Fly Eye Air Cleaner
 

I'm in need of a low profile (very low) air cleaner for my son's Corvette. Thinking that a Fly Eye would be a great Day Two option. Does anyone know where an affordable re-pop can be had? Not sure that I'm ready to cough up for an original.

Thanks,

Blair

ebay..stay vigilant...one will pop up thats affordable..just have to stay on it

An NOS one sold last week on Ebay for almost $1K.

I was watching that auction,our own Jason was the seller.https://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-Fly-Eye...p2047675.l2557

Blair
Just a heads up on the fly eye. I ran a Cal Custom on my stock 1969 L78 Camaro and found out quickly the top was about the same height as a stock open element air cleaner. Both would rub the hood insulation. The fly eye started to cut a circle in it. The air cleaner was NOS and the instructions on the box stated not to use with the hood insulation.
I removed the insulation.

Mike

Make sure your car has good fire insurance if you go with a fly eye.

One little backfire and the foam has a habit of going up in smoke.

And at the very least making a mess of your carb...

Mark is right. Be patient and you will find a good used one at a decent price. I believe the one I just sold was a bit of a anomaly. Sometimes two people just really have to have something.

Jason

I think the zig-zag wire goes between the two mesh screens? I see some with the zig-zag wire visible and some without.

the zig-zag wire holds in the mesh screens and filter.

the zig-zag wire came later

the early fly eyes had a large chrome snap ring to hold in the mesh screens and filter

Although not a common issue -- I have seen this type of filter turn into a flaming mess. Had a friend with a 57' Chevy and the engine backfired blowing raw fuel onto the filter -- it caught fire. Scorched the hood before he realized what had happened ...

theres alternatives to the factory mesh element... my friend came up with a way to use a K&N filter element.

the snap ring style was used on Mr Gasket fly eyes and some knock off brands

the zig zag wire was used on Cal Custom Fly Eyes...

the Cal Custom Fly Eye is actually slightly larger in diameter then the others and the screens and retainer rings do not interchange.

some had a vent hole in the bottom and some didnt , ive seen this on all different makes.

i hope this info helps a little

For what it's worth, this is the one I had on the 396 in my '62 in '69. I bought it from Joel Rosen at Motion. The filter gave up fast after a few carb backfires.
Verne


Attachment 168047

I still pick them up at the 3rd and 4 tier (Ie. small local swap meets-guys just cleaning out their garage) swap meets for $5-10

I'll give you 20 bucks for one. Double your money! Deal?

ive picked them up cheap too..prob is..all the estate sales, yard sales, antique shops,and swap meets, etc are closed..so ebay seems to have a surge of traffic lately..

and they just keep raising the fees...

I have seen a lot of different fly eyes

the size and shape of the chrome base is different on some

different hold down snap ring or wire

different screens

different vent tube styles

here are some pics I saved

the old Motion car pics show the snap ring

The earliest Mr G had a giant snap ring around the entire top and was bolted together. Rarely ever see these.

That early style Mr. Gasket was the one I bought from Joel in '69. The element was a gray foam.


Verne

Thanks for all the help guys. In the end, we were able to use a generic drop base along with a 2.5" filter element and squeeze the whole thing under the big block hood. Really like to stock air cleaner look, even though a fly eye might be a cool change of pace down the road.

Blair