I would like to know which air cleaner to use on a 68 Barracuda. I've looked at a parts manual, but didn't find anything. It shows an oil bath air cleaner and a dry type air cleaner. Most pictures that I find online show the oil bath type.

Attached is what I see on most online and what I believe they are calling an oil bath air cleaner.

Thanks,
Craig

Here is a picture of the dry type air cleaner.

what year is the car? and when was it built? both air cleaners are correct for 68..[ early/late] the large one started in 67 and was used in that model year exclusively dan

Yep, like Dan said, both air cleaners are correct. Early 68 cars have the 17" unsilenced air cleaner while the late build have the 14" unsilenced. What is the build date of your car?

Also, neither are oil bath. They are both dry.

The build date appears to be 05-10-68. If that date is correct, I would need the 14 inch air cleaner. Right?

Thanks,
Craig

Yep.

Goody! Looks like I need to buy another early year/later year difference part for my 68.
CURSE YOU 68 MODEL YEAR!!!

My 383 vert shipping date is 12/20/67; somebody's Christmas present.

17" air cleaner?

Assuming so, how hard are they to find?

Bob

yes yours probably should have the larger one... but its not set in stone i dont think... i dont have enough info on what SPD they switched over.. mine is 8/27/67 super early #,s matching QQ1 white deluxe int good luck dan

they are very hard to find just sold my last one recently 400.00 dan

Grrr...Arhgggg.

I'm guessing a lot of the 68 things were Jan. 1, 68 changes, just like the Inland to Hurst change and the smog equip. stuff. However, you never can tell.

In a couple of months, I am taking some rare vacation time and driving my newly refurbished '69 slant 6 convertible up to see a friend in Portland.

I may send you a PM at that time. I would love to see your car. I have often wondered how many of the roughly 64 383 convertibles are left.

Bob

I have no idea why any 68 383 would use the large air cleaner as the base is different than the 67. My 8/28/67 340 GTS had the small air cleaner (then again I've never heard of a 340 with the large air cleaner). But, certainly the small unit was out in August 67.

I've got an original 68 383 4 spd formula S & think it has the smaller air cleaner & later build date. I'll try to get pics & info this weekend.

bob that would be great mines 1 of the 24 auto,s dan

When was the change over date from the larger to the smaller diameter one?

Thanks,
Craig

not 100% sure but probably around end of december 67 just not enough original cars i know of to get a date..yours should have a small one being built so late are you sure of its build date you sound unsure? dan

jim my 68 340-s fastback was an august 67 car ...it had its small orig air cleaner also [i bought from orig owner with 33k]..not sure why they used them other than to get rid of the stock pile of them from the 67 model year dan

The problem is that they would still have to use a different baseplate than the 67 due to the carb change, so the assembly isn't even the same. I wonder if it was just a plan to differentiate between the 340 and 383 and then decided it wasn't worth the effort to use two different air cleaners.

I have seen survivor 68 Chargers with the 17" unsilenced air cleaner as well. My thought is that they had quite a few left over and used them up until they were gone. The 340 ALWAYS came with the 14", it was part of the package. Who really knows, someone might have put a 340 air cleaner on a 383 to see if it would fit under the hood and a bean counter decided it would be cheaper to outfit the rest of the lineup with the 14". I too do not know when the changeover was permanent, but pretty much agree with Dan.

Those air cleaners are very hard to find and expensive. Here is a suggestion, if you want a 67 style cheap. That same style is a lot easier to find in a single or a dual snorkle version. I have cut the snorkles off and welded patches in and body work finished them down so that you cannot tell the modification unless you take it off and inspect it. A word of caution there are two styles. One has a higher center dome and a pie pan won't fit. They are of course more common at swap meets but no good. The low center ones are harder to find but I see them occasionally. I have done three of them this way and they look great. The last one I did for a 67 big block barracuda I had about 50 bucks in and some time.

My 68 383 formula S has the small diameter air cleaner & think it was a mid yr production #.

I'm going to try revive a post I started last year. Since you helped me determine which air cleaner I need, I would now like to know which base is correct for my car. Car is a 68 Barracuda with a SPD of November 7th 1967. I have found two that are for sale, but they both have different bases. I looked online to see which was the correct base and found a third base. Could someone tell me which one is correct?

Thanks,
Craig

Another.

And the last one. This picture came from the Nick's Garage webpage.

I believe this one is for a AFB carb, but could be wrong.

craig i have never seen that one on an A body 383.. the other 2 above though are correct 1 is 67 the other 68-9 i,ll go and take a pic of mine now dan

another

its also completely original unrestored... though it may not be original to this car it is over 40 yrs old..seen some painted black some are natural.. dan

Dan, Thanks for posting your pictures.

Nick, Thanks for pointing out the difference in the cover. I somehow missed that.

Craig

By the way, my own '68 383 Barracuda is an earlier one with the Inland shifter but I don't know what air cleaner it came with. It had none at all. I actually bought this air cleaner at a swap meet before I had the car because I was going to use it on my '64 Polara 383 Power-Pak. I had it chromed to look like a 426 wedge air cleaner.