I decided to try to find another oil bath that was in good shape and use it for when and if I want to go oil bath in the future.
For the time being I went ahead and gutted my current oil bath by using a short hacksaw and cutting out the 6 legs that are connected to the center piece. That frees the bottom center piece but it will not come out unless you use snips and cut the honeycombed copper mesh that keeps the element fiber from going up too high and around and into the carb throat. That copper mesh was hard to get at but after cutting several lines I could bend enough of it up and out of the way that I could pull out the rest of the center insert piece that is horn shaped.
Then I cut the rest of the copper mesh out. I could have pulled it out from the sides as it is just crimped in there but I was afraid that might make the rest of the crimp (that holds the domed top to the cylinder side together) get loose. So I just cut the mesh close to the side and bent the rest down.
Then I cleaned it all with 409 and then with alcohol. Then test fitted a K&N E-3230 filter
K&N E-3230 The K&N E-3230 Height: 4.375 in (111 mm) Inside Diameter: 4.5 in (114 mm) Outside Diameter: 5.625 in (143 mm) seems to be the almost perfect fit. It is a good seal for the top and fits the bottom but only the inside edge of the filter hit since that area of the bottom is slanted away from the center. As a result the filter may want to slide if not tight. I opted for adding a little double sided tape to fill in the gap to the oustide edge of the filter. Basically try to level it out. With that in place it has a real firm solid fit and does not slip around at all. It does not raise the filter any as it is just making the outside edge seal. I put two layers of double sided tape (3M heavy duty white mounting tape about 1/2 inch wide) then I had some wider Servo tape (basically same stuff but 1 inch version) that I used to go over the white tape and would cover both places that the bottom of the air filter would rest on. Contacted both sealing edges on the bottom of the filter. 3m tape here:
3M 1/2 inch mounting tape It also comes in 1 inch size.
The top edge rests flat on the top of the dome and seals well.
With all that said it still sits at the correct hight, about 7 to 7 1/8 inches high when mounted. It is a very stable fit with the tape in the bottom. I have not mounted it on the truck and driven with it yet but I do not expect any issues with it.
I think I could have just used some K&N sealing grease
sealing grease resists heat will not run off or melt. and I may do that if I have any issues with the tape and heat. I may do it in addition to the tape to insure a good seal. I am not sure how hot the bottom of the filter will get or how hot the tape is made to withstand. I know the carb gets hot and I suspect the metal air cleaner will act as a heatsink.
I took some pictures and will post on a website soon and provide a link here in the near future.
