C1 fuel injection air cleaner question.

[Bruce B.]

I would like some help identifying this early FI air cleaner.
The base has a major diameter of approx. 7 3/8", no tab and it has a SINGLE tube.
The cover is about 6 3/4" in diameter.
See pictures.
Ken Kaysers book shows a single tube drawing on pages 508 and 509 but notes that it was never released to production.
What could this one be?
Thanks in advance.

[Bruce B.]

Re: C1 fuel injection air cleaner question.

Anyone have any comments/information on this FI air cleaner?

[Mike M.]

Re: C1 fuel injection air cleaner question.

absence of tab on main body suspicious. flame arrestor material and its retaining screen look right on but i seem to recall the screen to lid spot weld #'s not like your photo. not seem one like this before with lacking tab and just one elboe.mike

[Bruce B.]

Re: C1 fuel injection air cleaner question.

Mike,

Thanks for your input.
The other FI air cleaners I have had did have the tab but for some reason the GM drawings of the single tube base does not have the tab. Do you know what the tab was for ?
The welding of the screen for the flame arrestor on this one has 3 spot welds as opposed to 4 spot welds on the normal ones if I remember correctly.

I am just curious about this one.

Thanks again.
Bruce B

[Tom P.]

Re: C1 fuel injection air cleaner question.

Several years ago-------------ummmmmmmmmmm, well, maybe many years ago, one of the aftermarket vendors was selling this type of single tube 57 air cleaner. A good friend of mine (Okla NCRS member Greg Hart) has this exact air cleaner on his FI 57. I built the engine and built a modified FI unit for the car about 15(?)yrs ago. Since the style of air cleaner with 3 tubes would not utilize the additional 2 tubes, he chose to order the single tube air cleaner as pictured above. I do not remember where he got the one tube version, but the vendor (as I recall) offered both a one and a three tube air cleaner.
So, my guess is that you have one of these single tube, aftermarket air cleaners.

[Bruce B.]

Re: C1 fuel injection air cleaner question.

Tom,
Thanks you.
Bruce B

[Tom P.]

Re: C1 fuel injection air cleaner question.

I know that for ONLY the 4360 FI unit, all three tubes were used and then on the later 57 units, the additional tubes were capped. I fully realize that the capped tubes on the later FI units is correct, but it really looks out of place and a single tube air cleaner does in fact provide a cleaner look. If the cleaner look was my goal, then I would certainly prefer the one tube air cleaner. BUT, it doesn't matter on my car, since I have an airbox and a chrome 58-62 single tube style air meter adapter.
Although, I do have an original 3 tube air cleaner boxed up on the shelf!

[Stuart F.]

Re: C1 fuel injection air cleaner question.

Bruce;

In the FWIW department, I ordered a FI air cleaner in 1958 for a 58 fuelie engine I was installing in my 50 Chevy coupe. I had the 58 off engine unit, but needed one I could use on the engine in that application. The only one available through parts service was the 57 open element unit which had the 3 tubes. Of course, the 58 FI unit only needed the one, so I had to cap off the other 2.

Stu Fox

[Bruce B.]

Re: C1 fuel injection air cleaner question.

It seems like GM would have done away with the 2 extra tubes since they were not needed I believe starting in 1958. In fact they had to purchase the red caps to close off the extra tubes.
I guess cost savings were not a priority in the 1950s, especially on low volume items.

[John D.]

Re: C1 fuel injection air cleaner question.

Bruce, In the old days there was a rumor floating around that the one tube air cleaner was for the late '4960 FI units. The photo in Noland Adams solid axle book was one of the more sources of the rumor.
I believe the rumor came from the 283Hp mystery 7014740 FI unit. It had a single tube air cleaner part#1553556. See page 327 of Ken Kayser's book.
There was a bunch of fake single tube air cleaners made you know.

The '4740 unit precided the '4960 FI unit.

[Bruce B.]

Re: C1 fuel injection air cleaner question.

Thanks to everyone for the info.
Bruce B