secondary air filter?
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3rd Gear
Joined: Oct 2006
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secondary air filter?
could someone please tell me what the steel mesh filter that sits inside the main air filter is for and can it be removed? it looks like air filter but smaller. is it some kind of spark arrest? i own an 81 with a 4sp tranny....thanks
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2006
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From: Wilmington DE, Drive it like you stole it, 68 327 4 speed coupe
Originally Posted by bondoboy
Are you talking about the screen over the vent tube? I believe it's called a spark arrestor. No reason to remove it.
Flame arrestor
Race Director
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 12,706
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From: Scottsdale Arizona
Originally Posted by sweethence
Flame arrestor
I believe that it was there to scavenge gas fumes when the car wasn't running. It's an emission control device.
It also clogs over time and impedes air flow. On mine, the air filter would only get dirty in the top inch or so. I even turned the air filter over once and got two dirty bands on the outside and a clean band in the middle
I removed it (not all that easy) and immediately noticed an improvement in performance. Amazing what a little ait flow will do.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 24,125
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From: Columbia Missouri
Originally Posted by Durango_boy
See Hence? You NAILED that one. No one can one-up you on that one. 
Sorry Hence. I may have been wrong...
Originally Posted by CA-Legal-Vette
I disagree.
I believe that it was there to scavenge gas fumes when the car wasn't running. It's an emission control device.
It also clogs over time and impedes air flow. On mine, the air filter would only get dirty in the top inch or so. I even turned the air filter over once and got two dirty bands on the outside and a clean band in the middle
I removed it (not all that easy) and immediately noticed an improvement in performance. Amazing what a little ait flow will do.
I believe that it was there to scavenge gas fumes when the car wasn't running. It's an emission control device.
It also clogs over time and impedes air flow. On mine, the air filter would only get dirty in the top inch or so. I even turned the air filter over once and got two dirty bands on the outside and a clean band in the middle
I removed it (not all that easy) and immediately noticed an improvement in performance. Amazing what a little ait flow will do.
Last edited by Durango_Boy; Oct 5, 2006 at 04:55 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 8,319
Likes: 7
From: Wilmington DE, Drive it like you stole it, 68 327 4 speed coupe
Originally Posted by CA-Legal-Vette
I disagree.
I believe that it was there to scavenge gas fumes when the car wasn't running. It's an emission control device.
It also clogs over time and impedes air flow. On mine, the air filter would only get dirty in the top inch or so. I even turned the air filter over once and got two dirty bands on the outside and a clean band in the middle
I removed it (not all that easy) and immediately noticed an improvement in performance. Amazing what a little ait flow will do.
I believe that it was there to scavenge gas fumes when the car wasn't running. It's an emission control device.
It also clogs over time and impedes air flow. On mine, the air filter would only get dirty in the top inch or so. I even turned the air filter over once and got two dirty bands on the outside and a clean band in the middle
I removed it (not all that easy) and immediately noticed an improvement in performance. Amazing what a little ait flow will do.
It sits on top of the opening in the air cleaner that is part of the PCV system on pre-emmision cars like my 68 ( i am not including the AIR system on this point).
yes it does clog over time with as with any wire mesh type screen
Race Director
Joined: Jul 2004
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From: Scottsdale Arizona
Originally Posted by sweethence
This is the flame arrestor in question, or at least as I was discussing it
It sits on top of the opening in the air cleaner that is part of the PCV system on pre-emmision cars like my 68 ( i am not including the AIR system on this point).:
It sits on top of the opening in the air cleaner that is part of the PCV system on pre-emmision cars like my 68 ( i am not including the AIR system on this point).:
Originally Posted by sweethence
yes it does clog over time with as with any wire mesh type screen
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Race Director
Joined: Jul 2004
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From: Scottsdale Arizona
Originally Posted by Durango_boy
When did they stop installing those on stock cars? I've never seen one in use.
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 24,125
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From: Columbia Missouri
Originally Posted by CA-Legal-Vette
The arrestor or the fume scavenger? Don't know about the former, but I believe the latter was on the 81s only.
The arrestor...even though I haven't seen either. I would assume the latter is because I've never looked in a breather of an '81.
Thread Starter
3rd Gear
Joined: Oct 2006
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Originally Posted by bondoboy
Are you talking about the screen over the vent tube? I believe it's called a spark arrestor. No reason to remove it.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jan 2006
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From: Wilmington DE, Drive it like you stole it, 68 327 4 speed coupe
Originally Posted by silver 81
its not anything like that ........it looks like a regular round air filter and sits inside the regular air filter
interesting... can you take a pic ?
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2006
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From: Columbia Missouri
Originally Posted by sweethence
interesting... can you take a pic ?
I've seen them in a book I have so I know what he means...but they didn't call it anything so I don't have a name to go with it.