Oil Bath air cleaner

[69 customcamper]

Anybody have a picture of a 68 Oil Bath air cleaner? My truck has it listed on the SPID as an option, but of coarse it is long gone. Truck has 23000 original miles so I am trying to put it back how it should be. There many different oil bath air cleaners so please post photos only if you are pretty sure yours is original or correct. My truck has a 307 in a K10 for reference. I am trying to determine if 69 looks the same.

Mike

[Indyuke]

Here's some pics of the original oilbath air cleaner on my 68 C10. Engine is a 307, with the 2G carb.

Here's a picture of it after I converted it to paper element.

[69 customcamper]

Wow sweet thanks! Now I am wondering if a 307 in a truck had a 4 barrel or 2 barrel as stock? It does have a 4 barrel now......

Mike

[Indyuke]

I was under the impression that all C10 283 and 307 engines had the 2 barrel stock.

[69 customcamper]

Same would go for K10?

[Indyuke]

I would imagine so, yes. From what I know, even the cars with the 307 (camaro included) came stock with the 2 barrel.

[mkmc69]

Originally Posted by Indyuke

Here's some pics of the original oilbath air cleaner on my 68 C10. Engine is a 307, with the 2G carb.

Here's a picture of it after I converted it to paper element.

Do you have details of what all you did to convert it to a paper element? I bought one for my 250, but it was missing part of the internals, so I would consider doing this to mine.

[Indyuke]

I basically just removed the oil bath related internals, drilled some airflow holes through the bottom, and fastened a flat, circular piece of sheet metal to the inside of the top cover for the top of the paper element to rest against.

I debated drilling the airflow holes through the bottom, because it would mean not being able to convert back to oil bath, but I figured if I really wanted to go back to oil bath, I could do the work to find another bottom assembly or repair the holes. Normally air is pulled in between the bottom assembly and the top cover between the side flange.

[cornerstone]

Originally Posted by Indyuke

I basically just removed the oil bath related internals, drilled some airflow holes through the bottom, and fastened a flat, circular piece of sheet metal to the inside of the top cover for the top of the paper element to rest against.

I debated drilling the airflow holes through the bottom, because it would mean not being able to convert back to oil bath, but I figured if I really wanted to go back to oil bath, I could do the work to find another bottom assembly or repair the holes. Normally air is pulled in between the bottom assembly and the top cover between the side flange.

I have the exact same oil bath set up on my 68 327 as well. Is there a main reason you made the switch to a paper element over the oil bath?

[Indyuke]

I did it mostly to cut down on the mess a bit - ease of maintenance. I read an article about how modern paper element are much better filters than the even the older oil bath, but I'm not sure how true that is.

The article went into detail about differing environments, and what's best. Oil bath excels in really dusty environments for motors that run at high RPM where the air velocity through the filter housing is high enough to pull the oil up into the filtering media where it filters out the worst of the dust particles without clogging up. Even though a paper element filters out smaller particles, it would quickly clog up in these environments and starve the engine for air.

Since I live in the PNW with excellent air quality nearly all year round, and mostly cruise around in my truck and speeds less than 65, a paper element is a better filter.

[cornerstone]

I'm with ya on cutting down on the mess. By chance would you know what air filter your air cleaner uses now?

[69 customcamper]

I am thinking the oil bath filters were due to many undeveloped streets so for people driving on dusty roads the oil bath filters were good compared to paper. I just want it for the "Look".

Mike

[lil hoodlum]

My 1968 C10 came from the factory with optional oil bath air cleaner. It was long gone before I got the truck. I would love to have one. It was often used for dusty environments such as agricultural use.


Yes, the 307's came with a 2 barrel carb. The 327's came with a 4 barrel carb.

[Steeveedee]

I worked at a small repair shop (long out of business) in farm country in Idaho back in the mid-'70s. The oil bath cleaners were quite common. Yes, they are messy to clean!

[Indyuke]

Originally Posted by cornerstone

I'm with ya on cutting down on the mess. By chance would you know what air filter your air cleaner uses now?

I can't remember the part number of the paper air filter I used. I just took the air cleaner to the auto store and found one that fits on the flange and was about 3-4 inches tall.

[Indyuke]

That's where I got the truck. I bought it from someone in eastern WA where it had never ventured more than 50 miles from the where it was sold new, and it was a basic farm truck. Only options it was ordered with was to help make it a worker bee for it's entire life. No power anything, heavy duty front and rear springs, oil bath cleaner, SM465 trans, etc... and it was in rough shape when I got it.

But on the up side, it was nearly 100% complete as it came from the factory, and with minimal rust. Only stuff it was missing were the hub caps, and a few other knick knacks.