Technical Blowing out a Paper Air Filter

Hello,

When my brother bought his new 1958 Chevy Impala, the 348 motor had 3 carbs and what we called, “the world’s largest air cleaner.” It was a big black mass sitting neatly on the 3 carbs and had enough inlets to pass a lot of air into the motor. But, inside was also, the “world’s largest air filter” for a car.

It was big, made everything silent and did a great job filtering out the bad stuff and letting in, the good stuff. But, when we took it to the beach and ran into some onshore wind blowing sand across the Coast Highway, it did its intended job with ease. There was some sand and grit, but nothing got inside of the massive filter.

When we went to the desert later on, towing a trailer and two desert racing Greeves Motorcycles, the dust out there was tremendous in the afternoons. Plus, sitting in the pits waiting for us to come back in for some rest and maintenance for the bikes and us, there was plenty of dust in the air.

Jnaki

In those days, most of us teenagers did not have compressors, but it was a short few blocks to the nearest gas station to use their air hoses. We tried to reverse the hose on our mom’s vacuum cleaner. It did blow air, but was not strong enough to get everything out. So, the directed air flow from the gas station hoses and a pin point tip always did the trick. Care was taken as the pressure could and did rip some early air filters. But, from a distance away from the nooks and crannies, the trapped stuff came out with ease.

In order to make the large black air cleaner/filter housing look better, we had the top only chromed to give the motor compartment some nice contrast. Later, we had the valve covers chromed and added two Moon Aluminum Breathers.

Note: We were the only hot rod sedan that could still run the large air cleaner housing and the filter in the high elevations of the local mountains during the Christmas Vacation weeks. Everyone else instantly took off their air cleaners and filter elements to get more air. The higher elevation air was super thin and most motors were starving.

We kept the big unit on and adjusted the carbs for high elevation performance. (That technique was taught to us by our friend in Los Angeles.) The areas in and around the city hangout spots sounded like a bunch of trapped snakes hissing all over the place without the air cleaners in place. But, when performance time came, it did not make much difference if the carb(s) were not adjusted.

Most teens just said that if the revs were up, then it would be ok. They were cruisers and not racers, too. So, they were usually behind in the back woods open road areas, when time came to accelerate. YRMV

 

I would take a shop vac to it or gently blow it out and then put a trouble light in the filter to check its cleanliness. The light will show where to clean. There is a difference between frugal and cheap. Cheap will keep or use some thing until the cost of the damage is more than they saved had they done the right thing. Frugal is saving as much as possible but will spend to make it right as it will save in the end and will make good purchases when products are on sale. I had a friend who was cheap beyond cheap that bought junk to work with and junk tools to work with. Always in a dilema and needing help to fix things. If I was helping then I would make him buy the right products so it was done right and then used my tools.

 

I have been blowing out engine air filters for years. Most were in Ag tractors with diesel engines that did have microfine final filters. The first paper filters can take years of blowing to clean them (vigorously both inside and outside.) The final microfine filters are ALWAYS replaced.
I have cleaned a lot of paper filters by blowing with compressed air with no issues. Naturally you have to inspect
closely before reusing. A new paper filter lets through more light than a cleaned used one. I have a K&N whashable air filter on my '55 Chevy with 130,000 mi. that is in great shape. I have washed it every several years and oiled it with no problems. (I don't pull the dipstick but maybe once every 3,000 mi. oil change.)

The real question is how valuable the engine is to the risk of sucking dirt in it.