Freddie (Memphis)
Senior Member
I played with an airmaze type of screen filter deal when I first bought Jippy car as one came on the car. It seemed to run okay with or without it, but I didn't feel the wire maze was much of a filtering agent....I mean, it kept out small rodents, birds, and cuca-rachas but it sure didn't do much for silt-like dust we get around West Tennesee. I had a discussion on the forum relating to this, and received many of the same comments as already posted. "Don't do it...Model A's were designed to run without air filters...it's not the way Henry made it"...and on and on and on...ad nauseum. Still...I wanted to filter the incoming air into the engine in some way.
So I installed one of the cast aluminum 90-degree elbow and paper filter element units from Mike's A-fordable Parts, in Georgia. All this worked well for a time. But, one evening Jippy would barely run...couldn't put my finger on what the issue was, but I knew I had to do something. I removed the small paper element filter and TA-DAAAAAAH....all was better. Jippy ran better, started easier, etc. That's when I noticed the filter has a very strong smell of gasoline. More research revealed the float valve was leaking somewhat, thus soaking the paper element when the car was shut off. I had been closing the GAV and fuel cutoff, but had not been running the float bowl dry. I tried this and although the problem got better, by then the paper element filter was clogged from being wet with gasoline and then having road dust attracted to it. I blew out the filter with an air hose, and it did get a little better...but I was still not happy.
In the interim, I installed the in-tank brass screen, cleaned the sediment bowl and replaced the screen in it, and replaced the fuel shutoff valve. Not knowing any better at the time, I also purchased a rebuilt Zenith-1 carb as well. (Now...I would have just rebuilt the original Z-2 carb...but that's another story) All this seemed to help, but I still noticed a difference when the air filter was installed versus when the carb ran without one installed.
Finally, I read a piece on Model A carburetors here on the internet...Model-A Org, the Carburetor Site...and he mentioned a larger paper element would better support the air flow requirements, and would work longer as it could hold more dirt than a smaller filter. So, after some local searching for a larger element, one shop pointed me in the direction of a small engine repair shop since the filter looked like it was for a piece of lawn equipment. I took the paper element I had in to them and asked if they had anything that might be larger (longer) than that, but about the same diameter. After a quick match-up-the-parts excercise, we found one that was about 12" long, and virtually the same diameter as the paper element from Mikes. I purchased and installed it and have been very pleased with the results. There is virtually no difference in running the car with, or without the new longer paper element whatsoever. I had to purchase some all-thread rod, and a couple of lock nuts to keep the longer support rod from vibrating loose and the whole mess from taking a hasty exit out the bottom of the engine bay, but oveall I'd guess I spent less than $20 on the whole modification, and $14 was the filter. I also had to punch a small hole in the blue foam to pass the all-thread rod through.
I saved the box end flap the filter I used came in for future reference. I think it was a Kohler filter. Although I don't have it with me right now, if anyone's interested, I'll post the manufacturer and part number. Just let me know...
Hope this helps someone...
So I installed one of the cast aluminum 90-degree elbow and paper filter element units from Mike's A-fordable Parts, in Georgia. All this worked well for a time. But, one evening Jippy would barely run...couldn't put my finger on what the issue was, but I knew I had to do something. I removed the small paper element filter and TA-DAAAAAAH....all was better. Jippy ran better, started easier, etc. That's when I noticed the filter has a very strong smell of gasoline. More research revealed the float valve was leaking somewhat, thus soaking the paper element when the car was shut off. I had been closing the GAV and fuel cutoff, but had not been running the float bowl dry. I tried this and although the problem got better, by then the paper element filter was clogged from being wet with gasoline and then having road dust attracted to it. I blew out the filter with an air hose, and it did get a little better...but I was still not happy.
In the interim, I installed the in-tank brass screen, cleaned the sediment bowl and replaced the screen in it, and replaced the fuel shutoff valve. Not knowing any better at the time, I also purchased a rebuilt Zenith-1 carb as well. (Now...I would have just rebuilt the original Z-2 carb...but that's another story) All this seemed to help, but I still noticed a difference when the air filter was installed versus when the carb ran without one installed.
Finally, I read a piece on Model A carburetors here on the internet...Model-A Org, the Carburetor Site...and he mentioned a larger paper element would better support the air flow requirements, and would work longer as it could hold more dirt than a smaller filter. So, after some local searching for a larger element, one shop pointed me in the direction of a small engine repair shop since the filter looked like it was for a piece of lawn equipment. I took the paper element I had in to them and asked if they had anything that might be larger (longer) than that, but about the same diameter. After a quick match-up-the-parts excercise, we found one that was about 12" long, and virtually the same diameter as the paper element from Mikes. I purchased and installed it and have been very pleased with the results. There is virtually no difference in running the car with, or without the new longer paper element whatsoever. I had to purchase some all-thread rod, and a couple of lock nuts to keep the longer support rod from vibrating loose and the whole mess from taking a hasty exit out the bottom of the engine bay, but oveall I'd guess I spent less than $20 on the whole modification, and $14 was the filter. I also had to punch a small hole in the blue foam to pass the all-thread rod through.
I saved the box end flap the filter I used came in for future reference. I think it was a Kohler filter. Although I don't have it with me right now, if anyone's interested, I'll post the manufacturer and part number. Just let me know...
Hope this helps someone...
