Air Breather intake horn(s)

[va3rjs]

Here is something I have always wondered about......... Why do the combustion air intake horns on the breather face the back of the engine compartment........ I would have thought it would be better to face them forward so they could draw in cold air?

Of course when I was young I ran with the air cleaner top flipped over, so it did not mater.....Kool intake sound :)

Bob

[Jerry Whitt]

"combustion air intake horns" is not familiar terminology.

Can you give us a picture?

[Joe B]

I think the reason is obvious, there's not enough room in the engine compartment for the stock air cleaner with the dual intake horns to face forward. This is not uncommon. I have a '65 Corvette air cleaner that originally came on an air conditioned car. On the non a/c cars the horns are pointed straight forward. On the a/c cars, because the compressor takes the alternator's place on the right side and is bulkier than the alternator, the air filter is positioned slightly off to one side to clear the compressor. Bottom line, they pointed them were they could.

[66vairguy]

Agree they pointed the inlets were they fit, also there is the noise factor, and don't forget in the Winter one was suppose to open the plate by the oil cooler to let warm air in for the air cleaner to "inhale" to promote smoother cold weather operation.

Yes we hobby folks like to get the coldest air into the engine for best performance, but cars are designed to deal with a wide range of driving conditions and most folks who bought these cars weren't concerned about performance, they just wanted a nice driving car for the money.

I had a 1957 Lincoln that had an air cleaner with a thermostatically controlled flapper that either directed cold air via a hose from an inlet behind the grill, or during cold weather it directed hot air from the exhaust manifold to the air cleaner - fully automatic and way ahead of it's time.

[va3rjs]

thanks everyone.....makes sense

Bob

[GriffinGuru]

I thought the air horn faced backwards because that is where the air flow was coming from- like in a pickup truck bed, where the air hits the back gate and rolls around to blow forwards as you go down the road. They probably made the air cleaners that way because of all three reasons mentioned above: noise, physical space, and natural air flow direction.