4 barrel air cleaner question

[limp]

Cleaning up the original Air Cleaner housing from my 83.. I didn't realize how filthy it was...... I thought the " grunge" in the middle of it was what was left of paint that had worn off.. No, its 41 years of dirt and crankcase fumes.....

My question is can anyone tell me if the circular black ring on the top of the AC is paint or a decal? If its a decal I don't want to screw it up using Lacquer thinner or another chemical for cleaning. It looks like a decal to me?

I don't want to put the top into my solvent tank as it has a rubber gasket on its edge that I don't want to remove...
Thanks all......

 

[85GTStangGuy]

Its a decal. Here's an exact repop...

https://lmr.com/item/OS-DF0888/1983-Mustang-50L-4V-Air-Cleaner-Decal

I also got something on the gasket, but couldn't find it on first look. I'll try to dig it up this weekend.

 

[limp]

Its a decal. Here's an exact repop...

https://lmr.com/item/OS-DF0888/1983-Mustang-50L-4V-Air-Cleaner-Decal

I also got something on the gasket, but couldn't find it on first look. I'll try to dig it up this weekend.

I just came back to say " hey its a decal, I found the two ends"....
thanks for the help .... I thought I had seen the decal for sale somewhere before..
My seal around the edge is fine, I just didn't want to soak it in my solvent tank and possibly ruin it.. I have the bottom of the air cleaner housing soaking as we speak....
Here is the top after some red scotchbrite dipped in some solvent... Looks like Ford clear coats them.. I see some coming up and it has yellowed... Doing my best to not go garage queen on cosmetics.. I really don't want to spend time and money on this but when you pop the hood the first thing you see on the carb cars is this dual snorkel air cleaner.....

EDIT... LMR repro says the lettering is white... I will check again, but I think my lettering is cut holes in the decal letting the brushed silver come thru..

 

[85GTStangGuy]

Based on your observations, sounds like it was clear-coated.... didn't recall that. But there are more and more things that I don't recall correctly!

I thought I'd heard of people chucking them up in their drill, spinning it at a low speed, and hit it with some lubed-up scotchbrite to kinda replicate that spun finish they came with. Maybe that was after removing the clear-coat. Or maybe that process removes it....

Doesn't sound like you need the gasket info... since it seems you're going to efforts not to compromise it.

 

[limp]

thats an idea on the drill.... And I did check and the lettering is cut holes with the spun metal coming through, they are not white letters..
At this time I think I might sand down the bottom and the snorkels, paint them Satin black and maybe come back to the top at a later date...
I do remember people messing up the spun aluminum dashes on Trans Ams " back in the day".........

 

[Willybill32]

thats an idea on the drill.... And I did check and the lettering is cut holes with the spun metal coming through, they are not white letters..
At this time I think I might sand down the bottom and the snorkels, paint them Satin black and maybe come back to the top at a later date...
I do remember people messing up the spun aluminum dashes on Trans Ams " back in the day".........

An Xacto knife and a steady hand should take care of the white letters on the repop decal…

Bill

 

[limp]

An Xacto knife and a steady hand should take care of the white letters on the repop decal…

Bill

Thanks for the idea....

 

[85GTStangGuy]

If you're going to completely remove your existing decal, you also have the option of going to the '84-'85 style decal, which actually mounts to the next smaller "ring" of the lid, as seen below.

https://lmr.com/item/OS-DF0673/84-85-Mustang-50L-4V-Air-Cleaner-Decal

 

[limp]

Well I have taken that step down the road of no return on the Air cleaner base and snorkels.... Amazing how much prep time it takes to do it right.. I have been using a wire wheel on my 6" grinder which has been taking off about 90% of the paint, so my hand sanding has not been too bad..

I hope to sand and repaint the base/snorkels and maybe let the top ride for now..... I am sure the top is going to look really ugly now when its assembled
I gave 1/2 of one snorkel a shot of some Self etching primer ( see pic) to see how my prep work was doing, making sure I was feathering out the old paint in some of the nooks and crannies and I think its OK.....
More work to do now on the base and the other snorkel..... Enjoying this " cooler " PRE Hurricane weather......

 

[limp]

Updated picture of the base painted.... Been using Rustoleum, since my local HD is 2 miles from me, but I was in Walmart ( my local Winn Dixie closed, Thanks Aldi ) and picked up a can of Krylon satin black.... Really laid down nice and seemed easier to work with.....