TR2/3/3A SU Air Cleaners on TR3A

[60TR3A]

Please forgive me if I am asking a question that's already been asked and answered but I didn't see a "search this forum" option.

I seem to recall back in the mid-60s that my mechanic would take off my air cleaners and soak them in some sort of solvent and then blow them out with his air hose and that cleaned them. There wasn't a disposable paper filter. Is that still the case today? I took one of mine off and it looks like some metallic material inside so I think they are still the same as yesteryear. If so, how should I clean them or are they just disposable as an entire unit after X-amount of miles? They are on sale now at The Roadster Factory so should I buy a new pair or can I clean my existing pair? Mine have the nice crinkled black paint finish on them so I'd hate to throw them away as they look new. Suggestions? Thanks.

 

[TR3driver]

Search is in the bar at the top.

 

[TR3driver]

The stock air filters are supposed to be periodically flushed with solvent and oiled. You should have a copy of "Practical Hints for the Maintenance of the Triumph T.R.3" (which was the factory owner's manual for the TR3/A/B). If not, there is a PDF available here
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&p...Uw&hl=en_US

 

[60TR3A]

The stock air filters are supposed to be periodically flushed with solvent and oiled. You should have a copy of "Practical Hints for the Maintenance of the Triumph T.R.3" (which was the factory owner's manual for the TR3/A/B). If not, there is a PDF available here
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&p...Uw&hl=en_US

Randall, you are a gem. Indeed I do have the Practical Hints but my house is in an uproar because I've just redone the garages to make a good environment for the TR3A and now my "man cave" is all in piles and covered up in plastic as it is being redone, as well. I have the book and will make my mechanic a copy. The nice thing is that my memory served me well after all these years! My brain is still hitting on all 12 cylinders!

Thanks for all your help (and patience).

Jeff

 

[HerronScott]

Jeff,

Have you changed your air filters since buying the car? The pictures from eBay showed an aftermarket style air filter.

Scott

 

[60TR3A]

Jeff,

Have you changed your air filters since buying the car? The pictures from eBay showed an aftermarket style air filter.

Scott

Dem's da ones. I only received the car this past Sunday and although I've already bought aftermarket accessories like Lucas fog lamps for the badge bar and a Nardi-style wood wheel, nothing has been put on the car by me ye except miles of fun driving!

I recall that my originals were smooth, black and slightly domed whereas these are flat and painted in crinkle paint. If I were going to enter the car into a concours d'elegance, I'd find some originals or new old stock, but these look decent so I'd just as soon clean them than discard them. That being said, The Roadster Factory has them on sale for only $24.95 each but they only show a drawing, not a photo, so I a reluctant to order them if they look aftermarket and not OEM. Has anyone ordered them from The Roadster Factory and can advise if they look OEM>

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[mgbmedic]

Mr Scott, is that a TR4 engine in that TR3?

 

[TR3driver]

I've not bought the ones from TRF, but I've seen them on others' cars and they look very authentic (if you also get the decals).

However, the ones you have likely do a better job of actually keeping dirt out of the engine. The stock "filters" are only good for stopping large rocks and small children, IMO.

And if I'm not mistaken, the ones you have are also designed to be serviced in much the same manner. Disassemble them, wash the foam filter element in solvent (gasoline will do if you are careful), then coat it with motor oil and work the oil into the foam. Squeeze it nearly dry, then reinstall.

 

[Geo Hahn]

...The stock "filters" are only good for stopping large rocks and small children, IMO...

I think they'd likely stop a BB, but nothing much smaller.

I like the stock look but since I live in the dusty desert I have some koozies over them for slightly more filtration:

 

[60TR3A]

Scott posted a pic of my engine taken from the eBay listing. It is the original engine but a previous owner changed the valve cover. Original OD transmission, too. Great driver that I will spiff up and maybe get a correct valve cover if I find one to my liking.

 

[60TR3A]

...The stock "filters" are only good for stopping large rocks and small children, IMO...

I think they'd likely stop a BB, but nothing much smaller.

I like the stock look but since I live in the dusty desert I have some koozies over them for slightly more filtration:

I just ordered the original copies from TRF with decals but since I live in a dusty place (sand from the beach and from my gravel driveway and everyone else's gravel driveways!), I'll need those koozies for extra filtration. Did you fashion those yourself or are they commercially available? I wonder if I could put something inside the the cleaners that will add another layer of filtration which won't be so visible? Having a foam halo around them sort of defeats the purpose of trying to look original.

 

[6TTR3A]

<span style="font-size: 12pt">Many years ago I came up with the bright idea of stuffing 2 or 3 copper "Char Girl"s into the stock filter to add the extra layer of filtration.(It's a pot scrubber that has been sold in markets for at least 60 years). I soaked them in oil and took off on a trip thru the desert. I'm at speed when all of a sudden my RPMs drop to idle and when I took my foot off the gas she stalled. A quick roadside inspection....The "Char Girls" had got sucked into the carbs & held the piston and the butterfly valves open !! That bright idea wound up in the nearest trash can. The idea would probably work if you could figure out some way of keeping the Char Girls in the can.
Frank</span>

 

[Geo Hahn]

...I'll need those koozies for extra filtration. Did you fashion those yourself or are they commercially available?...

Both.

Some off-road vehicle shops sell them -- may be foam or may be a circular 'sock'.

I made my own out of leftover foam -- some that was porous enough to blow thru. Not very scientific but I think it helps and it doesn't change the idle noticeably so I think the engine can still breath.

Nice thing about the sock or koozie is that they can be pulled off when you're at a show or other situation where you don't want that look.

 

[60TR3A]

In response to the idea of DIY stuffing copper wool pads in places they weren't intended, I had a similar experience: I changed my '06 Corvette's resonator for a Magnaflow resonator to increase the sound and was immediately unhappy with the drone. I tried stuffing copper scrubbing wool in thru the exhaust tips into the resonator in hopes of deadening the sound and then started her up. A huge, dense white cloud of smoke came pouring out in monstrous volume that totally freaked me out almost within seconds of starting up the car. After shutting it off I stuck a wire hook in and pulled out what remained of the vaporized copper wool and was glad I didn't do something horrendously expensive to damage my car's computers. I've done many such inane things in my life so somebody please shoot me if I ever suggest sticking anything anywhere it wasn't intended (no smart remarks, please!)

As for wrapping my original-looking cleaners (on order) with anything, I wouldn't want to open my bonnet to even look myself much less at a car show or to show a friend, so I'll just clean my filters frequently and get used to the idea that the carbs will need to be taken apart and cleaned and possibly rebuilt annually, if it comes to that. After all, cars get driven on the track with just trumpets and no filters whatsoever and they complete races so no matter how ineffective the original cleaners were/are, they never caused me grief back in the day when I owned my first TR3A in the sixties so if I survived the sixties as did my car, I guess my new/old car will somehow manage, too.

 

[TR3driver]

The issue is not so much the dirt's effect on the carbs, but what it does to the rings and cylinder walls. Around here, we get a lot of very fine sand particles that make a surprisingly good abrasive.

It's been a bunch of years ago now, but I can still recall a friend of my Dad's taking his family for a vacation in their brand new Chevy. Apparently, somewhere in the mountains, he took the lid off the air filter so it could "breathe better" and then left it that way as they drove through the desert. By the time they got home from the trip, his brand new car was blowing blue smoke and the dealer (rightfully) refused to do anything about it. Definitely drove home the idea that a good filter is a Good Thing.


Yes, racers run with open intakes. Ask one how many miles he gets from an engine before tearing it down for new rings, etc.

 

[60TR3A]

Granted, everything you say is true but everyone suggesting that Triumph never learned after producing the side curtain cars for 10 years that they were making the air cleaners wrong seems a bit arrogant on everyone's part, i.e., "we owners know more than the Triumph engineers knew". Sure, running w/o air filters will destroy an engine, but to suggest that running with OEM parts will do the same doesn't wash with me.

It has been suggested that anything smaller than a BB will get through but does anyone actually know this to be a fact, with empirical evidence such as, "I took off my cleaners and there were BB-sized pebbles inside the carburetor clogging up the piston" or some such. In the absence of anything factual but a lot of interesting and funny hyperbole ("small children" was hilarious!), I'm going to err on the side of the factory's original design rather than assume we are all smarter than their engineers and know better.

 

[PeterK]

For "koozies" on my K&Ns, I used a shop vacuum prefilter from HD. Cost was cheap and I cut down the filter to the correct width with a razor knife. Perfect fit btw, just the right diameter.

 

[hondo402000]

FYI steel wool will burn if you light it with a match

Hondo

 

[vivdownunder]

We have a hot dry climate and plenty of airborne dust.

With the original mesh aircleaners, the carbs on my 3A needed a strip down and clean of the piston chambers and bores about every second year. Sooty black deposits built up, despite weekend only use of the car.

So for many years I've used RamFlo aircleaners with foam inserts. As a result the carbies stay quite clean and annual maintenance is restricted to washing the inserts. RamFlo makes an offset aircleaner like the originals, but they aren't needed. The rounded shape of a standard aircleaner clears the inner guard.

For those wanting to show a car, it's simple to pop the original aircleaners back on.

Aircleaners, like oils, have improved with the times - the benefit is greatly extended engine life.

Viv.

 

[TR3driver]

Granted, everything you say is true but everyone suggesting that Triumph never learned after producing the side curtain cars for 10 years that they were making the air cleaners wrong

I did not mean to suggest that at all. The fact is, these were "cheap" sports cars, and at the time, modern filter technology simply did not exist. The wire mesh was a reasonable choice at the time, especially since there was no room for an oil bath filter (the accepted standard back then).

So it comes down to a question of whether, and how much, you want to improve your car. I'm not saying there is anything "wrong" with keeping it totally "as original"; it's your car, it should please you. So some of us wind up with Toyota transmissions and electronic ignitions and steel belted radial tires on alloy wheels. Others don't. Neither group is "wrong", it's just personal preference.

I'm just trying to present the information, so you can make an informed choice.

Similar to what Viv posted, it's easy to see for yourself how well the mesh works. When you remove them for their 6000 mile service, wipe your finger inside the housing. What comes out on your finger is only a tiny fraction of the dirt that went through the engine.

Show of hands : Is anyone actually still running the felt oil filter (original for TR2 and early TR3)? Or would, if they were available? What about leather seals?