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Air Cleaners

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SaxMan

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I've noticed in the pics that most of you are not running the stock air cleaner, and are running the more "open" types. How much of an advantage are these air cleaners over the stock "dual snorkel" unit? It seems like it would be a very easy modification.

I remember when we used to do this with our cars back in high school, the air cleaner would get dirty much faster, but seeing that "Baby Blue" is mostly a weekend driver, I could probably live with changing the air filters a couple times a year. We also used to do the "poor mans air cleaner" simply by flipping the top of the air cleaner upside down...mostly with the GM Rochester 4 barrel units. It made the car sound meaner when the secondaries kicked in, even if the actual speed gains were negligible.
 
Sax, in my opinion, for the most part, there is no real advantage to custom air cleaners except that some of us just like the way they look. Its something you can easily change, and if you don't like it, change it to something else.

Rochester Quadrajet brings back memories. In college I had an ex-Mississippi Highway patrol car, 1968 Chevy Bel-Air with a 396 and Quadrajet. When you opened those big secondaries it sounded like you turned on a couple of Hoovers! It got me where I needed to go pretty quickly, but gasoline was a lot cheaper then!!
 
1974MGMidget said:
Sax, in my opinion, for the most part, there is no real advantage to custom air cleaners except that some of us just like the way they look. Its something you can easily change, and if you don't like it, change it to something else.

Rochester Quadrajet brings back memories. In college I had an ex-Mississippi Highway patrol car, 1968 Chevy Bel-Air with a 396 and Quadrajet. When you opened those big secondaries it sounded like you turned on a couple of Hoovers! It got me where I needed to go pretty quickly, but gasoline was a lot cheaper then!!
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I disagree. My new one is chrome and has a mesh cover. the old one was black - that alone is good for 3-5 hp. ;)
 
1974MGMidget said:
Sax, in my opinion, for the most part, there is no real advantage to custom air cleaners except that some of us just like the way they look. Its something you can easily change, and if you don't like it, change it to something else.

Rochester Quadrajet brings back memories. In college I had an ex-Mississippi Highway patrol car, 1968 Chevy Bel-Air with a 396 and Quadrajet. When you opened those big secondaries it sounded like you turned on a couple of Hoovers! It got me where I needed to go pretty quickly, but gasoline was a lot cheaper then!!
Click to expand...

Ha! In college, I had an ex-Arlington County (Virginia) detectives car, a 1981 Malibu Coupe. It came with all the nice pursuit package bells and whistles, but in an unassuming coupe body. Unfortunately, the 305 V-8, even in police trim, was only good for 150 horsepower. I eventually sold it to a friend who dropped a souped up 350 into the car, and it FLEW! It became one of the fastest cars I had ever ridden in.
 
Stock snorkels are fine...(says a guy with mini rams and K&N filters)

But still, I don't think you'd see a difference in your situation.

All the best,
 
My buddy picked the engine for his Dad's company car a '68 Delmont 88 Oldsmobile, 455 CI, either 375 or 400 hp and 425 lbs of torque along with posit reaction. Talk about a rocket. And that air cleaner got turned over every time he got the car on weekend nights. A true sleeper that could smoke not one but two tires across the parking lot.
 
The main reason I've gone to the open K&N filters is ease of maintenance. With the K&N on the on the Bugeye (and similar filter on the MGB) it's one screw to loosen the band clamp and the filter is off and out of the way. The cans take a bit more work to get free if you're working on carbs or just working in that area.

Clean and re-oil the K&Ns once a year and you're good to go.

I'll put a similar set on Penny when I get to that point.
 
Got to love em. Stacks inside.

Lot030020 (Small).JPG
 
I never have and have never had anyone know the difference. I do have a set of originals though.
 
jlaird said:
I never have and have never had anyone know the difference. I do have a set of originals though.
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You must have had the worst concours judges ever! There are plenty of guys out there that know what "original" in a Sprite means. If you want to deviate from that standard, that's fine. But don't expect to be called out when you put in a show.

Former Sprite Concours Judge
 
Miss Agatha is not a Concours car. She is a Sunday driver. in fact as folks here well know she has lots of things that are not quite right but work well to make her a fun car and a crowd pleaser.

Some things. seat belts, air filters, spin on oil filter, elec fuel pump, modern battery, stainless steal fasteners where ever I could, steering wheel, carpets on floor, and more I suppose in the same vein, hose clamps, modern rubber in all hoses, modern sealant in fuel tank, late model timing chain cover with o ring seal, plastic board cut for under seat spacers- no rot, not quite right but all approved by old man Healey. lol

All in all a pretty darn original unit, most folks would not know the difference even if they had one some where in their past. How about the alm spacer I build today to restore the emer, brake?? That count??
 
To win at shows, hmmmm. Do the best you can with what ya got. Have it well maintained, clean, clean as a pin and then some. Show it off, include a layed out tool kit and maybe some boards with pics and car info. Let the little kids in so their folks can take their pic. Make sure the car is clean, top, bottom, sides and the engine room, everything. Clean clean till it sparkles. As a fresh restoration gets a bit older you will need to repaint, rebuild, and keep things up to par plus improve as you go along.

Always fun to take a friend along, even if he or she is only 10 or so and actually belongs to a neighbor. Let them talk to the folks about the car they rode in and the things they can do, check tire pressure, clean dash, etc.

enjoy always enjoy
 
Jack,

Sorry. you're just wrong. An original Sprite is quantifiable. There are lots of people out there with original Sprites that can tell you how they came originally. And referencing the original "Body Service Parts list" and "Mechanical Service Parts List" can help as well. As nice as your air cleaners are ... they're "wrong". If a concours judge didn't understand they weren't original, they had no business being a concours judge. Your air cleaners look nothing like an original Ml I air cleaner.

If folks want Sprites to rise to the level of legitimacy of "concours cars" they have to understand there are standards that have to be adhered to. Deviations from that standard need to be recognized.
 
David_Doan said:
I think he meant he takes his car to non-concours events where voting is done by particiapants
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David,

If I misunderstood, I apologize. I have absolutely no issue with people modifying their Healeys, big or small. And I've modified my Bugeye to a '59 'Sebring "tribute" and my BJ7 to some Cobra wanna-be dream. My only point that there needs to be recognition that there is a standard for big Healeys and Sprites the way they left the assembly line. Those are the cars that deserve a gold level concours award. Anything else is "modified" and not worthy of being a "perfect" concours Healey
 
You will not get any argument from me Rick. This is my third Bugeye, the first was original as i bought it only a year old. the other one i restored kind of with a very hot engine and used it as a work car for almost 15 years, sold when I moved to Saudi. Miss Agatha all are familiar with, concours or not i have 11 for 13 first places, the three were not brit car shows. What I got turns heads and the grandkids love to ride. A concours judge is not something that is found down here in the Panhandle. we just show what we brung.
 
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