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Sun Oct 26, 2008 4:13 am

Is this aircleaner correct for 53 ??
Thanks in advance ?

Sun Oct 26, 2008 4:15 am

That is good for 54/55 cars.

Sun Oct 26, 2008 6:34 am

In Australia maybe, but in Belgium the one pictured is the one and only good one to put on a 1953 car!

:twisted: ET

Sun Oct 26, 2008 8:59 am

Yes, that is the 54/55 air cleaner.

The '53 one is very similar.

1953/54/55 air cleaner Gallery search

Sun Oct 26, 2008 11:35 am

Thanks John and Everett !

Sun Oct 26, 2008 11:46 am

53 bugs had them also, they used both T-aircleaner and strapcleaner.

Sun Oct 26, 2008 11:49 am

The left one is a 53 pascal the other one the same as mine is 54

Sun Oct 26, 2008 11:52 am

Thanks Guido!
I'm still learning every day! :)
I will check mine!

Sun Oct 26, 2008 1:07 pm

Heb623 wrote: In Australia maybe, but in Belgium the one pictured is the one and only good one to put on a 1953 car!

:twisted: ET

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: no, not just in Australia. It was world wide. :roll:

Sun Oct 26, 2008 1:53 pm

Heb623 wrote: In Australia maybe, but in Belgium the one pictured is the one and only good one to put on a 1953 car!

:twisted: ET

Not a chance............ :roll:

Sun Oct 26, 2008 2:04 pm

When did they start to use the 54 model??
I found out that the oil bath aircleaner already was used from 20/8/52 on some models! So they are also correct for a zwitter :shock:

Edit
I found some pictures from that 53 air cleaner , but only in a bus not in a beetle, could it be that they where specific for a bus !

Sun Oct 26, 2008 3:36 pm

the oil bath cleaners were a huge improvement over the coffee can felt filter from a maintenance stand point. I would suspect that the coffee can filter was not available as a spare part for long so they would get tossed and replaced with a oil bath air cleaner.
The first version of the strap filter was open around the sides and would allow water to drip into the oil. The solution was to add the little deflector rim.

Most zwitters and 53 ovals that I have seen have the coffee can filter but I think there was some cutover during the 53 model year to the strap without the deflector. Most of this is based on period magazine reviews that show pictures of the engine.

Sun Oct 26, 2008 3:42 pm

tazm wrote: When did they start to use the 54 model??
I found out that the oil bath aircleaner already was used from 20/8/52 on some models! So they are also correct for a zwitter :shock:

Edit
I found some pictures from that 53 air cleaner , but only in a bus not in a beetle, could it be that they where specific for a bus !

Yes Guido, you are correct. If you look in a Zwitter owners manual, it shows 2 types of air cleaners used, the coffee can and an oil bath air cleaner.
In 53 there were 2 types of oil bath air cleaners used. There was the type pictured above (not the 54 type), and another that was similar but it did not have the strap on the top. Instead it used a wing nut to hold the top on.
There is pictures somewhere on TheSamba showing these 2 types of oil bath filters.

Sun Oct 26, 2008 4:18 pm

My zwitter has the oil bath filter, and it has the wing nut on top, no strap.

Sun Oct 26, 2008 7:27 pm

PR lists an oil bath "now fitted in a number of cases" on 20th August 1952.
Then on the 2nd January 1953 the oil bath air cleaner is "now fitted with strap".
Then on the 21st of December 1953 the oil bath air cleaner is "standard equipment for all models", and I suspect this is when the 54 style was introduced.

The first 2 pics are from a September 1952 owners manual, and it shows the coffee can air cleaner and the oil bath aircleaner with the wing nut.
The third pic is from a March 1953 instruction manual showing the early strap type oil bath air cleaner.

Sun Oct 26, 2008 8:04 pm

So the wing nut cleaner is the earliest oil bath device used on Beetles? I'd guess they are pretty rare......

Mon Oct 27, 2008 2:11 am

Australia 1 - Belgium 0 (specific part of Belgium) :oops:

:twisted: ET

Mon Oct 27, 2008 5:01 am

Thanks John,

For the information !
A few years ago , I trow one of these air cleaners with wingnut away because I thought is was a home made part :oops: :oops: :oops: !
Never to old to learn, thanks again for the great information !!
Now I can sell the 54 air cleaner and not giving people the wrong information because I thought :oops: it was correct for a 53 !

Best regards,
Guido

Mon Oct 27, 2008 10:50 am

Guido, don't feel bad I thought the same thing about the wing nut air cleaner on my zwitter, I thought someone replaced the coffe can with a newer style, but I remember contacting Claus Jacobsen and he informed me of the rarity. And confirmed it recently on another thread on here. The hard part is having to explain to other split owners that yes it is correct air cleaner.

Bill

Mon Oct 27, 2008 11:17 am

Nothing beats Bill Collins old story, of the first Split he was restoring.
Doing body work, he "hammered flat a round-ish dent just above the windshield, in the middle...."