early 1933 air cleaner?

FrankWest

Well-known member
Is this an early 1933 air cleaner?
 

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Frank, the air cleaner you have pictured has vertical sides. The ones I have seen which seem more common had slightly tapered out sides making slightly larger diameter at the bottom. These were on 33 Fords and 34 Fords in other countries like Canada, Australia, South Africa etc. There was also another type in 1933 on V8s which had a very smooth domed top. I think at least some of these were made by the Burgess Battery Company, Madison, WI. I have the tapered side model on my RHD 34 V8 sedan. It just comes apart in two pieces, the base and the top outer cover. You wont need a drawing to pull it apart. I removed the "rock catcher" mesh from the inside and fitted a paper element filter with no alterations to any metal work. The paper filter is an Australian made "Ryco" one so maybe not available in the USA. These air filters are all pictured on various pages in the V8 club 1933-34 Restoration Manual. Regards, Kevin.
 
The made in Canada tapered side version of the subject air cleaner is unique to Ford of Canada models through the '34 model year, hence their presence on Fords in the Commonwealth countries, where with the exception of the U.K. the Ford operations were Ford of Canada subsidiaries. The U.S. version with more vertical sides was made by Holley and used in both the '32 and '33 model years. The dome-shaped Burgess air cleaner appears to have been confined to the '32 model year in the U.S.
 
Engine drawings from original owners manuals

But, in the 1933/34 restoration manual I see the straight vertical side air cleaner

Could my owners manuals be Canadian?
 

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FrankWest, your owners manuals will say Ford Canada on the cover if they are. Plus the 34 Canadian manual will show the 33 air cleaner.
 

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My 1933 and 1934 instruction books say only ford motor company on the front.
Funny, the 1933 air cleaner body is slightly tapered just like on the photot in your book.
Yet, the air cleaner pictured in the beginning of this thread clearly is not tapered.
I guess it is not all that important, maybe ford used one photo for all books, but still shipped american made cars with the more cylindrical air cleaner.
 
On second thought, that air cleaner in the first photo may not be an example of the version used by Ford. I've numerous examples of '32-'33 air cleaner and they all have tapered sides consistent with the illustrations in both the Canadian and U.S. owners manuals. There is one minor difference between those two shown in the owners manuals and that is how the top section of the air cleaner is attached to the bottom section. The Canadian illustration shows a wing nut which is obviously attached to a stud, but only the very earliest U.S. '32 version had a stud (and acorn nut) for the attachment of the top and bottom sections. All of the others are held together with a slotted round head screw and of course there is no stud.
 
Here is a photo of the air cleaner I have just restored. It has a slot headed screw that threads into the bottom section. The screw is not in this photo, I have to drill and tap the lower portion to accept the screw, but it came with the original slotted screw that broke off in the lower portion, but I was still able to determine the proper thread size
 

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Here is a photo of the air cleaner I have just restored. It has a slot headed screw that threads into the bottom section. The screw is not in this photo, I have to drill and tap the lower portion to accept the screw, but it came with the original slotted screw that broke off in the lower portion, but I was still able to determine the proper thread size
Looks correct.Here is a pic of the air cleaner that came with my '33.Intake etc are not correct for '33,just the air cleaner.
 

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Sheldon,

It would appear so as confirmed by the photo below from Ford's Archives.
 

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This the air cleaner on our N.Z 1932 3/W
 

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Good question! The '32 version did like shown in Ian's photo. A decal is absent in the Archives photo and normally such a decal would be on the left side.
 
Here is a photo of what looks like a 33, even aluminum heads and this air cleaner looks thinner. Interesting. Note the 2 blade fan? experimental? Didn't a 33 have a 4 blade fan?
 

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This is a cool little photo. Experimental V8 likely taken in 1931 (correct me if wrong). Note the one single exhaust port, and starter motor location.
 
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