54-5-6 aircleaner question

[JohnD1956]

I've noticed that quite a few of the aircleaners on the 322's are bent in the silencer area. Does anyone have any ideas of how this occurs? Mine is bent also and I'd like to fix it but if it's gonna happen again I don't want to invest the time.

[MrEarl]

JD, my guess is that over the 57 or so years of mechanics and owners removing and resetting them, they probably just get dropped. I know I dropped an almost perfect one once and where did it hit? on the silencer of course. Thing is they are almost impossible to straighten out. I taped the ends of one up one time and hooked an air hose up to it and it blew the dent out but it popped back in the same day. Small dents can be filled with JBWeld and sanded down and painted but the big ones are hard to get out. Keep us posted on how you do yours and the results.

[Fr. Buick]

Note also that there is a slight difference at the mouth of the 4-brl aircleaners.

On the '54, the panel around the mouth bulges out. On 55 and later, it curves in below the mouth, as if to avoid the upper radiator hose, I suppose.

I discovered this only recently - never noticed before!

And yes, they seem to invite dents.

[Guest NikeAjax]

Hmmm? Might I suggest drilling a hole, or weld a stem onto it, and pulling it out with a slap-hammer: perhaps heating the area might make it work better too? Just an idea...take it or leave it:)

Jaybird

[old-tank]

Jaybird is on the right track. That thin sheet metal is easy to bend, but easy to fix. I take a coin size slug (from an electric box), drill a hole in the center, then braze a section of coat hanger to the hole, file the face, then solder to the dented area. Using a combination of pulling with vise grips, rigging a slide hammer and heating, most of the dents can be pulled out so that you can easily finish with bondo or equivalent. This technique works on gas tanks too.

Willie