Air Cleaner

[Ainsworth]

Here's a simple one, how do you get the air cleaner unit apart? I know I've seen reference to people converting over to a more standard inner element, but I can't see on mine where or how it comes apart, appears to be sealed? Thought I'd ask first before assaulting with a screw driver.

[bertfam]

Bill,

There was a great article in the May 1994 issue of the Newsletter regarding conversion of the "horse hair" material to a disposable element (a Fram CA4282 or equivilant in this case). Unfortunately, you have to remove the perforated plate that holds the "horse hair" inside and the only way to do that is to cut it off. There was another "Mailbag" note from Bruce in the Sept/Oct 2000 issue to cut it 350 degrees and leave the last 10 degrees as a "hinge". But either way, you have to cut the original assembly and I have a difficult time justifying this! It's hard to ruin a perfectly good assembly, even if it DOES improve the life of the car. Maybe if you could find a used junk one, then it would be easier on the conscience!

Ed

[Ainsworth]

So the unit was never designed to come apart. What is the proper way to clean or service the existing element? Mine's pretty brittle at this point.

[bertfam]

Bill,

The Owners Manual states:

Loosen clamp and hose clip at cover, remove hose and cover, dip the cover and element into gasoline,allow it to dry for a short time. Moisten element evenly with 5 - 6 Table-spoon-fuls (about 2 to 2 1/2 ozs. = 60 - 70 g) of engine oil. Assemble in reverse order, make sure that the hose connection at the cover is free of oil."

Oh yeah, that's once every 3800 miles.

Regarding the "brittleness", no clue on what to do! You can't replace the horse hair without cutting the assembly!

Ed

[RonRapp]

They made an unanounced change on the top of the air filter units. The later years (?) the bottom screen did come out. I never knew this until Bill Scarlet had his off working on it. His was a 1960 model. But as all things go who know if it was the original air filter for that car?

[bertfam]

Ron,

Does the newer assembly look EXACTLY like the one in my 55? If so, then I'm going to start looking for one...

Ed

[Ainsworth]

Ron,
Do you remember how and where it game apart? Mine is a 61'

[RonRapp]

You couldn't tell the difference. But I didn't have a second one to hold up to his & check it that close. It came apart right where it is sealed to the top part. I always thought that would be nice to have as it would be far easier to clean the filter material, Plus you can still buy that rubberized horse hair. I use it in my repro jump seats. Follow the edge around & see if you can't pull it out. Also it may be rusted in place & require soaking in order to come loose.
Ed, you need one out of aluminium

[bertfam]

Hey! If they made it out of aluminum at ANY TIME, then I want one!!



Ed

[Steve]

I had problems with my original horse hair air cleaner too. The fibers were dried out and every time I handled the filter, little pieces came out. I didn't want them getting sucked into the carbs.

I used a K&N X-Stream air filter for a different approach to the filter replacement. The K&N unit had to be modified to fit the filter housing by cutting it down to a smaller diameter with a fine tooth blade in a band saw. I used the bottom of a metal bucket that had the same diameter as the Mercedes air filter housing to make a new "frame" for the new filter.

The 190SL filter was modified by cutting the first layer of mesh out of the filter and removing the horse hair fibers. The bottom layer of mesh was left in tact.

This took a little longer to make than I first thought it would, but then again everything I do with this car ends up being more involved. The end result seems to work pretty well.

I will post some photos in case my descriptions don't make sense.

[Steve]

This is the X-Stream element in the frame

[Steve]

This it the top of the air cleaner assembly with the X-Stream element.

[Steve]

This is the inside of the air cleaner housing without the outter metal mesh and horsehair fibers.

[bertfam]

Steve,

That really looks nice. A few questions...

1. What's the part number for the K&N Filter you used?

2. How the heck did you get the bolt into the top of the housing? The only way I can see is through the hose outlet, but there doesn't seem to be enough room to get your hands/fingers inside.

3. Was there already a hole in the housing for the bolt or did you have to drill one?

4. Is the filter tight enough around the edges (perimeter) as not to allow unfiltered air to pass through?

5. Does there seem to be any increase in air flow with the new filter? (That's one of the problems with the original air cleaner. Not a lot of air flow. Some people have even drilled larger holes in the intake tube for increased flow!)

Ed

[Steve]

Ed, I will try to answer your questions.

The air filter I used is K&N #66-1401. These filters are made to replace the top of a standard air filter you would find
on an engine like a GM 350. They come in two sizes. I tried the smaller size first, but felt like it did not have enough
filter area. They come with an aluminum rim on the perimeter that is about 1-1/2 inch wide. The smaller K&N filter
came real close to matching the Mercedes air filter housing diameter but did not have much actual filter area. Check
this site to get a better idea of what they look like before modifications. http://www.knfilters.com/universal/X-
stream.htm

Getting the bolt through the center of the Mercedes filter housing was really easier than it looks. there is a hole
already in the center of the mesh screen. I used a pair of long pliers to hold the bolt and stick it through the hole from
the back. Then I locked it in with a double nut. The K&N filter was made to use the bolt with a wing nut to hold it
on. It even came with a rubber gasket that goes under the wing nut.

The filter assembly fits snugly inside the Mercedes housing, but I was concerned about leakage. I ended up gluing a
rubber molding strip inside the Mercedes housing so when the wing nut is tightened, the K&N filter housing
compresses onto the rubber molding. I don't know if that was overkill, but I felt better.

As for the increase in air flow, I tell myself it has to be better, but I never ran the car with the old air filter element.
The surface area of the filter is greater than the open area of the metal mesh on the Mercedes housing. I had the
engine totally rebuilt by a local German mechanic and wanted to be sure everything was right.

By the way, if anyone is looking for a top notch mechanic for vintage Mercedes in central Illinois I can recommend
one!