air cleaner / filter recommendation?

[Guest musclecarfan65]

hello again.

my new 65 401 riviera has an untuned engine and the standard 1X4BBL carburetor. i installed sanderson headers, an H-pipe with a 2 1/2" system. i currently have the standard air cleaner installed and "upgraded" it with an K&N filter element. sometime in the future i intend to overbore the engine and install tom's roller rockers with some other new engine parts. now my question: shall i keep the current configuration or shall i install a big open K&N air cleaner ... or is there a different recommendation / opinion?

best regards,

dirk.

[RivNut]

If you're going to those measures, you might try to come up with some kind of "ram air" set up for the engine.

[NTX5467]

In many cases, the open element air cleaners "sound" faster than they really are. They can be noisier in normal driving than you might suspect, too, by observation.

Hooking up some ducting to the factory air cleaner will usually get cooler air to the carb (rather than "hot" underhood air) for a little more power. Not much "ram air" effect, though, just cooler air.

The K&N air cleaner elements are reputed to be better, but oil analysis of engines which have them installed usually show more silica content in the motor oil (i.e., type of dirt) than engines without the K&N filter in use. They might be trick, but it CAN be a pain to maintenance them with the required cleaner and oil. The cleaner smells like normal Formula 409 kitchen cleaner, but the oil is "different" and only sourced from K&N. The oil analysis issues can be researched at www.bobistheoilguy.com forums. And, of course, you'll have to pay extra for the additional cleanings and such, past the price of admission to "K&N Land" . . . with all due respect.

Thirty years ago, David Vizard did some air filter element tests. At that time, the K&N was the only hi-flow filter element available. Surprisingly, a normal Ford/Motorcraft filter flowed very much the same and much better than a similar AC-Delco filter element--enough so that some of my friends dubbed it "A poor man's K&N". That was then, this is now, but in more modern times the K&N has competition.

One of the suspected key issues on the K&N is that it straightens the air flow through the filter and into the carb. Still, with ANY open element filter, you're getting more filter area (typically) but still getting underhood temperature air. This is why the ducting might be a better option.

Just some thoughts,

NTX5467