The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Oil bath air cleaners

I have a 1962 chevy with a 235 6 cylinder. Is there any way to remove and clean the steel wool looking material in the oil bath breather?

I removed all and threw it away. Then I installed a paper element in the oil bath breather and stopped dealing with the oily mess. It may not be original or work for everyone, but it meets my needs on the firetruck.

I replaced mine with a paper filter also. I took my mesh canister to my FLAPS & matched up to a Wix paper filter the same size.

You old dudes got any numbers for those paper filters? I find that counter men at the auto parts stores around here feel hard pressed to pull a filter out of stock even if you have the right number, let alone search through their inventory for one that would fit something like this.
A picture would "say a thousand words" also. I saw one conversion where the oil bath filter was completely gutted, steel baffles and all cut out. That would be very hard for me to do since I looked for almost two years for an original period correct oil bath for my 1950, 216.

Oops, lost the point of the thread, yep, just wash it in a tank of solvent, no need to remove it.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I once removed the old material in a air cleaner and replaced it with Brillo pads. Some of the old ones came with a copper material that looked very much like the Brillo pads. It worked good, easy to wash out and reoil the pads.
Cleon

Once you get it off the intake how do you take it apart?
I took it off and have two parts the bin where the oil is and the top element with the mesh inside. Does it come apart too?

It does not come apart any further. You empty the base, clean out oil and deposits, and fill to the mark with 50 wt (or other) oil. The top part contains the filter element that needs to be cleaned.

Any cleaning solvent can be used to clean an oil bath filter. I have used kerosene, diesel fuel, and Varsol.

Thats right TC, Thats what i did with mine.I have been told that the oil bath is the best way to filter your Carb I'm sure this will start a good debate Peter

My 216 has the base that holds the oil, the mesh canister that holds the filtering wire mesh (the part I replaced with a dry filter), and the lid that covers all of the above.

Denny: My Wix part number is 46036. It works on my 38 216. Don't know if your filter housing is the same size.

The filter is a "Wix Filters" part number: 42011

Thanks for the numbers guys, at least that would narrow the search down to a couple when and if I decided to go that route.
Well, I don think that I subscribe to the "oil bath being the best way to go" philosophy. Nearly 100% of all cars now days use paper filters and there is no way that an oil bath filter is going to clean the air as well as the new ones. They now doubt did a better job than the mesh only air cleaner/silencers but don't hold a candle to the paper filters of today.

Denny G