New to Forum

[BLong63AH]

I hope and plan on using this forum as I continue ,not sure if it will ever get done some days, my work on my 1963 BJ7. It’s been a slow go as I am learning as I go but it has been a great experience to learn how to work on this car.
Air cleaners. What do you recommend for cleaning? Kerosene????
Bryan

 

[steveg]

Bryan, welcome - nice to have you here.

PS - try searching - it takes a little getting used to, but there's tons of info stored here.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

Welcome to the Forum Bryan. Any organic solvent works; probably the safest is mineral spirits (but it's getting expensive), kerosene (or, as the Brits call it paraffin) and gasoline will work in a pinch (with appropriate safety considerations). After cleaning, re-oil the 'steel wool' stuffing with, preferably, a tack oil.

 

[steveg]

Bob - what is "tack oil"? What would be an example of it that one could buy? Google was no help.

 

[BLong63AH]

Thank you Steve and Bob. I do have some mineral spirits and I will give that a go.

 

[Keoke]

BOB:
Tack oil ?

Tack oil is a black emulsified asphalt oil

designed to glue two layers of pavement together. This is why it is the most sticky of the asphalt emulsions.​

U been usin this stuff ?---LOL


OK BOB:
High Tack oil I guess it is sticky too , collecting a lot of dust--Keoke

 

[RAC68]

Hi Bryan and welcome.

Keep in mind that the Air Cleaners are not that exotic or precise filtering device and, as a steel wool mesh based maize, depend on a thine coating of oil to capture and hold rather large bits of air borne debris. Since steel wool is the cleaner's primary component, it is common for a petroleum-based solvent to be used for cleaning. However, when relegated to a confined space (i.e. my garage in the winter), I have also had great success using less volatile cleaning detergents (I.e. Dawn dishwashing detergent) to clean the air cleaner's mesh. It should be noted that when using any water drawn detergents, any remaining moisture should be allowed to evaporate before lightly re-oiling the mesh.

One last point. Keep in mind that the difference between work and a hobby is, if you have to do it … its work. To that end, most of us have spent substantial amounts of time pursuing a fictional conclusion to our Healey projects, only to come close before finding other paths of interest in this never ending story. I am not sorry to say that you will achieve many Healey milestones in your project but your enjoyment of the pursuit will continue.

Hope this helps,
Ray(64BJ8P1)

 

[Michael Oritt]

Bryan--

There are many substances that will do the job of cleaning the gauze filters, gasoline, kerosene, mineral spirits being but a few. Similarly there are a number of different oils, etc. that may be applied to them after they are cleaned that will increase their ability to capture dirt, etc. particles. Some use engine oil, some air filter oil such as that marketed by K&N. I prefer sebum nasum when it can be obtained in sufficient quantity for a reasonable cost.

In any case welcome to the Forum and you will find much information here, some of which is actually helpful.

 

[Bob_Spidell]

I've used this stuff (been using K&N filters on my cars for a while): https://thebestsyntheticoil.com/afo.htm

Like others suggested, clean motor oil is fine.

 

[RAC68]

Mike/Bob,

Due to the imperfect filtration quality of a steel mesh filter, I have never considered the use of anything but engine oil...and in fact, wondered if I even needed those filters to do anything more then eliminate squirrels, small birds. or rocks. Unless your environment is quite dusty AND you are using a substantially more precise carburetor air cleaning system, why would you go further then providing a thin coating of engine oil on the Healey's original filters?

Ray(64BJ8P1)

 

[Keoke]

Well Ray:

Some of our states have intense dust storms.

One that I am familiar with is in the Valley of the sun around the Phoenix AZ area.
Here the dust storms can be so intense when they occur - created by high winds - you can hardly see your hand in front of your face and good filters are a must or do not drive that day , but one might just catch you
out unexpectedly .

 

[Bob_Spidell]

I just thought a 'high tack' oil might work a bit better than other oils; I saw no downside to trying it (except for a small expense). At any rate, I now have K&N filters on both my Healeys and I'm always glad I do when I hit serious dust. I put 5-6K miles on the BJ8 most years and the K&Ns are pretty gunky at annual cleaning/re-oiling.

 

[HealeyRick]

One last point. Keep in mind that the difference between work and a hobby is, if you have to do it … its work. To that end, most of us have spent substantial amounts of time pursuing a fictional conclusion to our Healey projects, only to come close before finding other paths of interest in this never ending story. I am not sorry to say that you will achieve many Healey milestones in your project but your enjoyment of the pursuit will continue.

Hope this helps,
Ray(64BJ8P1)

Truer words were never spoken!

 

[RAC68]

Hi All,

Rick, thank you for your concurrence.

Bob/Keoke, I very much appreciate the dust storms around Phoenix and other locations in the world and the slight tacky improvement possibly provided by the application of a more exotic oil on a mesh-based air filter. However, if I planned to drive my Healey in such a location, as Bob has indicated, I would also have replaced my air cleaner with a more effective filtration medium, as that used in K&N filters, if I intended to drive in such a dust filled climate. Bob has said it clearly and I would have also opted for such a tacky-oil experiment on the original air filters before determining that a full replacement was warranted.

Guys, I wish you sunny clear skies and enjoyable Healey driving,

Ray(64BJ8P1)

 

[Randy Forbes]

I hope and plan on using this forum as I continue ,not sure if it will ever get done some days, my work on my 1963 BJ7. It’s been a slow go as I am learning as I go but it has been a great experience to learn how to work on this car.
Air cleaners. What do you recommend for cleaning? Kerosene????
Bryan

Welcome Bryan, this is a well mannered forum, and lots of people willing to help out. As Michael alludes, some of it will even be of use

While I don't have any pictures in my gallery specifically of a BJ7, there are enough similarities to the BN6 and BJ8 that I have torn into in great detail, so there's a good chance that I'd have in-progress, or exploded views to give visual aid to nearly anything you could be working on.

A couple quick shots taken during the recent cleaning & re-oiling of the K&Ns adapted for use in my own car.

Again, welcome aboard!

 

[BLong63AH]

Thank you everyone. I really appreciate the advice and I will clean them and spray with an oil probably motor oil to start. Have not had a ton of dust here in Oklahoma but it does happen occasionally. I am getting closer to sending the car for body work, normal rust patches on the fenders, and paint. Originally had hoped to have it done by this year but next year is the new goal.
Unfortunately I have two TR4’s I will never get to so I am considering selling them and using that money as my funding for the Healey.
Thanks again,
Bryan

 

[Randy Forbes]

Thank you everyone. I really appreciate the advice and I will clean them and spray with an oil probably motor oil to start. Have not had a ton of dust here in Oklahoma but it does happen occasionally. I am getting closer to sending the car for body work, normal rust patches on the fenders, and paint. Originally had hoped to have it done by this year but next year is the new goal.
Unfortunately I have two TR4’s I will never get to so I am considering selling them and using that money as my funding for the Healey.
Thanks again,
Bryan

Bryan, that's the best use of a Triumph that I have ever heard!

Back in the 80's I had a roommate with a TR4A__I wonder how many months he paid my share of the rent in lieu of work I did on his car?__anyway, we pretty much agreed that if we were the last two (2) people on earth, we'd still be arguing over who had the better car! Clearly, he was wrong, having sold his more than 35 yrs ago, while I still have mine!

Good luck on the continued progress; when I got to the point of finish bodywork, I had to swallow hard and get a pro (Paul Tsikuris) to do it, as I couldn't accept the standard that I was capable of doing. It was the right thing to do.

 

[John Turney]

I used to have a TR4A, and I agree with Randy.

 

[steveg]

I like the TR4, 250 & TR6 and would consider owning a TR6 if I had the room. A long time British mechanic told me Triumphs were made to a lower standard than Healeys -- but there's lots of stuff available at cheaper prices than for Healeys... Flame away!

Oh well, since I can't afford an Alfa 8C2300 or Talbot-Lago, sigh.

 

[steveg]

I agree, it _is_ a well-mannered forum -- imo one of its great strengths is as a refuge from the 24/7 news cycle.