1940 air cleaner question

Thomas Sargent

Thomas Sargent

Member
Just received an air cleaner that is correct for my 40 ford flathead from ebay. Looks nice but looking at it carefully, I see the air enters the top thru the screen and mesh, and then goes straight down into the carb throat thru a small tube in the center. What is the purpose of the chamber that surrounds the down tube? It has no air inlet, just is common to the opening at the bottom. Can't see or understand it's purpose. Thanks
 
If it's a dry element type, air should enter through the wire mesh and then into the center. Can you post a photo to make sure you have the correct air filter?
 
As Seth has stated, we need a photo. It sounds as if you have the optional oil bath filter. If that's the case, you must add oil to the "bowl". That oil is supposed to catch the contaminants.
I have attached photos of two of the three (correct) dry type and two of the oil bath type.
 

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My '47 came with the oil bath type shown in the righthand photo. However, a member of this forum once said that is incorrect for my year ????
 
Drbrown said:
My '47 came with the oil bath type shown in the righthand photo. However, a member of this forum once said that is incorrect for my year ????
Click to expand...

Yes, that is incorrect for 1947.
The attached photo is the correct oil bath for your car.
 

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Kube said:
Yes, that is incorrect for 1947.
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Mike

How early was that style of oil bath silencer used??? AS I have seen one that looks just the same (and have been told) it was available for 1935 as seen on this 35 Cabriolet (sans the cleaning instruction decal being on the wrong side of the cleaner/for 35 at least)?
 

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rockfla said:
Mike

How early was that style of oil bath silencer used??? AS I have seen one that looks just the same (and have been told) it was available for 1935 as seen on this 35 Cabriolet (sans the cleaning instruction decal being on the wrong side of the cleaner/for 35 at least)?
Click to expand...

Robert, I can't quite tell the "fine details" from the photo. The correct filter for 1940 had a 48-prefix part number so I'd have to believe it
was the same as '35 - '36.
 
59a aircleaner.jpg
Drbrown,
According to the Early Ford V8 club 41-48 Ford book there were two versions of the 59A-18205-A air cleaner used on 46-48 cars. On some early 46's the 21A-18205-A air cleaner was used. My 46 Ford has the unit like the one in Mike's photo. My 47 has the second design. Either would be correct for your car. I think a simple case of sourcing from two different vendors.
 
1942deluxe said:
View attachment 562473
Drbrown,
According to the Early Ford V8 club 41-48 Ford book there were two versions of the 59A-18205-A air cleaner used on 46-48 cars. On some early 46's the 21A-18205-A air cleaner was used. My 46 Ford has the unit like the one in Mike's photo. My 47 has the second design. Either would be correct for your car. I think a simple case of sourcing from two different vendors.
Click to expand...
562473
 
It was late in 35 that Ford started to offer the smaller oil bath air filter. Prior to this the larger heavy duty oil bath was offered, typically for commercial vehicles but they were also used on cars.
 
I have the air cleaner shown on the left above. There is no place for oil. It is definately a dry type. I am wondering what the outer chamber which is sealed at the top and open to the carb throat on the bottom is for. Seems to have no function. Thanks
 
you guys are sleeping, how come no one noticed the fuel injection throttle body under the air cleaner? Should be starting it up later this week!!
 
Thomas Sargent said:
you guys are sleeping, how come no one noticed the fuel injection throttle body under the air cleaner? Should be starting it up later this week!!
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We're not sleeping; just aware of the purpose of this forum. However, there is some interest here in EFI, so it would be nice to know how it works.
 
Back to your original question about why the bulky air cleaner when the inside tube is small. Ford called these both an air cleaner and a silencer. My guess is the extra bulk served two purposes:
1 - it made the intake noises quieter, giving a more refined driving experience
2 - it made the dry air cleaner look similar to the better oil bath air cleaners, keeping buyers from feeling they got an inferior product (which from an air cleaning perspective they did).
 
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