Mopar L573, FRAM CA3490, Motorcraft FA869, AC A757C, Purolator FCA15, K-Mart KA55.

Also, a custom made K & N washable element could be used: 7 ½” ID x 4” high.

The only visible difference on the outside of the air cleaner is that the lid sits 1/8 th inch higher.

Dave Homstad

56 Dodge D500

-----Original Message-----
From: Forward Look Mopar Discussion List [mailto:L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Rimington, Kenneth
Sent: Monday, July 31, 2006 7:00 AM
To: L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [FWDLK] Oil Bath vs. Paper Element Air Cleaners

Is it possible to modify the lid of an oil bath filter to allow a paper filter to be used and still keep the original look?

From: Forward Look Mopar Discussion List [mailto:L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Wayne Graefen
Sent: Monday, July 31, 2006 1:30 AM
To: L-FORWARDLOOK@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [FWDLK] Oil Bath vs. Paper Element Air Cleaners

Air filtration for your engine took a huge step forward when paper air filtering replaced running the air over a bed of oil. ALL the air goes through the paper filter. ONLY the particles that happened to be heavy enough to fall into the oil lake in the oil bath style filters got caught. The higher the RPM, the less likely the dirt is to fall.

When Carl Kiekhaefer was racing in the Carrera Panamericana (Mexican Road Race) and then started NASCAR racing in 1955 with the C300 Chryslers, he found that his race motors were being literally EATEN UP by the amount of dirt that was NOT falling into the oil bath. He is credited as being the first race team owner to send oil samples into a laboratory for analysis to find out what the heck was going on that he was losing motors. He worked with Purolator to bring the first paper filters into production that were suitable for mass production for the US auto companies. There had been after-market companies like Hellings that made competition air cleaners with horse-hair type elements and even those were superior to the oil baths.

We ALL have paper or cotton gauze types of elements for air filtration today in part because Kiekhaefer set the whole industry down that path.

I own a '53 Chrysler Pan Am race car. It happens to be the first car ever assembled by Chrysler with dual quad carburetors on a prototype manifold using two of the first available '54 New Yorker 4-barrel carbs. Likely because of Kiekhaefer's input, the factory put Hellings air cleaners on that car for the sandy desert roads. Yes, the C300s and 300Bs still had old-fashioned oil baths because they had been the industry standard all those years. But starting early in the '55 race year the Kiekhaefer NASCAR '55 and then the '56 300s all had paper air cleaners.

There is no problem getting adequate amounts of air through paper. You enlarge the amount of paper surface to match the potential air intake of the engine. That is what the pleating is for. Take a look at any high performance car at your next local cruise night. They might have an oiled cotton K&N but predominantly you will see large and very large paper filters, sometimes just to impress you with the idea they really NEED that much air.

I would no sooner run an oil bath air cleaner on any of my cars, no matter how authentic and year correct, than I would run any motor without oil in the crankcase.

Wayne

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