
Hi all, this is my first post on Ausmini , and I have entered an interesting subject that got a little out of hand
Well done moderators ...I would suspect many who have the GR manifold do not have daily drivers
The argument for and against air filters really boils down to usage and personal preference in my opinion.
If you drive limited kms and only drive in clean air (no dirt roads or excessive pollution) then there is no reason that not having a filter will be detrimental , as many race cars have no filter, other than wire mesh to stop stones, and my personal belief is that many foam filters are not much more than rock stoppers.
Many mini owners drive their cars in those relatively clean conditions, however if your car is almost a daily driver and likely to go anywhere , then a good filter is a must.
I have pulled many motors apart that show excessive ring and bore wear from dirt, and 5 minutes in dust could turn your new motor into junk ...some of these engines just had poor fitting filters, dirty or just plain poor filters make sure that outside base plate holes are filled and foam or paper elements actually fit
The problem you are worried about in this thread is no room, but minis never have enough filter room
I have not talked to GR on an idea thats outside the box, but I believe without physically seeing this
conversion that you can use the bonnet as the filter case, and fit 30mm + thick filter foam to the bonnet itself with a steel / alloy frame to locate perhaps a 300mm x 300mm x 35mm piece of foam with the centre where the carb sits actually removed so that no foam can be sucked into the carb. .. basically surround the carby with foam. The frame could be JB glued in place to the bonnet plenty of breathing through this much foam , but it would need improving on for real dust ... oil coating at least
I am sure it would be feasible for Graham to test this idea on the dyno , As like Graham I am prepared to say not all my ideas work ...
Since I started Link Automotive in 1975 , and Minisplus in 2004, I feel that I am qualified to submit good and bad ideas , and as always hope that this moves the discussion forward and helps, even if some one else can extrapolate my idea into something better
cheers Lindsay Siebler