Filter won't fit air cleaner

[240ZMan]

I have what I think is an early 70's aircleaner assy I bought on eBay. (note the manual summer/winter valve) When I put it on, I took the air cleaner element out of the existing 73 assy and it fit perfectly. Later I ordered an new air filter for a 70-71 aircleaner from one of the many Texas online parts places. What came was about 2 3/8" tall which wouldn't fit inside either of my assy's. Turns out the one in there now is just under 2" tall.

I've seen a few eBay auctions for filters for early 70's aircleaners and I've asked them to measure the height. All have come back at 2 3/8". So I'm confused about what I have. And more importantly, where do I get a new airfilter that will fit?

[Bambikiller240]

The Air filter element for later 240Z's is indeed thicker than for the earlier (pre FLAT TOP Carb'ed) 240Z's. It SOUNDS like the sellers are giving you the wrong filter. I'll have to measure how thick my filter is for Bambikiller (mifg'd 11/71) I haven't had a problem getting the right filter, though I bought a K&N lifetime filter a couple of years ago and haven't bought anything since then.

BTW your air cleaner can does look like the one of the early styles.

[mdbrandy]

I don't know when they went to having that summer/winter flap, but the earliest ones do not have it. Mine doesn't.

[Bambikiller240]

Originally posted by mdbrandy
I don't know when they went to having that summer/winter flap, but the earliest ones do not have it. Mine doesn't.

I don't know when the went to the one with the "flap" either. To my knowlwedge there are 3 types of air cleaner assemblies for 240Z's Earliest is the one you have Mark, then the one shown by 240ZMan which both used the thinner filter element, then the one for the Flat-Top Boat Anchor carbs which used a thicker filter.

[240ZMan]

So if I am getting this correctly, the early aircleaners thru 72 used the thinner airfilter element and then switched to the thicker in '73?

[Bambikiller240]

Originally posted by 240ZMan
So if I am getting this correctly, the early aircleaners thru 72 used the thinner airfilter element and then switched to the thicker in '73?

Yes, up until the point in late 72 when they switched to the flat-top carbs.

I'm going out to work on my car, I'll measure the actual thickness of my air filter and post it later this afternoon or evening,

[Bambikiller240]

Daniel:

Just checked my air filter element and it is 2 3/8" thick also.

I know that there are two air filters for 240Z's, Motorsport Auto's catalog shows one for 70-72 and another for 73-74 (obviously 74 would be a 260)

MSA's P/N 18-9010 is for 70-72 $12.92
.................18-9011 is for 73-74 $12.95


Maybe it is the later air filter that is narrower? Frankly I've become confused since mine is different size than yours, though from the picture, your air cleaner can looks just like mine. Maybe the best bet is to contact MSA or another place that would stock both filters and ask them to measure, then order the appropriate one.

Now, ZTherapy was selling an adapter to use the later style aircleaner with round top (early carbs). Is it possible that your car came with boat anchors and was converted to Round Tops? Is there an adapter plate of any kind mounted on the Round Top Su's between them and the air cleaner can? Just throwing out questions.

[240ZMan]

Carl,

Thanks for checking the measurement on yours. Actually, the setup you described is how I received the car: 72 carbs with the adapters for the 73 aircleaner. But that was a pain to tune because the 73 aircleaner drops down lower and it's virtually impossible to get your hands on the mixture nuts. Also, the aircleaner has square air horns and the carbs have round inlets.

So I bought an earlier aircleaner on eBay which is what you saw in the picture. Turns out they both take the same size airfilter which is just under 2" tall. So it may be that I just order one for the 73 - which goes against my instincts.

I think I'll follow your suggestion and call MSA and see if they can check the height of the filters before I place the order.

Thanks,

[Bambikiller240]

A Long time ago I had a 73Z with Flat-top carbs, but the air cleaner can was NOT the kind you describe with the added lower area, etc. It looked Like the ones we both have though perhaps the dimensions were different, but at one time (way back then) I got a filter from a local parts house that was too thick to fit in the can. I don't remember how the situation was resolved, but I must have gotten the right filter somewhere, as I would never run a street car without a filter of some kind.