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1965 Oil Bath Air Cleaner. How to clean & Restore?

Discussion in 'Early CJ5 and CJ6 Tech' started by Greevesman, Jan 30, 2015.

  1. Greevesman

    Greevesman Member

    I am to the point I want to clean & restore my stock oil bath air cleaner. Ideally I would like to bead blast & powder coat. This sounds like a bad idea as I understand the inside is full of some sort of steel wool/mesh. Is there a way to remove the material while cleaning? Maybe I am stuck with hand cleaning the exterior and painting. Anyone done one of these? Thanks
     
    Greevesman, Jan 30, 2015
    #1
  2. Howard Eisenhauer

    Howard Eisenhauer Administrator Staff Member

    F4? If so the guts do not come out elegantly. I just blasted mine the way it was, came out fine.

    H.
     
    Howard Eisenhauer, Jan 30, 2015
    #2
  3. Greevesman

    Greevesman Member

    4 cyl F134. How did you keep blast media out of the filter?
    Or, are you talking pressure wash?
     
    Greevesman, Jan 30, 2015
    #3
  4. Howard Eisenhauer

    Howard Eisenhauer Administrator Staff Member

    Blasted with glass grit. I didn't try that hard to keep it out of the element other than not intentionally blasting the innards. If you've washed it out with solvent beforehand the media will come out afterwards with a shot from the air hose.

    H.
     
    Howard Eisenhauer, Jan 30, 2015
    #4
  5. PeteL

    PeteL If it wasn't for physics, and law enforcement... 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    If anyone around you does it, perhaps you could have it blasted with dry ice, or baking soda. No residue, except the paint crud.
     
    PeteL, Jan 30, 2015
    #5
    Michael Toews likes this.
  6. Glenn

    Glenn Kinda grumpy old man Staff Member

    It would be a good idea to clean it out with solvent before blasting it too. Get rid of the oil residue inside and after blasting you can first wash it out with a water hose and then a final rinse/flush with solvent.

    My bad, Howard already said pretty much the same thing.
     
    Glenn, Jan 31, 2015
    #6
  7. Glenn

    Glenn Kinda grumpy old man Staff Member

    I should add rinsing with water is only a good idea if you can immediately rinse it with solvent and dry it to avoid flash rusting. Not a good idea in cold weather.
     
    Glenn, Jan 31, 2015
    #7
  8. chipdom

    chipdom Member

    Not sure if you are interested but I cut the oil bath mesh part off with an angle grinder about 1" below the top and replaced it with a K&N filter. I do not remember the part number of it but I could look at my recipts to get it for you if you want it that way. The top pushes down with the wing nut on the filter to make a good seal and still looks like an oil bath. I purchased the oil bath filter on e-bay which had been sand blasted and painted but the seller said the filter part was falling apart which it was. I like the look of origional but the convenience of a "lifetime" filter with better air flow.
     
    chipdom, Jan 31, 2015
    #8
  9. Greevesman

    Greevesman Member

    I checked with Walcks who suggested washing with kerosene. Also the CJ3a forum had a tech article about willys air cleaners that suggested kerosene.
    So I sanded the paint, put the top part in a bucket for a day, blew some air thru it, let it drain and painted it. I was going to powder coat the oil bath part but it had a hole that had been soldered and that wouldn't have survived the 400 degree powdre coat cure. Put a new sticker on and it looks good as new.
     
    Greevesman, Feb 3, 2015
    #9