C-1 Air Cleaner assembly

[Donald W.]

Hi, I am being offered a factory 1961 Corvette 1x4 Air cleaner assembly for the 230 HP engine that's in there now. Have not seen it yet so I do not know condition. I now have the replacement chrome plated steel one that was offered by GM in the early 1970's from their parts counter which I am told is the GTO look alike. Is the factory one's top assembly aluminum and the bottom stamped steel? If this unit needs restoring who does this work? Anything else to look out for? What would be a reasonable price to pay for it (depending on condition). Thanks Don.

[Terry D.]

Re: C-1 Air Cleaner assembly

Don
I'll try to help out here, the original top is aluminum, the bottom is plated steel. This is explained in the Judging Guide, if you don't have one I would strongly suggest you get one. As for restoring you might want to check the Driveline and call the guys who do manifolds and valve covers. I've never seen anyone advertise air cleaner restoration but that doesn't mean it's not out there.

[Donald W.]

Re: C-1 Air Cleaner assembly

Thank you. I did buy one and it just arrived. Tech adviser for 61-62 put me wise to it and it will be a great help! I did not know if there were different variants to the air cleaner or who makes a good repro . I can get the top assembly semi polished and the bottom plate re cadmium plated but was not sure if anyone did the screen printing. If the air cleaner comes my way I will check the polishers as you recommend. I did not want to purchase one for more than what they are worth and then pump money into a restoration of it. If that is the case a repro will do. The motor in her now is a 283 from a 1964 Impala so I do not want to spend too much on things I will not be using in the future and I purchased the correct short block for her last year. . Proper engine is supposed to be the high lift cam 2 4bbl. one. Need to save my pennies for the intake setup!! Thanks Don.

[Joe M.]

Re: C-1 Air Cleaner assembly

The original aluminum tops were not polished. If you are not interested in NCRS-correct top, have it polished if that is what you like. Otherwise, do not try to polish it. The stamped steel base plate had a "tang" that aligned the base plate in the proper orientation with the choke rod that extends into the carb. Many of the tangs were cut off so they would fit other carbs. Once in the proper alignment due to the tang, the carb linkage levers were aligned with the bumps on the base plate; no interference. That may not make sense.

[Donald W.]

Re: C-1 Air Cleaner assembly

Hi, I must have misread the judging manual . I thought it said semi polished top so I was thinking it had to be buffed up a bit. My assumption is the surface should be as it was cast. I will try and find someone close by that has one to look over. Thank you for the tip on the carb tang as I will look to see if it is present. I am trying my best to make her correct. Discovered a passenger car valve cover ( from judging manual) on her and just swapped it out for the correct one. Never noticed the difference on the ends of the covers. As I said before she came home in many cardboard boxes of parts and I saved all the pieces. Some things that were correct for her were mixed in with other Chevy parts. Glad I did not toss out the extras that did not go on the car I felt I did not need years ago!! I need to educate myself more! O.K. Again I thank you all very much on solving another issue. I am grateful for the help, Don.

[Joe M.]

Re: C-1 Air Cleaner assembly

The JG does say semi-polished, but from the vendor. You will lose a point if the top is polished with a buffer as it will be obvious. The best option is to purchase a good chrome or aluminum polish and polish it with a soft cloth by hand. That will remove any oxidation. You may still lose a condition point. Focus on restoring items that will yield big point gains vs. 1 or 2 points here and there.

The 283 CI passenger car stamped steel covers are correct for a Corvette 283 engine. The slanted end valve covers are for a 327 CI.

The tang is 1-3/8" long to fit a WCFB carb.

[Donald W.]

Re: C-1 Air Cleaner assembly

O.K. great tip on polishing. Guy has not called or stopped by since he was here on Saturday who owns the air cleaner. He claims to have many original parts for the 61 at his home . He asked me how much I was willing to pay for one so that is why I was looking for a ball park figure for one. I started to search and checking on the correct ones for about $300.00 and they look untouched and correct by your descriptions and the manual. When I purchased the car in the 1970's I missed the 2x4 set up from it as the owner just had just sold it to someone else. Also passed up a fuelie setup back then from a friend trying to sell me one he had from a wrecked 62 that was customized he had. I was able to pick other parts from the wreck I was missing. Before the days of computer most things looked the same for Corvettes and other GM parts but now with all this knowledge out there I am slowly correcting mistakes!

[Joe M.]

Re: C-1 Air Cleaner assembly

Make sure the spacing between the sets of louvers is exactly the same. The spacing between louvers on repros is not equal. The original aluminum cover was fastened to the steel piece that holds the spark arrestor fabric with a one-piece eyelet, not a two piece grommet as repros have.

[Donald W.]

Re: C-1 Air Cleaner assembly

Thanks for these tips on the air cleaner that really helps me out . Struggling with the front grille support rod brackets. I ordered a set from a vendor only to find out they were not correct and I installed them incorrectly and switched sides as they both were identical and installed them opposite to what they need to be as far as the rivet locations ( naturally my luck). I purchased OEM ones from separate places after the fact and when they came in I now see the errors. I should have known when I tried to tighten up the rods they were not flush to the brackets as the brackets did not have any tip to them but the OEM ones do and therefore dictate which side they belong on!! Big job removing this mess !! Again if I had the judging manual Pg. 93 Illustration E-10-11 it would have been obvious to me. I got great help here on the forum with dimensions to locate the brackets but I missed details in the photos people sent to me on it. My originals were tossed away many years ago and the front panel was replaced so I had nothing to go by. In the process of purchasing oem hood hinges as mine are worn out so I will tackle this job before winter storage on the car if time allows. Thanks Don

[Terry D.]

Re: C-1 Air Cleaner assembly

Donald
You state "proper engine is a 2-4bl setup" How do you know this? Just curious.

[Donald W.]

Re: C-1 Air Cleaner assembly

Hi , The 2x4 setup was sold to someone else when I got there to buy the car as the 283 had been removed from it and sitting in the garage with a rod thru the block! I rescued the dual point distributor and aluminum valve covers and the remaining pieces of it. When I purchased the car that day there was a big block sitting in her and they butchered the hood to accommodate the high rise and carbs. That motor was removed and I picked up the car as a roller. I stupidly scrapped the block out at our local junk yard and never thought to record or photograph the numbers from her. I never thought about what the engine value would be to it some day and thought any 283 would be fine!!! This was 1972 and she was beat into the ground from all the abuse she got dragging then. I was just happy to own a Corvette then. A friend had a wrecked 1964 Chevy Impala hardtop with 30,000 miles on it and I purchased the motor for the Corvette and it is still in there today. As I said when I get all the incorrect thing done on the car ( found more mistakes in the manual last night I need to correct!!) I will get her repainted and bumpers re chromed again and start on the engine that belongs in her. We are also restoring a period 1930's 2 man sprint car ( almost done hopefully), a circa 1940's 1 man sprint car (still collecting pieces but getting close) and a 1921 Dodge Brothers Touring that the body was cut during WW2 to make a farm truck which was popular I am told back then. Yes my plate is full!! I do round robin on them as parts become available and are ready to go.

[Donald W.]

Re: C-1 Air Cleaner assembly

Hi, I got a phone call from the guy trying to sell me the Air cleaner. I asked him if it was a 2 piece type and he said no. He restored a 1960 Corvette with many NOS parts and this was a take off as it has a dent in the top of it. I asked if his Corvette was an early model as looking in the book it states up to around build 800 and change the air cleaners were changed from 1 piece to 2 piece models. He said you pull the element out to clean it and reinstall it. Is that how the 1 piece units were serviced? I am almost tempted to ask him if I can see it to verify it is a 1 piece model and not stuck together and is really a 2 piece unit. Thanks Don

[Joe M.]

Re: C-1 Air Cleaner assembly

The one piece air cleaner was not serviceable. If the one piece unit was taken apart, you could never get the crimped edge that held the base plate flat enough to look like the top cover of the unit.