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By joey - 15 Years Ago
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Do you guys run high flow air filters like K&N? Under what circumstances are they called for, and what differences has it made? Thank you.
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By GREENBIRD56 - 15 Years Ago
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I put my original T-bird air cleaner in the attic for "the next owner".....and put a low restriction oval outfit on there, with a K&N element. First problem was making sure the engine stood up straight under the hood scoop. The steady rests can move it to the right spot. 
And then I got an el-cheapo (used) small oval air cleaner off ebay - polished it up and fitted it with a K&N element. 
I personally like the noise of the "unsilenced" air cleaner when the engine gets the message to go......And then I ran some tests to see about how hot the air was under the hood. Horrible temp rise - it eats nothing but waste heat from the radiator. So then.... 
then I built this air pan and sealed the sucker (Demon Jr. 525) to the hood. It lowers the inlet air temp by a major amount.......but it didn't like taking all its air through the slots in scoop grille and whistled like crazy. So I got an el-cheapo hood grille off ebay - and removed all of the intermediate bars with a Dremel - and sent the result to the plater (another $50). You could then feel this change in the seat of your pants. I believe the old rule is 1% horsepower increase per 10° of inlet air temp drop - but if thats true I got about 4% 
I don't have a close up - but it looks fine for a streeter - and shakes nicely when you are out front "watching through the window" - like buzzing it for kids and appreciative old guys at crosswalks. I've got the air pan rigged to come off with the air cleaner - and will be swapping to another "show" version (no air pan) when it needs it.
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By DANIEL TINDER - 15 Years Ago
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I am currently experimenting with various K&N sizes to fit an original 55 Bird aircleaner lower section (with velocity stack fitting), mated with a modified aftermarket (paper type) stainless top. K&N listings offer a very large selection of size/construction, and I am hoping to find just the right one with maximum area/flow that will work, and still fit under the hood. I'll try to remember to post specs/part # if finally successful.
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By joey - 15 Years Ago
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My current paper filter has a 14" diameter and 2.125" height. I think I would like to switch to something more breatheable, and also reusable. Wow Steve, you've done some interesting research. Makes for informative reading/viewing. I have the little Bird scoop grille with a Demon carb. Air cleaner has a stock '56 lower section with an aftermarket stainless top for the '57 Bird which has a lower profile than the more bulbous original on the '56. Anyway I am thinking about this K&N:http://www.knfilters.com/search/product.aspx?Prod=E-3740
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By GREENBIRD56 - 15 Years Ago
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Charlie - You ought to be figuring out a "cold air package" for your outfit - there's lots of room under a truck hood compared with our little birds. I think that hot air ingestion thing is really a power reducer.....
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By speedpro56 - 15 Years Ago
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I'm running a 13 x2 inch K&N in my 57 tbird air filter system and it's close but it fits under the hood of the bird. Same setup under the 56 Sunliner but 3 1/2 inches tall ( alot more hood clearance ).
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By DANIEL TINDER - 15 Years Ago
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You could then feel this change in the seat of your pants.
Some air pressure measurements could be instructive. I wonder if sealing the carb to the hood also produces a supercharging effect at speed?
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By speedpro56 - 15 Years Ago
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It must because I had to go with bigger jets in the primaries from leaning out on the tbird.
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By joey - 15 Years Ago
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I know when I take the air cleaner assembly off completely the engine feels a tick quicker.
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By GREENBIRD56 - 15 Years Ago
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My experience with other engines has been that going to a low restriction air cleaner leaned them out - and bigger jets went into the primary. This one was a little bit rich when the air pan was fitted - and at the last cruise I took, the plugs looked "right" when I got it home. Personally I would have to say that the low restriction air filter and the cooler air get the credit for the "seat of the pants" improvement. I don't think there is a pressure advantage to the sealed opening - we just don't drive them fast enough to get much pressure on the front of the little "bump" on the hood. I'd say the air flow there is less than laminar. But - somewhere I have a picture of an early bird being run at Bonneville - and they had extended the scoop forward with sheetmetal. The new rectangular opening actually stuck out ahead of the panel over the grille. If you got one of these outfits up over 120/130 mph - you might find something by doing that.
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By DANIEL TINDER - 15 Years Ago
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If you could get by without the heater motor, an remote aircleaner and hose arrangement (like F-Bird?) connected to the T-Bird air duct could likely be quite simple to rig, similar to the 427 Fairlane drag setup. Might be more efficient that the hood scoop, and enough air could be bled through with the duct control cable at speed to heat the car when the supercharging effect wasn't needed?
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By DANIEL TINDER - 15 Years Ago
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On second thought, since the duct valve is ahead of the motor, that would mean a separate control/valve would be needed to feed the heater core. Only cool/fresh air would come through to the cabin otherwise.
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By speedpro56 - 15 Years Ago
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I added two extra air duct inlets to add too the hood scoop inlet on the bird too help with alittle more pressure and it seems to work when approaching 50 mph or better. It can be seen in images of Charlie McCraney Friday sept. 4 2009. That's using the K&N filter which breathes thru the top as well. I have some modified air collectors inside the grille behind where the bumper guards go. You can feel the difference as you pickup speed from the forced induction . Asheville, NC
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By speedpro56 - 15 Years Ago
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I forgot to add 4th row down 3rd picture to the right.
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By YukonCor55 - 15 Years Ago
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I pulled the guts out of my oil bath air cleaner and fit a K&N E-2430 filter in it's place. It looks bone stock and the old 2 barrel has never breathed better! 
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By GREENBIRD56 - 15 Years Ago
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If someone hasn't already worked it out - and you can figure a size that might do the job - go to the K&N web site and search for a number by size.... http://www.knfilters.com/search/universal.aspx And these guys used to have some pretty good pricing..... http://www.ajusa.com/browse/K-and-N-Air-Filters/137/KNF/0
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By joey - 15 Years Ago
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I guess that depends on the size of your 55 air cleaner assembly. The K&N E-2430 has an OD of 6", ID of 4" and height of 3-1/4". K&N makes a lot of different size filters.
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By 43mike - 15 Years Ago
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I thought you couldn't modify these oil bath filters for modern air filters. I think I remember a post here about it. What steps did you do to make it work and did you add anything to it to make it work? Mike
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By DANIEL TINDER - 15 Years Ago
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Hoosier Hurricane (1/31/2010)
Daniel:
The F Birds did not use the heat/vent for intake air. The flex hose you see on them goes to a remote cannister air filter mounted to the inner fender under the heater box.
John,
I was only referring to the F-Bird's large diameter intake hose & carb-top/box attachment, not the original type remote filter. If those parts are available as reasonably priced repos (?), I thought they might be especially well suited to rigging a cold-air intake system from the original T-Bird fresh air ducting. Would the F-Bird polished top fit another type carb I wonder, or only the teapot? It's also likely a modern generic-type K&N filter & box could be easily plumbed into the hose somewhere?
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By YukonCor55 - 15 Years Ago
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1955f100239 (1/31/2010)
do you know if that same K&N filter will fit the oil bath from a '55 239?Without seeing the air cleaner I can't say for sure. I measured the inside diameter of the inner unit (the part with all of the fliter media inside.) The K& N website has a cutom application section where you can choose by dimensions. I simply found one that met the diameter and height requirements I needed. As for doing the job, I found the procedures years ago on another forum. It was pretty easy. I cut around the bottom of the inner unit with a rotaty tool and pulled out the guts. Dropped in the K&N and put it back together. It fits together properly and the air simply enters through the gap between the inner and outer units and flows through the K&N before getting to the carb. I guess if you wanted to use diagnostic equipment to check flow, you could experiment with how much of the inner unit to cut away exposing more of the filter to direct airflow. However, I've done 3 of these and just cutting the bottom out has always worked well. I only had to make very minor adjustments to the mixture screws on the carb.
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By joey - 15 Years Ago
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1955f100239 (1/31/2010)
Did you have to adjust the settings on your carb when you switched over?I guess that would depend if you're bordering on a lean A/F mix going in. The increased CFM of a high flow filter might result in having to go down a jet size.
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By rgrove - 15 Years Ago
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43mike (2/1/2010)
I thought you couldn't modify these oil bath filters for modern air filters. I think I remember a post here about it. What steps did you do to make it work and did you add anything to it to make it work? Mike Here is a post. In there you will see how I converted a pass oil bath to look stock but use a modern element... Hope this helps. http://www.y-blocksforever.com/forums/Topic30418-3-1.aspx BTW, re: K&N, when I tested them on my DD at the dragstrip, I found NO performance difference in several back to back runs between K&N and regular paper element. Ive always been skeptical of their performance claims since then, FWIW.
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By speedpro56 - 15 Years Ago
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I would think on a stock engine that does'nt need a lot of air and is restricted to how much air it could injest a K&N would not make any difference. But on the other hand if the engine has been built up to the point that it can take in and use alot more air than a stock air filter can supply the K&N then comes into play. That's why there considered performance air filters. Joey, if you get more air going thru the carb and you're running lean, you jet it up richer to balance out the air fuel ratio.
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By rgrove - 15 Years Ago
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speedpro56 (2/2/2010)
I would think on a stock engine that does'nt need a lot of air and is restricted to how much air it could injest a K&N would not make any difference. But on the other hand if the engine has been built up to the point that it can take in and use alot more air than a stock air filter can supply the K&N then comes into play. That's why there considered performance air filters. My tests were on an original taurus SHO, that was built to make a lot more power than stock.....motor revved to 7k (IIRC), so i would have thought that a K&N would have made at least some difference, but nope.
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By joey - 15 Years Ago
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speedpro56 (2/2/2010)
I would think on a stock engine that does'nt need a lot of air and is restricted to how much air it could injest a K&N would not make any difference. But on the other hand if the engine has been built up to the point that it can take in and use alot more air than a stock air filter can supply the K&N then comes into play. That's why there considered performance air filters. Joey, if you get more air going thru the carb and you're running lean, you jet it up richer to balance out the air fuel ratio. Right, what did I say down? My mistake. 
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By speedpro56 - 15 Years Ago
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rgrove, the example I'm using in my 56 tbird with a not so stock 312. The heads ported etc blue thunder intake pretty snappy cam, poked and stroked. Now with all this I thought the bird was doing real good, and it was. Then after watching my mustang buddies switching there original air filters over to K&N and out running chebbies alittle easier I didn't want my old tbird being left in the dust so switching over to a K&N the bird was running a little leaner which told me I was getting more air into this ole boy. Jetting up a few more rounds told the story with the seat of the pants feel of some extra ponies being unleashed and a smile put on my face and it's still there if I can keep everything else together. Asheville NC
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By charliemccraney - 15 Years Ago
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I do. I emailed K&N tech to ensure that the filter I'm using will be sufficient. I didn't notice any difference over the paper element I was using. If the filter you're using now does not choke the engine, you probably will not notice anything. On the other hand, if your current filter is a restriction then you should notice something at the higher revs. I mostly like that they're reusable.
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By charliemccraney - 15 Years Ago
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joey (1/29/2010)
the little Bird scoop
Isn't that a song??
When I originally installed the K&N, I went from a 10 x 4 paper element to a 9 x 2 K&N and noticed no difference. That doesn't necessarily mean that the K&N is that much more efficient. I think the 10 x 4 was simply more than was necessary. Just FYI, K&N said that their 9 x 2 filter was good for about 650cfm.
A 10 x 4 round filter is about 125 square inches. A 14 x 2.125 is about 93 square inches. With the paper element and subsequently the K&N the motor could easily reach 6000rpm and probably higher - I never tried it. The 9 x 2 is about 56 square inches.
Anyway, the point is that I think that 14" filter should be sufficient and if there is any restriction, it is probably the housing rather than the filter.
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By charliemccraney - 15 Years Ago
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I have thought about it. I can't really figure out how I want to do it. I don't want it to be obvious with the hood closed so a scoop is out of the question. I have thought about adding some vents on the back sides of the hood. The idea there is that the vacuum created by the air flowing past when the truck is in motion will draw the hot air out. The hood really doesn't seal all that well so I don't know if it will actually have an effect.
I can pull from the wheel wells, the grill, or devise a stealthy hood scoop. I don't really like the wheel wells or the grill because it means tubing will be laying over something which will need to be supported somehow and it will get in the way for some maintenance operations.
There is also a gap between the hood and radiator support when the hood is shut. If I was to open that area up and kinda mold scoops into the hood, at least it wouldn't stand out like a scoop placed deliberately on top of the hood. Then the duct can be supported by the hood and it can seal like yours. When viewed from the side, no one will ever know.
We'll see. I'm trying not to put too much on my plate this year so I can make it to Columbus.
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By Hoosier Hurricane - 15 Years Ago
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Daniel: The F Birds did not use the heat/vent for intake air. The flex hose you see on them goes to a remote cannister air filter mounted to the inner fender under the heater box.
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By charliemccraney - 15 Years Ago
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Voila
http://www.y-blocksforever.com/expo09/cm0904/content/charliem0904_021_large.html
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By charliemccraney - 15 Years Ago
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Were you using the stock air box, or duct, or whatever the sho used? Sometimes simply changing the filter will not yield any results. The system as a whole needs to be considered.
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