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The final word on air cleaners?
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sharpstick
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 7:23 pm    Post subject: The final word on air cleaners? Reply with quote

I have a 65 Single Cab that is running a 1641 dp motor. I purchased the motor a few year back and it came with a paper element filter on it (K&N style). People are always telling me to ditch it and get the oil bath filter. Does the oil bath air filter really make that much of a difference? Other than not looking period correct, is there differences between using a high quality paper element as opposed to an oil bath?

I do like the looks of the oil bath so I need to research which one would work best for my application.
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sventinker
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 8:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

On our old solex Carburetors the oil bath gives off a very slight oil vapor that keeps moving parts in the carburetor lubricated as the engine runs. A properly oiled K&N should not release any oil unless over oiled, ask me how I know (it ruins map sensors) . Plus the oil in a K&N shouldn't be considered a lubricant. Old technology yes but it is a good design.
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dstefun
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 8:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just about every old car site quotes the following so I guess I will too ....

Quote:
An oil bath air cleaner consists of a sump containing a pool of oil, and an insert which is filled with fibre, mesh, foam, or another coarse filter media. When the cleaner is assembled, the media-containing body of the insert sits a short distance above the surface of the oil pool. The rim of the insert overlaps the rim of the sump. This arrangement forms a labyrinthine path through which the air must travel in a series of U-turns: up through the gap between the rims of the insert and the sump, down through the gap between the outer wall of the insert and the inner wall of the sump, and up through the filter media in the body of the insert. This U-turn takes the air at high velocity across the surface of the oil pool. Larger and heavier dust and dirt particles in the air cannot make the turn due to their inertia, so they fall into the oil and settle to the bottom of the base bowl. Lighter and smaller particles are trapped by the filtration media in the insert, which is wetted by oil droplets aspirated there into by normal airflow.

Oil bath air cleaners were very widely used in automotive and small engine applications until the widespread industry adoption of the paper filter in the early 1960s. Such cleaners are still used in off-road equipment where very high levels of dust are encountered, for oil bath air cleaners can sequester a great deal of dirt relative to their overall size without loss of filtration efficiency or airflow. However, the liquid oil makes cleaning and servicing such air cleaners messy and inconvenient, they must be relatively large to avoid excessive restriction at high airflow rates, and they tend to increase exhaust emissions of unburned hydrocarbons due to oil aspiration when used on spark-ignition engines.


General consensus is that oil bath air cleaners do a fabulous job but are just a pain to clean. But the plus is that you don't have to buy replacement filters. You do need to clean the oil bath with kerosene and then re-oil the filter media with SAE30 every 10,000-15,000 miles.
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cdennisg
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 8:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I ran a K&N filter on my last 1776 and I loved it. I made a home built setup for fitting pre-heat hose in colder weather. I run stock oil bath filters on stock engines. They work just fine.

Remember, K&N filters are not paper, they are oiled gauze. They need regular cleaning, though not as often as oil bath style. The old wives tale is that K&N filters filter better as they get dirtier. Not sure how true that is though.
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Clara Premium Member
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 17, 2011 9:25 pm    Post subject: Re: The final word on air cleaners? Reply with quote

sharpstick wrote:
I have a 65 Single Cab that is running a 1641 dp motor. I purchased the motor a few year back and it came with a paper element filter on it (K&N style). People are always telling me to ditch it and get the oil bath filter. Does the oil bath air filter really make that much of a difference? Other than not looking period correct, is there differences between using a high quality paper element as opposed to an oil bath?

I do like the looks of the oil bath so I need to research which one would work best for my application.

Which filters better, a bong or a paper filter?
You motor wants an oil bong air cleaner.
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Stocknazi
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 7:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

why does everyone say they are a pain to clean? pretty straight foward if you ask me. i would'nt run anything but a oil-bath
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BarryL Premium Member
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 7:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

sventinker wrote:
...the oil bath gives off a very slight oil vapor that keeps moving parts in the carburetor lubricated...


If this is happening then something is whack. The intake from the air cleaner to the carb should stay perfectly clean and dry.
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