Nowadays, the air cleaner on your modern car is more likely a throw-away item. When you bring your vehicle in for routine maintenance or tune-up, the mechanic takes the old cleaner out from the carburetor, gets a replacement, pops it into a plastic housing, fastens some wire clips, and off you go.
Mostly, the price of a new air filter is approximately $10 (although there are other high-performance filters on the market today that is re-useable and have better quality but are usually a lot costlier.)
But back then, things were much more different in the past. Until the late 80s and early 90s, most cars had a carburetor and a carburetor cleaner, which we call air filter now. It was during the late ’50s that throw-away carburetor air cleaners started to become prevalent. Before that, Engineers created the component intended to disassemble easily and clean, sometimes re-oiled during the spring and fall, or a minimum of every 10,000 miles. If you are operating the car in dusty conditions, for every 2,000 miles, you should service the carburetor.
Then by the ’40s, most car manufacturers offered car buyers to pick either an ordinary or oil-bath type carburetor air cleaners. Both types had to be re-oiled, but the oil-bath designs were naturally heavy-duty and had an oil reservoir. They are also popular among modern collectors since they are an extra-cost option.
The Cleaner Serves Several Functions:
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Filtering air entering the carburetor to prevent dust from getting into the engine
Since a carburetor is responsible for injecting gas and air into an engine’s cylinders, a mixture is more commonly mentioned as an engine’s air/fuel mixture. In turn, it uses tiny portals and valves to function correctly. Any debris or foreign objects that enter these portals and valves can cause severe malfunction or damage. An engine air filter takes care of these intricate parts by neutralizing incoming air before it gets into a carburetor to avoid contaminating the engine.
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To silence the noise produced by air rushing into the carburetor.
The cleaner serves to filter and clean air from the outside before it gets sucked into a car engine and burned along with fuel to supply combustion, making the engine sound less noisy.
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To protect the vehicle’s engine.
In addition, to stop engine contamination and, in some cases, engine damage, air that gets sucked into a car engine must be as clean as possible. A cleaner filter is the front line of defense against destructive contamination in the air from entering a vehicle’s engine. Contaminated air can reduce efficiency and destroy the machine; a cleaner prevents this.
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To increase fuel economy.
A properly installed, clean, and fully functioning cleaner increases both engine performance and reliability. Therefore, by filtering incoming air into an engine, a cleaner assures that air burned inside the engine isn’t contaminated. Clean, purified air ignites quicker and better inside an engine cylinder, an event that increases engine combustion efficiency, which improves fuel economy.
Choosing the Right Cleaner
Choosing the correct cleaner for your vehicle depends on so many factors:
- You must check how many barrels of the carburetor is in your car. Check if it’s a two-barrel carburetor or four-barrel carburetor.
- Know what type of carburetor, whether Quadrajet carburetor, Holley carburetor, or Edelbrock carburetor. Once you determine what kind of carburetor you have, find out how much size neck of the carburetor so that the air cleaner can fit with it.
- Check the fuel line, throttle lever, and if it has an electronic choke. It’s important to know that when the cleaner base sits on the carburetor, it doesn’t hit the fuel line, throttle lever, or electronic choke.
- Determine how much clearance you have once you install the cleaner on the carburetor to accommodate filter height.
Therefore, the ideal type of low-profile cleaner for every type of carburetor may vary. For a Quadrajet carburetor or Edelbrock carburetor, you can either use a semi-recessed base or a flat base.
As for the Holley carburetor, in addition to two other types of cleaner base, as it’s mentioned earlier, you can also use a fully recessed cleaner base. Using a semi-recessed base will drop only a half-inch, but you don’t have to worry about the fuel line or throttle lever.
Pay more attention to a flat base.
Then if you use a flat base, you must pay close attention to how much hood clearance you have because it keeps everything above the carburetor once installed. Lastly, you can’t use a fully recessed base on both Quadrajet and Edelbrock carburetor because the base will hit the fuel line, throttle lever, and electronic choke. Therefore, you can only use it on Holley double pumper carburetor.
There are many low-profile air cleaners for your carburetor, with various types, shapes, and sizes following the description. This is done after taking every recommendation of what kind of cleaner suits any particular vehicle the best into consideration.
Note that this was done not to compare which product is better but rather to provide basic information about the specification of each product. Take a closer look down below for examples!
ProForm 66801 Deluxe
Product descriptions :
- 14″ Diameter
- 3″ Tall Filter Element
- Includes 4-7/32″ Carburetor Neck Adapter
- Chrome Fits 5-1/8″ and 4-7/32″ carb necks.
Moroso 65915 Gray/Black 14″ Low-Profile Fiber Design Cleaner
Product descriptions:
- Product Type: Auto Part
- Item Package Dimension: 36.83 cm L X 36.576 cm W X9.398 cm H
- Item Packaged Weight: 3.7 lbs
Spectre Performance (4770) 9″ x 2″ Cleaner
Product descriptions:
- 9 Inch assembly with a 9 x 2 air filter element
- It fits carburetors and TBI throttle bodies with 5-1/8 In. neck
- Flat base
- Triple chrome plated
Edelbrock 1208 Pro-Flo 10-Inch Round Cleaner
Some people prefer the Edelbrock 14″ L88-type drop base, but they have a slighter slimmer design with less of a drop.
Product descriptions:
- 10-inch diameter
- 2-inch tall paper element, 3 1/2 inch overall height
- 5 1/8 inch in diameter of cleaner mount flanges
- Has knock-out hole in the base for use with a crankcase ventilation adapter
- Triple chrome plated 18-gauge steel
K&N 60-1040 Air Filter Assembly
Product descriptions:
- 14.5-inch diameter
- Dominator style (designed to fit onto Dominator carburetor)
- 3 1/2 inch overall height
- Chrome material
Allstar Performance ALL26094 – Allstar Performance Aluminum Air Cleaners
Product descriptions:
- 14-inch diameter
- 1.375-inch base distance dropped
- Aluminum material
- 5 1/8 inch neck
Outlaw HiFlow 425 Air Cleaner System for Harley-Davidson
Product descriptions:
- HiFlow 4 1/4″ Genuine K&N Air Filter
- Super Low Profile – best leg clearance
- Support & Backplate Black Powder Coat Finish
- Black Billet Aluminum Finned Cover
- Optional Matching Points Cover
- Choice of External Breathers
Cars That Use a Low Air Cleaner
Now, we will take a look at the example of several cars from several different owners that specifically use low-profile carburetor air cleaners. Furthermore, engineers modified some of them mainly to fit a new engine to their old-fashioned vehicle. Check this out!
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1954 Kaiser Darrin
Source: bringatrailer.com (Darrin502)
A California-based coachbuilder, Howard “Dutch” Darrin, designed The Darrin roadster and featured fiberglass bodywork as the primary American production car. A 161ci Hurricane F-head inline-six combined with a three-speed manual gearbox with overdrive ensures where the power for the vehicle comes from. Engineers fit the 161ci Hurricane F-head inline-six with a factory-style low-profile air filter and rated 90 horsepower when new.
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1957 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible
Source: mecum.com
Influenced by the Eldorado Brougham super luxury sedan, this Series 62 convertible stands as a strong example of the mid-century American styling and world-class engineering that swept across the 1957 Cadillac fleet.
The factory-engineered 365/300 HP V-8 engine provides the vehicle with some power, combined with a 5-main-bearing cast-iron block and hydraulic valve lifters for durability and quiet operation. low-profile air cleaners on the four-barrel carburetor help tuck the engine in under the long and lower-slung hood.
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V8-Powered 1957 MG MGA Roadster
Source: bringatrailer.com (Lyle-old_car.guy)
Features the inline-four, which is then fitted with an all-aluminum 215ci Buick V8 during the 1990s work. The oil passages are claimed to have been extended to Rover specifications, and the cylinder head was reportedly ported and refined with the design. The engine highlights ribbed valve covers with MG logos, a low-profile air cleaner, and a Chrysler alternator. Cooling is provided from a refined brass and copper radiator.
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1932 Plymouth 3-Window Street Rod
Source: bringatrailer.com (battybug)
Engineers built this car in 1990, employing a steel body, and they finished it in Lipstick Red over Rosewood cloth. A supercharged version of 350ci Chevrolet V8 paired with a 3-speed automatic drive provides the car with some power. They mounted a Hilborn-style scoop on top of the engine. Then, they offered a custom air cleaner setup and using it with the included steel hood.
They rebuilt the 350ci Chevrolet V8-powered engine with a .030″ overbore, steel crankshaft, Arias pistons, Brodix aluminum cylinder heads, and roller rocker arms. In addition, the engine is also equipped with a B&M 6-71 Mega Blower supercharger feeding dual Holley carburetors. At the same time, the exhaust system consists of custom stainless Kruger headers emptying into double stainless piping.
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1978 Chevrolet Corvette C3 (modified with new ZZ383 engine)
Source: corvetteforum.com (cagotzmann)
Mechanics fitted the 1978 Corvette C3 with a new variant of the ZZ383 engine. After that, the GM ZZ383 with Eldebrock 7516 air gap and used a 1.5″ drop base GM 3″ cleaner to have a good 1/2 inch still hood clearance for the filter height. Engineers installed the GM Serpentine belt system with a few modifications. Underneath the air cleaner is a Holley 770 Avenger carburetor.
Conclusion
Air cleaner filters clean air from the outside before it gets sucked into a car engine. A car air cleaner is a piece of equipment that cleans your car’s air before it enters the engine. The cleaner does this by filtering all the dirt and dust out of the air. It can be located in any part of the car, but it is mounted inside the hood in most cars. The reason for this is to keep the air cleaner away from rain or snow. So it doesn’t get damaged. A properly installed, clean, and fully functioning cleaner increases both engine performance and reliability. Choosing the correct air cleaner depends on many factors. Engineers modified some of them mainly to fit a new engine to their old-fashioned vehicle.
An air cleaner on the four-barrel carburetor helps tuck the engine in under the long and lower-slung hood. Standard equipment rubber mats are durable, long-lasting, and easy to clean. The doors shut with a confident thunk! Body Structure Features Heavy-gauge steel protects the body from dents, dings, and other impacts that can happen when you’re driving around town or taking your Camaro on an off-road adventure. Intense door beams help protect passengers in the event of a side impact.
