Alternate air cleaners

[thescifiguy]

I hate the weber "tin box" air cleaner. I remember having a wire mesh oval dome air cleaner on one of my GT's. With our convenient little hood bumps and using DOWNdraft carbs it would look way nicer and, I would think, function better if the air came in through the air filter mostly from the top.

Are good quality, low restriction, dome air cleaners available?

[jpavlack]

I've been looking for those myself. My first Opel had one with the Weber. I believe Weiand made them.

[VT_GT]

You can probably find them, but be careful as they're a bit of a fire hazard. A good backfire will light that material on fire and cause quite a problem. I haven't seen it on an Opel, but it's happened to a few other V8 cars I've dealt with.

[hrcollinsjr]

Look what I found.
http://www.opelgt.com/forums/afterma...r-beneath.html

HTH,
Harold

[thescifiguy]

I went to the website and figured out that the type that is needed for the Weber downdraft carbs we use is part no. RF658. 6 stands for 600cfm and 58 stands for the type of mounting plate. That would be an oval filter. If you're really sucking some big air in your carb, then change the 6 to a 10(1000cfm) which would make it RF1058. That would be a triangular one.

I still haven't had any luck finding a place near me to order one(Philadelphia area). That function on the website never brought anything up, maybe someone else will have better luck?

I agree that any type of air cleaner that sits directly over a carb's intake could be a fire hazard. My experience was that the oil vapor, via the pcv hose, slowly saturated the foam, reducing the fire risk.

I deduced that there wasn't anything particularly special about the foam on the one I used to use, so when it got really dirty I'd just chuck it and cut out a new piece of just about any open-cell foam rubber.

[opelnut_1]

Might I recommend the stock setup with a k&n. it is equivelant to a cold air system of modern cars, the air in the engine compartment is warm and less dense then the cooler air from in front of the radiator an cooler intake equals more power.

[hrcollinsjr]

Originally Posted by thescifiguy I deduced that there wasn't anything particularly special about the foam on the one I used to use, so when it got really dirty I'd just chuck it and cut out a new piece of just about any open-cell foam rubber.

First, it is supposed to be flame retardant and second, you can wash them.

Harold

[oldopelguy]

I've thrown away probably 10 of those air filters; I hate the bits of foam falling apart and falling into my engine.

[namba209]

Just a couple of semantical terms, Harold, the Ramflo is "fire resistant" which is different than "fire retardant". One will burn the other will not burn and may put out a fire. The best foam filter ever made, and is no longer available, was made by "Filtron". Developed for the desert racing motorcycles, it was an oil impregnated foam sock attached to the carb throat. When the desert dust got on it, really thick, the pulses from the carb would crack the layers of dust and clean air would enter through the cracks. If the engine would backfire, any flame would melt the inside of the filter "sock" and would ball up, preventing any filter material from going into the engine. The company eventually came out with filter elements for the large 14" chrome air cleaners for cars and I got a pair. Every oil change I would take the one out of the car, throw it in the washing machine, drop the clean one in a container of oil, wring it out, by hand, and put it in the housing. During all the years I used one on my racing bikes, I never lost an engine to dirty intake air. They were so well received, they had 8" tall Filtron filters on a lot a drag racers here in SoCal. I still wish they made them. Buy two, and never buy another air filter for your wheels.

[GTJIM]

The Wieand/Edlbrock air filters are made by Lynx in Australia ... and made for very dusty conditions. The foam element can be washed in hot, soapy water and is designed to be run DRY - it is when nongs oil them, or wash them in solvent, that the foam 'breaks down'. The element is also designed to be replaced on a regular basis - every couple of years ... or after a big backfire.

The foam elements can be bought in Green, Yellow, Blue, Red, Black and Grey so can be colour co-ordinated with the paint colour of the car!

Like everything else if the manufacturer's recommendations are followed they work very well .....

[automata3.0turbo]

i had once considered cutting a vent into the GT's hood bump, and then screening the vent hole over with fine mesh from the back. I have two of those "tin box" air cleaners, one that looks like the standard cleaner except with the weber logo on it, and another "redline" air cleaner that came extra with the car. i figured the vent would improve airflow a bit and prevent the induction of warm air. after concluding i didnt want to chop the hood up, i decided to do away with the tin box air cleaners to do a custom cold air induction system. im debating on wether or not to use half of the stock intake and use a intake pipe extended into the nose, capped by a k&n conical; or build a custom air box utilizing the two air vents in the nose...kind of like a "ram air" get up.

[hrcollinsjr]

Okay two more points!
Ron, I believe you are correct on the terms fire retardant vs. fire resistant. Please forgive me.

Jim, some of the foam filters, not the Lynx though, are designed to be run oiled.

Harold

P.S. And what is a "nong"? I'd like to be able to recognize one, especially if it might be staring at me in the mirror.

[thescifiguy]

I never said that dome foam air cleaners were a GOOD idea, just a more ATTRACTIVE one.
No doubt, getting your air from someplace other than the engine compartment would certainly be preferable, but a duct going to the front of the radiator necessitates a snorkel or similar device. Isn't the stock snorkel system awfully restrictive....even if you took the air cleaner out? On the subject of filters breaking down and getting in our engines, weren't the stock filters made out of hair that breaks down and gets sucked in?(THAT's what that funny smell was!) Since most Opels still use the hair filters, maybe that's why they backfire: Hair balls! Was that cat hair in those things?

I've got a compromise: Cut the bump out of the hood and have the dome air cleaner stick outside the car completely(Ha!)!

[hrcollinsjr]

Originally Posted by thescifiguy ... weren't the stock filters made out of hair that breaks down and gets sucked in?(THAT's what that funny smell was!) Since most Opels still use the hair filters, maybe that's why they backfire: Hair balls! Was that cat hair in those things?

The later style had "REAL" paper element air filters. Somewhere on this forum I believe I posted some pictures of the difference.

Harold

[GTJIM]

Harold: 'nong' = numbnuts
That is half the problem - some foam filters are designed to be oil wetted - like the K&N ones ... but the Lynx ones run dry. So even the oil from crankcase vents will degrade them.


Scifi: The stock Opel snorkel was extensively tested for air flow by Stuttgart University during the design stages and is probably the best and least restrictive way of getting air into a GT carb - fit a more modern K&N filter in place of the original paper element and you have a very good system.
Oh - and DO wet the K&N element with the correct oil provided!

[opelbits]

If you find one of the round aftermarket plenum bases (TWM style from Redline Weber/Pierce Manifolds), they are 5 1/8" in diameter. This just so happens to coincidentally be the diameter of most common four barrel carbs air cleaner mounting flange (the circle around the airhorn). This means that any aircleaner designed to fit the 5 1/8" carb will fit the Weber plenum base.
Or to put it simply, the plenum base acts as a Weber adapter for 5 1/8" base opening air cleaners.

[namba209]

Originally Posted by hrcollinsjr Okay two more points! Ron, I believe you are correct on the terms fire retardant vs. fire resistant. Please forgive me. Jim, some of the foam filters, not the Lynx though, are designed to be run oiled. Harold P.S. And what is a "nong"? I'd like to be able to recognize one, especially if it might be staring at me in the mirror.

No big deal Harold, it was just a semantical term as I said. I got caught up in that when I was a youngster and my sister's nightgown caught fire. This was before all the Gov't testing, etc., got involved. My folks were really upset at the manufacturer because the label said fire resistant and it still caught on fire when she stood too close to the gas heater we had to warm up the room.

Jim, I should have stated the Filtron foam filter was designed to be oil wetted. Their instructions were: Put the filter in a container with oil, when it was fully soaked with oil, wring it out by hand, then install. By all means do what the manufacturer suggests.

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by opelnut_1 Might I recommend the stock setup with a k&n. it is equivelant to a cold air system of modern cars, the air in the engine compartment is warm and less dense then the cooler air from in front of the radiator an cooler intake equals more power.

. . . and here's some details:

[Tru-Craft]

You can also put one of my CNC air cleaner covers on your existing filter.
You can paint, anodize or chrome them to get a custom look.
http://www.opelgt.com/forums/afterma...eaner-top.html
Still have a few left.
Lyle

[thescifiguy]

Alright, now we're talking! I like Lyle's air cleaner covers. Custom or rare stuff is always a good investment and those covers are yeeha!-sweet.

But what's that cool set up on Micah's car? It looks like a custom CNC'd redo of the right angle snorkel part with a nifty intermediate piece for vacuum hose and stuff. It looks larger with cooresponding greater air flow.

Who made that li'l beauty?

[krewzer]

Hey Otto,
Did you take a picture of my custom fiberglass air plenum at the Meridian meet?
My camera was hijacked at a Texans game that weekend, and I haven't replaced it. Maybe I'll get one for Xmas...............
Wes

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by krewzer Hey Otto, Did you take a picture of my custom fiberglass air plenum at the Meridian meet? My camera was hijacked at a Texans game that weekend, and I haven't replaced it. Maybe I'll get one for Xmas............... Wes

. . . no, I didn't, Wes, some others (George, Rodney) may have though . . . can't remember if I even brought a camera!

[krewzer]

I found one in the photo gallery:

[opelenvy]

. . . but for those who don't know how to or want to work with fiberglass, here is my method.

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by krewzer I found one in the photo gallery:

. . . noticed you have some sort of heat shield under your T-stat housing, Wes, but no radiator fan shroud! You'd be amazed at how effective those are increasing your radiator cooling efficiency . . . never a bad thing in Texas!!