Nimrodinder

Hi all. small but frustrating issue... can anyone tell me which K&N air filter element correctly fits my stock starfire air cleaner properly? The one K&N suggest (E-1910) is 16" OD which is way too big. The one in the car is something by Fram but is wrong size too ... far too small. Checking on ebay I see Wix filter for 62 starfire is about 13" OD which looks possibly right just by my rough measurements, while the Fram one on offer is 11" OD. whats going on? 3 manufacturers, 3 different sizes. then someone else is selling a NOS AC delco one on ebay asking gold bullion for it and states its for 62-63 starfire. Going by the GM part number listed in my book, it isnt 62 Starfire.
some help would be appreciated if anyone knows.
thanks.

rocketraider

If the car has its correct aircleaner housing, the same filter is used on all 61-67 Oldsmobile 4-barrel V8s. Not sure where he got that 62-63 Starfire app, unless he's actually got Jetfire pieces and doesn't know the difference, but knows Starfires are "in" and is trying to cash in on that.

The key is to know the correct AC OE part # and then cross-reference it to other manufacturers, so you don't end up paying NOS prices for something no one will ever see. I've picked them up from WIX and even got an NOS case lot of Texaco filters, which odds are were made by Purolator or WIX.

I'll look it up at home tonight. Possible the original AC part number was superseded in a newer ACD catalog.

jaunty75

It might be a little weird looking, but maybe you could just carry the air cleaner housing into the store with you and try them out until one fits.

Nimrodinder

Thanks to you both for the reply. Yes it is the original air cleaner housing. There is an old sticker on the side with barely readable AC filter information but no reference to part number there so if you can help with that that'll be a break-through. I measured best I could across the shelf in the base that the filter sits on and the largest it accepts would be just over 13" OD. Not sure if its meant to be that big though.

I suspect the WIX filter is the closest match but I'm keen on a K&N replacement as it'll be the last one I need to ever buy and they breath great. anything to help increase the ridiculous fuel economy from 8.5 mpg!

jaunty75

Not sure if this will help you, but here's a photo I took of the air cleaner on a '67 Delta 88 Custom I saw at a car show. I have a '67 Delta myself, and I wanted to know what the correct look of the air cleaner was. You can read the part number for the filter. It's A124CW. I don't know if this was a 2- or 4-barrel carb car.

Nimrodinder

Thanks for the photo. I checked it out but the filter looks to be a bit smaller than the Starfire takes. After some more searching I found that the original Starfire filter is A90CW. trouble is AC Delco have no dimension information about it on their website and competitors websites don't recognise the part #. If anyone out there has filter A90CW in their Olds and can confirm for me the OD and height, I'd appreciate that.

Kahuna

For my '62 Olds, I bought several Fram CA177PL filters (13" O.D.) on ebay. They fit perfectly and so will the Wix filter you mentioned.

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/moreinfo.php?pk=360135

Rockauto sells the Wix filters for $6.70 ea. At that price, why bother with K&N?

Nimrodinder

Thanks for the reply. Two reasons for wanting the K&N, first is that I'm in New Zealand and cannot get the right filters here. so everytime i change one it costs 3-4 times the value of buying it just to ship it. The K&N will be the last one i ever need to buy. second is that it breathes better and hopefully will help better the fuel economy ... if not, at least i can eliminate that from the list of variables.

PetChemMan

My '62 Starfire averaged 12 mpg , with air conditioning, and I didn't baby it. Your 8.5 mpg is definitely low. If you use the larger imperial gallons, you should get even higher miles per gallon. Start checking for proper ignition timing and distributor advance curve, bad vacuum advance , vacuum leaks, and an overly rich air/fuel mixture. Fuel pressure that's too high, a sticking choke, improper float setting, or the wrong jets may be involved. I assume you have the original 3.42 rear axle ratio. A restrictive air filter element or a restricted exhaust system may also be involved, as well as low tire pressures. Poor cylinder compression pressures due to leaking valves can also cut into your mpg . If your gasoline has ethanol in it, some decrease in mpg will also occur , but not likely down to 8.5 mpg.

Nimrodinder

Hey thanks, that's reassuring to hear 12mpg is possible. A good list of things to check. Yes mines the 3.42 ratio diff, so its doing about 2800rpm at 60mph. Trouble is, the engine runs sweet, usually starts first turn and idles mint. so i'm reluctant to mess it up... But I had a minor improvement recently. I installed a pertronix ignition to the distributor and a K&N filter and found the engine definitely runs stronger and is more responsive at the accelerator. Now getting about 9mpg. Carb wise, the Choke seems to work well and turns off quickly as the engine warms. idles nicely at 600rpm. The exhaust pipes are quite sooty though. sprays a bit on the concrete when i rev it so is possibly a bit rich. however doesn't adjusting the air/fuel mixture only affect idle?
i have minimal knowledge about carbs but from what i've been reading the old rochester carb is a mongrel to tune right. mine was rebuilt maybe 5 years ago and i cleaned it out again maybe 2 years ago. bit nervous about playing with the floats as I read the carb is very temperamental to float level. However one issue I have noticed when travelling 50mph+, on slight uphill right hand bends the engine starves of fuel briefly. doesn't happen on left hand bends. could this be related to improper float adjustment? It also bogs sometimes under hard acceleration from standing start. What size jets should the carb have?
Been contemplating replacing it with a carter/edlebrock or even a holley. Much better, and simpler carbs it seems. but can't find much about how to do on a 394. I understand i'll have trouble sorting out the TV linkage to the slim and retaining the factory air cleaner, which i definitely want to keep.
Tire pressure is fine. i'm running 20" 35 series so keep them hard. I've also taken the butterfly valve out of the left side manifold, so no restriction there.

starfiredownunder

Hi. Have a 1962 Starfire Convertible in Australia. Not too sure of the part number but I am fairly sure it is a Ryco element in my car. From memory it was originally for a Ford falcon 351 Clevland used in the 1970's Australian Falcons. Car is in pieces at present but I can chase up the number if you want.
Our car usually gave 13-14 mpg on the 98 octane unleaded over here and performed very well. Have recently converted it to Pertronix ignition but have not had it on the road properly with this system. Have done over 40000 miles in our car since buying it 15 years ago. As far as I can tell it is the only 1962 Starfire convertible in Australia.Basically all that should be is there.
Just started a full nut & bolt resto on our car so it will be off the road for a while.
Cheers.

copper128

NAPA Gold #FIL2081 crosses to the obsolete AC A90CW.

The dimensions are listed as

Air Filter Bottom I.D. (Inches) : 10.2"

Air Filter Bottom O.D. (Inches) : 13.04"

Air Filter Height (Inches) : 2.75"

copper128

I searched K&N filters and they do not make a filter to fit the 61-67 Olds 4-bbl housing. I checked by dimension and application. While their application search shows several different part numbers for results (depending on what yr/model you search for) they are all incorrect when you check the dimensions.

Nimrodinder, there is a tractor place in NZ which sells & stocks WIX filters. Maybe they could order in a few for you at a better price than you paying shipping from the US? Worth a try. You need WIX #42081.

http://www.tractorparts.co.nz/contact.php

Olds62

I am new to the whole forum thing, just joined...I am looking for a nice set of chrome
plated valve covers for my 62 starfire, any ideas?

jaunty75

Start a new thread. Don't glom onto one that's two years old and that was discussing something else.

Welcome to the site. We'll want to see photos of your car.

Olds62

im a real rookie, how do I do it.

jaunty75

Go to the top left of this or any page, click on "classicoldsmobile.com", and look down through the list of forums for the "parts wanted" section under the "Classifieds" section, click on that, and then click on "new thread" at the top left of that page. Give the thread an appropriate title, such as "need chrome-plated valve covers for 1962 Starfire," and then type in and post your message.

Olds62

thanks will do

1962olds

The correct K&N filter for the Stock air cleaner for the 1961 and 1962 full size cars is number E-3698. I have used this for the last eight years. Sorry about the late reply, I just saw this thread. Hope this helps someone.