So the metal screen under may air cleaner needs to be replaced. Does anyone know where I can purchase one (new or used)? Below is a picture of mine. Has anyone just removed their completely? Does the screen really do anything?

 

mine ended up looking like yours one time i went to take the cleaner off. i was fortunate enough to find one at the junk yard. that may be the only place you can get one is off of a salvaged engine. hopefully i'm wrong and others will chime in with where you can buy one or an alternative.

 

mine has looked like that for close to 20 years.

 

"Does the screen really do anything?"

It keeps small children, dogs and rocks from getting sucked into the engine. Also stops nuts, bolts and wrenches from falling into the manifold when dropped by "mechanics" who are too busy to cover the hole when working on the engine.

 

I have airbox mounted on left inner fender, no screen in top of manifold. I think I can keep small kids away...

 

haha yep it's just to keep the rocks and bolts out while your working on it ..

it's just hardware cloth .. so if your inclined to fix it .. here's what i would do

use a grinder to cut the outside rim of the lip holding it together .. making '2 x large washers'

use a cutoff wheel to cut a circle out of a piece of hardware cloth .. transfer the washers or what not holding the middle thing together .. or use new ones ..

sandwich the circular hardware cloth between your jumbo washers with some vise grippers and tack weld it on the perimiter in half a dozen places-ish ..

 

Thanks for the info guys. I was kinda wondering why it was even there since it was post air filter. My biggest concern was that somehow a piece of it could get sucked into the engine. Even torn up it all still seemed pretty rigid. I may just remove it entirely.

 

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