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My '32 was converted to a downdraft carburetor system in it's very distant past. Now I'm getting ready to paint the air cleaner, which is from a '33. While it appears that no rodents have used it for a home, I'm sure that it's insides are full of oil and dirt.

Is it out of the question to try and open it up for cleaning or should I just flush the insides and prep the outside for paint? Any and all opinions would be greatly appreciated.

I would not recommend trying to open it. I have essentially the same filter on my 34. For cleaning (about every 2000 miles) I fill a 5 gallon plastic bucket with about 2-3 gallons of kerosene or diesel fuel and soak for a while, slosh it a few times, and let it drain; then repeat again with clean solvent. Let drip dry and reoil the mesh with SAE40 or 50 motor oil.

If you do take it apart new copper mesh can be bought from Classic & Exotic.

O-d-D,

Thanks for your input and thoughts on the matter. I'll proceed with a good cleaning followed by a painting the exterior with primer and black paint.

To close out this post - I left the air cleaner intact and cleaned the insides. I soaked it in odorless paint thinner changing the thinner several times. Cleaned and sanded the outside. Then it was primed with two coats of a black polyester primer. Several small dents were filled with Evercoat body filler. More primer followed with a light sanding and two coats of a single phase enamel paint.

I needed to make the bracket since I didn't have the one that came with the car. I used a piece of 1/8" X 3/4" steel flat bar. It followed the air cleaner through the painting process. While it looks real, the single phase has a little orange peel so I'm not completely satisfied, but since I have enough to do on the project the air cleaner will do as is. That is unless one of my friends that drop by calls it to my attention. Then I'll need to decide if I should tell him to go fly a kite, or something close to what he should do, or maybe just repaint it.

Dave thanks for your input.

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Hi Martson:

Here is a picture of the 10th series bracket. It is a stretched diamond shape with dogbones on the end. It has a slot at the top for the stud and wing nut.

Hope this helps.

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Marston, I'd have to check the part list to see if 33 and 34 Eights with oil mesh air filters use the same support rod, but mine is quite different than what you have. Rather than the two right angle bends near the bottom to get the offset to the end of the filter, mine uses a pair of sweeping curves, kind of "S" shaped, to get the offset distance. And it has the name GEMMER stamped into it, presumably the name of the supplier to Packard.

Tim & Dave,

Thanks for the input. If You could take a few close up photos with a ruler I'll see what I can do to duplicate it if I can not find one out there in the Packard world.

And if you don't mine, a few pictures of the linkage to the carburetor would be helpful at this stage of my restore.

Marston, not the greatest photo but I think you can get an idea, just a pair of opposing sweeping bends rather than right angles. Honestly, if you're off by an inch, who is going to take out a rule and measure? But again, I'd check the parts book and make sure 33 and 34 used the same part.

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Dave & Tim,

After studying your pictures, it appears that you air cleaners are 5 to 10 degrees from being parallel to the engine. Your cars have a "S" metal bracket somewhat like the sketch below.

If this is so, I'm unable to rotate the air cleaner on my carburetor enough to achieve an angle even approaching yours as mine hits a fitting on the carburetor (see photo). My carburetor is a Stromberg EE-22.

Would you please let me know if this is true?

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Yes, the filter is canted inboard to clear the hood.

I'll try to get a picture later but here's what I see. Your air filter fastener is incorrect - it's a fixed stud on the inboard side with an elongated head slotted head screw outboard - and no chromed acorn nut. Also, I can't quite tell from your photo but is your accelerator link upside down? The spring which allows further travel of the throttle after the pump has bottomed out should be downwards. And if I recall the screw that hold the link is a left-hand thread!! Yours appears to be missing a washer between the screw head and the link, perhaps ditto inboard but I can't see there.

The "sweep" of your sketch is a bit exaggerated but that's the right concept.

PS - oops - memory failed me. The air cleaner clamp ring is tightened by a fairly long threaded rod on the inboard side with a "wing nut" fixed head. And it's on the backside of the filter facing the cowl, not on the front where the accelerator pump link is.