Hi everybody, my 1954 f100 doesn't have an air cleaner, so I'm looking to buy something. It's a 223 with its original Holley 1904 single barrel carb. I've been doing quite a bit of looking, and it's pretty slim pickings as far as air cleaner options go. When I look at pictures of most trucks out there on this site, it seems like folks either have the original air cleaner, or a v8 conversion...I know that's not how it really is with everyone, so I'd love to see what you have for air cleaners.

Most of the options I've seen for the 2 5/16" throat are the small 2"-3" button style air cleaners, and even those will require an adapter to provide a center stud to mount it. I really do like the look of some of those, but I read a lot about how quickly the elements get plugged up, which is a concern of mine. It makes sense, that's a lot of air going through a filter about the same size as what is on my little push mower. I suspect with the open engine bay there's a lot of stuff flying around to get caught up in it.

Mike's Carbs has a decent looking oil-based unit that clamps on, but the lip on my 1904 doesn't look like it's tall enough (barely 1/4") to clamp the thing on without buying an adapter, which then makes me drill out the center of the clamp-on unit, in which case there's not much point of doing that as I can just buy an adapter and a more conventional stud-mounted cleaner.

What do you guys have, for those of you not using the original oil-bath filter assembly? I'm good with bling-bling all the way to farm-fresh functional. This isn't within a hundred miles of being a show truck, though the motor is nicely painted, so nothing would really look out of place on it. I'm guessing I'm going to have to buy one of those adapters to create a center stud, for those of you who did that, what did you end up using for an air cleaner? Even with a center stud, it's still a pretty small opening, the site says 2 3/8" on the adapter. I don't think there are a lot of options out there for a throat that small.

I know you guys are creative and resourceful, what have you used? Show me what you got, I want to do something cool, if I can!

I've attached a few pictures to give you an idea of what I'm working with.

 

I have original ones here

 

Buy one of BigWins original air cleaners for that beautiful correctly painted 6 banger!

 

I could go that route, but it seems like so many end up gutting them to turn them into paper element units anyway, I figured I'd see if anyone has any cool alternatives. Old retro hot rod stuff looks very good on these motors, but I haven't ruled out going stock. Oil bath filters have been used for decades on trucks and industrial equipment. Just seeing what's out there!

 

The problem with the cutesy 'hot rod' air filters are they are typically tiny and don't have enough filter area which restricts air flow. Most are designed for the V8 carb, which has a smaller throat, which you're probably already aware. One can take the original can, convert it to paper filter stealthly so no one knows, and increase the amount of air flow to the engine, which frees up horsepower, and eliminate the oily mess. You get to look original and gain power at the same time. It's a win-win-win. It really all depends on the look you're after under your hood. If you really want to go crazy you could chrome the original cleaner and wow the crowd that way.

 

I agree about the hot rod filters, that's really why I'm asking everyone...those little things really only look like they'd work well on a multi-carb setup as they would be sharing the load of the air flow. I assumed that maybe someone would have modified a car air cleaner to make it look good, or fabricated something. I figure that since I have nothing but a blank canvass I'll look at my options before making a decision. I actually think the oil-coated filters that Mike's Carburetors is selling look pretty good, and would look good on the top of a 223, but the throat on my Holley 1904 is too short. It's one of the older models, I'm guessing that's why.

I've reached out to the original owner of my truck to make sure they don't have the original air cleaner, it might have been in their basement and I just missed it or something. They did drive it for 20 years, I'm sure they had an air cleaner. We'll see what happens there. Thanks for the input!

 

This is the air filter I have on the F3. It was installed in place of the original oil-bath one sometime before 1968 because that was the last time the truck was on the road prior to the restoration.
It could be a Ford car filter? It looks really good to the eye.....but has a wicked flaw. The dang thing is noisy as hell. You can hear the air getting pulled through when driving and it sounds like a Shop-Vac at half-throttle or more.

I probably should butcher up an oil bath one and put the paper filter into that so it will be quieter. My truck has been driven much yet so I'm now just learning how noisy it is.

Tom

 

I'm kind of interested in this, too, to see what's out there. Laughed at this: sounds like a Shop-Vac at half-throttle. Mine's pretty boring & the Fram sticker doesn't really scream cool or hot rod.

 

I guess that means it breathes well, at least! I think it looks cool, for whatever that's worth to you. Maybe you just need louder mufflers...

 

 

Taymo, is that beast a combination air & oil bath style filter? A heavy-duty application option?

 

I honestly don't know re: air or oil. It's not mine, just a pic I found online. I do know it's a car option vs. truck. So suspect the side mount is to allow for hood clearance, but I'm simply guessing. It does fit a 223 single Holley with that flange mount ring, though. Saw a couple for sale on Ebay, too.

 

The pic title when I downloaded was 1959 223, not sure what model it's from, though. Funny enough, when I went back online just now to find the pick again, it led me back to FTE!

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...r-cleaner.html

 

it's from a car, like you guys said, it needed the lower hood clearance. I'm pretty sure that was meant for just a paper element, no oil bath.