Stock Air Cleaner w/o air inlet

[LStevens]

Anyone know what year stock air cleaner for the Spider came without the "air inlet" that points to the front of the car?
I'm looking to find the air cleaner that ONLY has the snorkle - the piece that points to right of the car.
Below is a photo of my '74 stock air cleaner with the "air inlet" and nothing attached to the snorkle side of the air cleaner.
Want an air cleaner like "baltobernie" - Thanks for your input

[So Cal Mark]

so you want to draw in hot air rather than cool air?

[mdrburchette]

The early model ones, like from a 1608 only had the snorkel going to the right.

[baltobernie]

You're halfway there, Stevens. All you need now is the snorkel itself and the rubber hose coupling. Mark is describing the snorkel pointing at the exhaust manifold. This same part on early euro cars had the snorkel pointing to an opening on the rad support panel. You can modify a USA snorkel like I did by relocating the bracket. Imagine grasping the snorkel and rotating counterclockwise. This mod alone won't get you enough air, so drill those holes on the underside like I PM'd you.

I originally had a piece of 3" flexible metal hose running from your picture to the front of the compartment, but didn't like the look. The dyno guy gave me the hole-punching trick, and the results supported his claim.

[LStevens]

Sorry fellas, my question wasn’t well thought out and guess I didn't quite phrase it properly. Guess it sounded pretty stupid – “no air inlet”… how would the engine run at all with no air! Anyways, my question stemmed from baltobernie's photo of slightly modifying his stock air cleaner to a “cold intake” look while maintaining the OEM look.

Thanks baltobernie for your intial reply - I totally understood what you originally wrote to me:

“The air cleaner housing is a stock Spider part, except that the snorkel now aims forward (like early Euro cars), instead of downward at the exhaust manifold on US emissions cars. I accomplished this by cutting the bracket off the snorkel, and re-attaching it by welding to the new location. These air cleaner housings are available from salvage.

For additional performance, I drilled as many 3/8" holes as possible on the underside of the housing, outboard of the filter element, which I replaced with K&N. So I get all the flow of a "lunchbox" aftermarket filter, but keep the OEM look.”

However my posted question stems from the photo you had posted. – From what I can see, your air cleaner housing does not appear to have an "air inlet" as mine does. Thus I was inquiring about an air cleaner housing w/o the inlet. On that note I was also wondering how cold air originally got to the carb with that type of air cleaner housing. Unless, the early models cars (or Euro) only had the type of air cleaner housing as my old honda – the type of inlet that served both purposes for hot and cold (photo below).



Hope this clarifies my question, thoughts and what I want to accomplish -

Steven

[majicwrench]

Engines NEED to get warm air to keep from icing up the carb. This is not an issue if you are just driving when nice out.
But anything below 45deg you need some sort of warmth. Just food for thought.
PS I am a little unsure what you are really looking for....but I am pretty sure my 72 just point the intake towards the R fender.
Keith

[mdrburchette]

here's a pic of my 72 air cleaner with one snorkel. I have extras if you need one:

[LStevens]

thanks mdrburchette! Now that's the answer i was looking for - So it's a '72 model year! So, the '72 snorkel is specifically for incoming air and therefor does NOT have any other tubing/connection to the exhaust mani like my '74 does. Why the difference? Is my '74 air cleaner setup due to some sort of smog thing?

[mdrburchette]

There seems to be all kinds of emission lines on the 74 according to my service manual but I can't tell if they are actually integrated into the air cleaner itself. Do away with all that crap...it's too complicated!

[dhagood]

There seems to be all kinds of emission lines on the 74 according to my service manual but I can't tell if they are actually integrated into the air cleaner itself. Do away with all that crap...it's too complicated!

while i completely agree it's a pain to deal with, make sure that the state in which you license your car will permit such modifications. if they don't, you might not be able to renew the registration. here in colorado, cars must be emissions tested every two years (with some minor exceptions) and if someone notices emissions control equipment has been removed, you don't get your testing certificate. no certificate, no registration.

one such interesting exemption is "Pre -1975 collector-plated vehicles"; i may have found an upper limit on model year when i start looking for my car.

[spiderrey]

The early cars with the snorkel only going across the engine is adjustable for outside temps. Its turned down when its cold out, then turned forward for warmer temps. i think the later cars with two snorkels had a vacume operated switch inside which opened one snorkel and closed the other.

[LStevens]

The early cars with the snorkel only going across the engine is adjustable for outside temps. Its turned down when its cold out, then turned forward for warmer temps. i think the later cars with two snorkels had a vacume operated switch inside which opened one snorkel and closed the other.

Ok, I believe I got all the answers I was seeking thanks to baltobernie, mdrburchette and spiderry.

baltobernie, thanks for the original idea and info
mdrburchette, thanks for your photo and info which helped narrow down the answer
spiderrey, thanks for clarification regarding the snorkel on older models vs the newer models.

So, from what I've gathered from this post and as spiderrey clarified, early model snorkels (pre ’74) could be manually rotated up or down depending on weather conditions. Beginning with’74 models like mine, Fiat added an additional air inlet for cool air while maintaining the snorkel for heated air.

The photos below show both versions.


My ’74 snorkel pointing down towards exhaust manifold for warm air.
My snorkel is spot welded in this position.



My ’74 air cleaner with additional “cool air inlet” pointing towards left front



This is the photo that prompted this post. A version of “cold air induction”
Baltomario’s modified his snorkel by cutting the bracket & re-welding it 45 degrees



mdrburchette’s ’72 stock snorkel positioned as OEM. Can be rotated; Up for cool air
and down towards exhaust manifold for warm air (no modification required)



I'm now contemplating on maybe running 2-2 1/2" muffler piping from my air cleaners snorkel inlet to the right front side of the radiator support. There's a couple holes in this area and I'd end up with more of a "ram air induction" set-up. Is there such a thing as "too much air"?

[mdrburchette]

I doubt you'd be able to "ram" too much air with just an extended snorkel. The carb is only going to take in so much. Now, what might be something that would come into play would be the air flow. Jeff Scheferman has done extensive testing with air flow. Maybe he'll chip in with what he's learned.

[baltobernie]

My battery has been relocated to the trunk, so the snorkel is pointing directly at the opening on the fan support.

The dyno guy discouraged my "ram air" setup with flexible metal tubing as you describe. I had welded the funnel from another air cleaner base to that rad support opening.

I can tell you that there is only a 2hp difference between the picture shown above and the same setup with the lid off. Again, that's with a clean K&N element and the perforated housing.

[manoa matt]

If you are looking for a stock air cleaner that will take in cold air from an existing inlet hole at the side of the rad, look for the air cleaner housing and intake tube from a 79 or 80 carburated spider. The snorkle does not just point forward towards a hole, it actually is designed to connect to the hole and bring in cold air, and possibly ram some in at highway speeds.

It should be easy to find as most 79-80 carb owners ditch the stock carb and intake for more performance.