Air Cleaner restoration

[Guest LostBoy]

I have finally found an air cleaner assembly for my 63 after years of looking. I have been in contact with musclecarairleaners.Com. about restoring it. Sounds like it will run about 200 bucks. Anyone have had this company do any work or know of there reputation. Also is anyone out there making any good decal reproductions

[flh73]

Decal wise check with "cars". They have the snorkel decal and the proper metal plate style decal die cast aluminum. I've purchased both and really like them. www.oldbuickparts.com. I have read on hear how to restore your textured reddish orange 63 air cleaner as I'm going to attempt it myself. I can't say the direction are clear cut nor does it sound easy. So I'm interested in this company you referenced.

[Guest LostBoy]

I found the company because awhile back they had an already restored air cleaner up for sale on ebay that went for more than my budget allowed.  After I found an original in decent shape I contacted the company about restoring mine.  The pictures for the one restored looked great  and talking to them on the phone you could tell he was familiar with the ends and outs of the first generation rivs air cleanears.    (size, color,  fit , finish, and difference between the years)

[Guest Kaber]

This might not be what you are looking for but I'll share my experience. I found and air cleaner assy on E-bay (with help from Darren! thanks). It was in original condition, wrinkle finish and aluminum plate. I looked into sand blasting and it was too expensive. I used aircraft stripper from the parts store. It took 3 applications and it went completely to bare metal. I rinsed with water after. I then primed it with light gray primer and sanded it smooth, more primer, repeat. I then sprayed it with engine paint in red. I let it dry thoroughly and applied new decals. I bought them at Jim Osborn decals at a swap meet for less than $20. I was warned away from using the wrinkle paint due to inconstant coverage. While not stock, I think it looks pretty good for a Driver! Its been in service for over a year and is holding up well. Total investment of less than $150.

 

 

 

 

 

Kaber

[Seafoam65]

                      This may not be stock, but in my opinion it is much more attractive than the crinkle finish.

[Guest LostBoy]

I hope this doesn't come off as to harsh. But it's really hard sometimes to Guage the vibe of this forum. From time to time I post a pic of my car or pics of a general repair im doing and must of the responses I get are about every non original thing that can be seen down to a bolt head. Then I post something about restoring a component and most of the responses are that it's a complete waste of time to go factory correct just make it look nice and don't fret the details. It's like the restoration side only comments on things not done period correct and the general daily driver people only comment when the original ins and outs are dicussed

[Lapham3]

A split  between the original-show folks and driver car people is not unusual. Just do what you want, have fun with your car, and don't worry about it.   Dan   Mpls. Mn.

[Guest Kaber]

I hope this doesn't come off as to harsh. But it's really hard sometimes to Guage the vibe of this forum. From time to time I post a pic of my car or pics of a general repair im doing and must of the responses I get are about every non original thing that can be seen down to a bolt head. Then I post something about restoring a component and most of the responses are that it's a complete waste of time to go factory correct just make it look nice and don't fret the details. It's like the restoration side only comments on things not done period correct and the general daily driver people only comment when the original ins and outs are dicussed

 

Lostboy,

 

I wasn't trying to put anyone down, or say it was stupid to want an original finish. I was just showing an alternative, as your initial post was unclear as to whether you were looking for an original finish or not. I even stated that in my text. Sorry if i offended or frustrated you, it was NOT my intent.

 

Kaber

Edited September 22, 2015 by Kaber (see edit history)

[Seafoam65]

                      As for me I am a purist and my car is unmodified, but I was just pointing out that the smooth shiny finish on the air cleaner

is quite attractive. If I owned a 63 I would be tempted to make that mod.....it is beautiful.

Edited September 22, 2015 by Seafoam65 (see edit history)

[Pat Curran]

I don't know why Buick went with a crinkle finish to begin with.  I can't think of any other car that had this type of finish on the air cleaner.  It must be harder to keep clean this way.  It is your car so do it the way you want to do it.  If authenticity is important then go with the original finish.  If not, even with a smooth finish the judges can't deduct enough points at a BCA or similar event to hurt that much anyway.  If it is good enough for you, then that is what counts.

[NTX5467]

In those earlier times, "crinkle" was usually used on high-performance engines, or allusions to such.  Normal ones got "smooth".

 

Chrysler put black crinkle on '68-70 Road Runner open element air cleaners and also on some dual snorkle air cleaners in the 1970 general time frame.  I have a '70 Monaco Brougham 383 4bbl dual snorkle that's crinkle black OEM.

 

With age, the crinkle seems to be less "crinkle".  I found a spray can of crinkle black and painted another one I found.  It's tricky to get enough build thickness and not get a run (which the air cleaner that came on the car had).  Especially as the paint goes on smooth and then crinkles as it dries.  Some reputedly got best results using their oven to do so (hopefully right before the new one was delivered!).  Ambient air temp can also determine how well things crinkle, too.  When done, it did look nice and BLACK again, but with a little variation in how much it crinkled and where.  Even the orig one had inconsistent crinkle, though, plus a run/sag.

 

If we could figure out what type fo paint to use for the base color, then figure out what to spray on top of it to make it crinkle, as a two-step process, then we might have something.

 

As Riviera was supposed to be a "performance luxury car", then crinkle (back then) would have been a part of that image.

 

Something else to consider . . . if an underhood fire had occured, and a new air cleaner could have been procurred from GM Parts, if they'd run out of production crinkle red air cleaners, one with smooth paint (red or black) might have been the GM "replacing part number" for the OEM red crinkle item.  Or, similar if the OEM air cleaner had been stolen/lost and an owner wanted a GM-sourced air cleaner for that application, it's likely it would have been superceded to a later model of air cleaner that would fit the carb and car, but possibly of a different color or even chrome.  Different scenarios, same end result.

 

There can be two sides to the "originality" discussion, which can be a LONG discussion.  It many cases, it can become a judgment call of the owner as to what resources they might have (location dependent) access to.  But then there's also the strong argument for an un-molested OEM production item rather than one that's been restored by "a restorer" (I lean more toward the former, myself).

 

That smooth red repaint does look nice, though.

 

NTX5467

Edited September 23, 2015 by NTX5467 (see edit history)

[JanZverina]

Let's remember that GM Chief Designer Bill Mitchell styled elements of the '63 Riv after the Ferraris he saw, so I would bet that the red crinkle finish on the air cleaner was a nod to the way Ferrari cylinder heads engines were, and still are, finished. Testarossa means red head. Just google some '60s Ferrari engines images and you'll see what I mean.

[JZRIV]

I hope this doesn't come off as to harsh. But it's really hard sometimes to Guage the vibe of this forum. From time to time I post a pic of my car or pics of a general repair im doing and must of the responses I get are about every non original thing that can be seen down to a bolt head. Then I post something about restoring a component and most of the responses are that it's a complete waste of time to go factory correct just make it look nice and don't fret the details. It's like the restoration side only comments on things not done period correct and the general daily driver people only comment when the original ins and outs are dicussed

Its the nature of most forums. People provide their opinions and the original poster takes it all in, sorts it all out and makes the decision that best suits them.

 

To your original post, looking at musclecaraircleanrs.com website pic of a 63 air cleaner it looks really good. I've restored many finishes but that one would be tough to get the right crinkle finish. For $200 I'd almost be inclined to spend it but first would have detailed phone conversation with them to make sure they know your expectations

[RivNut]

Let's remember that GM Chief Designer Bill Mitchell styled elements of the '63 Riv after the Ferraris he saw, so I would bet that the red crinkle finish on the air cleaner was a nod to the way Ferrari cylinder heads engines were, and still are, finished. Testarossa means red head. Just google some '60s Ferrari engines images and you'll see what I mean.

When you look at other cars that Mitchell had a hand in designing, there's always a touch of red somewhere.  I think on his Silver Arrow I, the fender wells are red.  The man had style and red was a part of it.  I can only imagine that the bean counters had something to do with the air cleaner being black in '64 as well as the engine being painted the same color as all other engines from the era.  If we're suggesting that Mitchell had something to do with the red air cleaner, then I think that we should also give him credit for painting the engine silver in '63.  Those two colors define the man and his cars.

[NTX5467]

I looked at the air cleaner website and found lots of neat stuff, not available anywhere else, unless it might be in repro.  "Nice" prices, too, but everything is as correct as it can be (within noted areas).  Some of the smaller decals changed more often than anybody might suspect, even for the same decal in different model years.

 

IF you have an original, unmolested air cleaner, it might be advisable to take a hi-res digital picture of it and measure it's dimensions.  Then use a "photo"-type program to freshen the colors and such.  Then, if you can find a suitable adhesive label (heat resistant), then you can probably print yourself another one.  There's a thread in the AACA forums where a man did such a thing for the speedometer head of his 1929 Pontiac, except he used "waterslide decal" technology to do it.  One of our Buick club chapter associates showed us some restored gauges done in a similar manner (by a gauge restoration shop), except with a "long-lens film camera".  They were outstanding in quality and execution.  No reason why something of that nature can't be done where replacement air cleaner "information" decals are not available.

 

As the website noted, there were some models which used silk screened painted labels.  Getting a pattern to make a screen is not that hard to do.  Custom drapery makers "burn" screens all the time, for example.

 

Still, though, the air cleaner restoration company probably is set up to do exceptionally nice (and accurate) air cleaner restorations, which is great.  But a motivated vehicle hobby enthusiast, with resources (time, expertise, and money) might be able to do something credible, too.

 

NTX5467

[petelempert]

I tried to do the crinkle finish on my 63. It came out looking more "stinkle" than crinkle. I ended up powder coating it red and using the aluminum wildcat stencil from Cars. Everyone except a concours judge says "Man that thing looks good". If any of you guys want the 5 left over un-used cans of VHT Wrinkle Red spray paint stored in my garage, I'll send them to you. Just pay postage...really. PRL

[Seafoam65]

                    Pete......do you have any pictures of the finished product?

[petelempert]

[Guest Kaber]

photo1.JPG

AWESOME!

[petelempert]

Thx Kaber. For me, matching the stencil to the body of the air cleaner was an issue. I'm mostly an OEM guy, but this didn't make sense: The factory crinkle color is sort of orange while the stencil is definitely more red. It bugged me so I took the stencil to a powder coater and had him match it color-wise. Also, painting the leading edge of the stencil (on the exposed aluminum) red before you install also serves to erase the seam. PRL

[Seafoam65]

                Beautiful Pete!