"hot rod" air cleaners on your daily?

I was wondering the same thing. I was wondering if K&N made any type of cleanable filter for those.

 

Just a thought, but perhaps in the motorcycle side of K&N.

 

We had a thread recently on using K&N stuff to make a filter for those scoops

 

I was thinking more along the Hellings helmet style T.

 

Hello, have you noticed a lose of power, running rough with those air cleaners..There isn't very much room for air to get in with that type of cleaner and if you use a paper filament it's even worse...
Duane.

 

I thought I only called my neighborhood trash diggers "Jawas".

The real question is: When did you get a roadster?

 

I'll be right over for the treasures...

^^^busted.

 

Be careful of stud and nut usage on any kind of carb or air cleaner attatchment. Harmonics will cause jamb nuts thought to be correct to loosen and be swallowed into a cylinder.
I learned it at 19 years old while having driven home on leave. Had to buy time and an engine to get back to station.
Keep it lookin' pretty Kevin!

 

This is a K&N:
Everything except the wing nut

 

I did on a Chrysler 392 with a 4X2 and Strombergs. I changed them out and the difference was like night and day. I don't know if the same issues would apply to the flathead but they didn't work out for me on the hemi.

 

Tests show the cheap paper elements on those little filters don't flow much at all, the K&N versions are fine.

 

Hi, Those scoop filters are a joke. I love the scoops so much I wasted 15$ each for those also. Here's some cool ones. http://www.otbgear.com/***ets/2bbl-aircleaners.jpg . Also Charlie price's vintage speed catalog. Here is what I have on now. http://www.lakeheaders.com/cast_aluminum_air_cleaner_from_gear_drive_speed_custom.html.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/picture.php?pictureid=251633&albumid=22939&dl=1294203195&thumb=1

 

Yes they make a washable filter for them. If yours still has the paper filters, replace them. Several years ago there was a big deal about the paper filters not p***ing enough air and making the engine run rich.

Measure yours and check here.

 

I have been looking at a set of the Nicson styled flame arrestors.

 

Like this?

http://www.obrientruckers.com/ecom/product/239/2670/

http://www.obrientruckers.com/ecom/category/239/1/

 

If you use the small traditional hotrod filters, do your tuning with them off then see if there is any noticeable difference in behavior when you put them back on. Occasionally pull them off and do a quick road test. My understanding is that the KN flow is adequate but not great (due to the small size of these), so they might become troublesome as crud ac***ulates. The paper ones range from adequate to stuck choke in flow.
Those flat disc ones certainly look like a bad idea, but no idea of flow when clean. Looks like two stray moths would pretty well kill them.
Big diameter, good quality paper filters have essentially no restriction and lots of capacity for dirt...but look like hell.

 

Another option is a screen with an oiled foam element as used on dirt bikes and quads...

 

I have made air filters for a bunch of OT stuff from Briggs & Stratton foam filters. They work just fine if you can't get the OEM filter.

 

I've also seen double-stacked filters used. A single small diameter filter didn't flow enough, two worked.

 

Those fancy Edmunds repops would look real nice on there. They appear to come with a K&N filter. If you wanna try some out first I know where there is a set...

 

I've always been told to keep away from those foam elements. I've always heard that in the even you have a good backfire it burn it loose and **** that gunk straight down into your carb.

 

Taking nothing away from your nice work , but I tend to agree with Patrick .
I would of welded the bolt to the lower ***embly ...

 

i ran x2 air cleaners like the ones you have, it was like the chokes were closed all the time... super rich. I ended up cutting up a filter from a furnace with scoop type carbs and it ran like a champ. i checked the filters regularly.

from these...



to these...

 

I will concur that the standard filter elements that come with them don't flow.

I had a pair on my Plymouth flat 6, plugs were a bit fouled and gas mileage was about 16/17, double stacked them without the hat, mileage went up to 19/20. So better elements are definately a way to go.

I made up my own ***embly by mounting a sheetmetal piece to the two clamp on bottoms, bought a Oval shaped element and made up a sheet metal top piece cutting the pieces to the shape of the element. Traditioinal? no! effective yes, then keep you scoops in the car for that traditional appearence when it matters.

 

Yep those are the ones I was thinking about ordering.

 

I was going to say those look like the ones on the roadster B*** just built.
That's because they are! Judging by the short vid in his thread, they seem to flow pretty well!

 

A datum point: Years ago engineer/writer Dave Vizard published a flow test: He flowed a circa 700CFM Holley, then added various filters. The big old 14X3 or 4 filters from best makers, I think Delco and Ford, showed zero drop. Capacity to burn. Plenty of worse results showed, of course, and also of course the flow of any filter is going to drop as the crud piles on.
That 700 CFM filter is of course tremendous overkill for a 255 flathead, but compare it visually to a 3" bonnet...
When it starts stacking up dirt, not only are you losing power, the richness can radically increase ring wear.
Now...has anyone come up with a way a getting a decently large paper filter onto a 2 or 3 carb flathead without it looking like absolute ****???

 

The big oval one from O'brien looks like a promising start, but it is meant to be used just hiding little hotrod elements. Maybe there's a big oval filter that could go into that casting.