What would be the best stock air cleaner for an Autolite 4100? I got one to replace the teapot along with a B manifold on my '56 292. I'd like to keep a period appearance to it. It' too bad my original oil bath air cleaner won't fit.



~DJ~ AKA "Bleach"
1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan 30K original miles

DJ, I like the period look too. I have found a lot of useful bits and pieces in wrecking yards that specialize in truck parts or farm machinery. Air cleaners from back in the day were very "functional" looking and fairly universal. If you live near farming country, comb the yard sales, swap meets and Craig's List. BTW, HD Ford trucks had oil bath air cleaners with the 5" nom. base that will fit your 4100.

When you find one that fits convert it to a dry element type.Much less mess etc.

  

The 4100's were in common use on the FE 390 v8's of the day (think Galaxie, T-birds, Montereys), so they could be considered period correct, at least late 50's to early 60's. The Carter's used on the MEL's (Think Lincolns, Square Birds, etc.) had the same air horn diameter, so they might work. Both are pancake style versus the pumpkin shape, but would be paper element for no-muss service.

FWIW... Brian

Cylinder Index = 84

Current Experiment = `57 Tbird, Grand Rapids, Michigan

DJ,

I dont know if this will fit but it has been on the Minneapolis Craigslist site for a while. Looks pretty nice to me.

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/hnp/pts/3636876692.html

Mike





MplsMike
'56 Parklane
Minneapolis, MN

Thanks all for the suggestions. My carb, according to the model number is from a '57 312 with the 1.08 venturis. It would be nice to find a 57 air cleaner. A paper element would be nice but not that important. The one on that CL is basically the same as my original except for the element conversion so it won't fit. I tried mine on the 4100.

~DJ~ AKA "Bleach"
1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan 30K original miles

Good find on that 4100. That's one ancient looking 4100.

Dan      Kingman Az.      86409

With a little modification, you CAN make your Teapot oil bath air cleaner fit on the more modern carburetor. I was able to modify my '54 Mercury oval Teapot air cleaner to fit nicely on a brand new Holley 1848-1 carb. It just required a little trimming around the bottom of the Teapot air cleaner to make it fit perfectly on the modern Holley. Alan

I found myself a period correct air cleaner today. It has the right indentations on the bottom to clear the extensions of the float bowls. It's cleaned up and ready for a new coat of paint.
I know I could have modified my original air cleaner but I want to preserve everything I'm removing to return to original if I ever do that.


~DJ~ AKA "Bleach"
1956 Ford Fairlane Town Sedan 30K original miles

I gutted a original 4 bbl air cleaner for my 55 and converted to paper element and its sitting on top of a later Holley 4 bbl.

Butchering up everything I can get my hands on in Dayton Ohio