WTB...Weber adapters for stock air cleaner

Dick Steinkamp

Dick Steinkamp

Well-Known Member
Site Donor $
Messages
2,723
Reaction score
3,240
Location
Bellingham, WA
I do have a pair of these, but they are the type that require that you redrill the holes in the air cleaner for the mounting studs and that relocate the air cleaner about an inch to the rear. I'd like to find a pair that mount the original air cleaner without redrilling. They will look like this picture I stole from MatthewCervi...


IMG_0210.jpg
 
Stevehose said:
I don't think such an adapter exists, everyone I've seen requires new holes.
Click to expand...

Here are the ones I have...
IMG_4430.jpeg


Note that the stud is behind the venturis while in the first pic the stud is centered on the venturis. I don't believe the ones with the stud centered on the venturis require a redrill of the air cleaner.
 
JAM Engineering was the "go to" company back in the day, when people were regularly converting Zeniths to Webers. The JAM air filter adapter is the one pictured in Dick's post #4 above - you can see the "JAM" cast into it.. Unfortunately, it was designed with the stud coming directly out of the adapter behind the chokes, necessitating that the air cleaner be shifted rearward.

So the question is who makes the adapter with the stud mounted on a hoop, allowing the air cleaner to remain in its original position, and eliminating the need to drill additional holes?

Dick: Have you tried asking Matthew Cervi where he got those adapters?
 
Last edited:
A little searching on ebay located the adapter Dick wants, distributed by Redline:

www.ebay.com

BMW E3 With M30 Weber 32/36 Redline Conversion Kit BMW Bavaria 2800 3.0 3.0cs for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for BMW E3 With M30 Weber 32/36 Redline Conversion Kit BMW Bavaria 2800 3.0 3.0cs at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com

Unfortunately, I only saw it as a part of a complete conversion kit and didn't see just the adapter available separately on the Redline site - suggest you contact Redline.

====================

And here's a third style of Zenith --> Weber adapter sold through ebay, though it looks like this one still shifts the air cleaner rearward:

s-l400.jpg


www.ebay.com

Redline Adapter fits Weber carburetor 32/36 DGV to 5-1/8" Air Cleaner FREE SHIP! | eBay

For weber DGV / dgas. 1 x Adapter to fit a 5 1/8" round air cleaner on your Weber DGV, DGAV, DGEV, OR DGAS carburetor - made by Redline - Part # 99010.457. Any vehicles running DGV, DGAV, DGEV, or DGAS Weber carburetors.
www.ebay.com
 
Last edited:
Jay,
The one you linked to in the kit is the one I'm looking for. I do not see Redline offering it separately, however. I'll email them.


s-l1600.jpg

Thanks for the info!
 
Dick Steinkamp said:
The one you linked to in the kit is the one I'm looking for. I do not see Redline offering it separately, however. I'll email them. Thanks for the info!
Click to expand...

Sure thing! Please let us know what you find out. I have those JAM adapters on my coupe and it annoys me that my air filter interferes with the light on the underside of the hood. So I too would like to swap over to this style of adapter (which I wasn't aware of until you pointed them out).
 
jmackro said:
Sure thing! Please let us know what you find out. I have those JAM adapters on my coupe and it annoys me that my air filter interferes with the light on the underside of the hood. So I too would like to swap over to this style of adapter (which I wasn't aware of until you pointed them out).
Click to expand...
It also makes it tough to use the stock hot air tube to the air cleaner.
 
Here you go - $125 each!

www.ebay.com

ADAPTER & HOLLEY AIR CLEANER FILTER KIT FOR WEBER 32/36/38 CARBURETOR 5-1/8 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for ADAPTER & HOLLEY AIR CLEANER FILTER KIT FOR WEBER 32/36/38 CARBURETOR 5-1/8 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!
www.ebay.com

Some for $50 each...

www.lceperformance.com

Weber 32/36/38 Carb to K&N Air Filter / Air Cleaner Adapter Kit

LC Engineering manufactures this adapter from billet 6061-T6 aluminum. This will allow you to use a aftermarket air cleaner on your Weber 32/36 or 38 carburetor. The adapter will go from the Weber top flange to the industry standard 5 1/8 inch filter opening.
www.lceperformance.com www.lceperformance.com

I found a pair in my garage from some old motor I scavenged. $20 each


IMG_6270.JPG


IMG_6271.JPG
 
I'm reviving this older thread to ask if anyone has tried the adapters discussed above: the Redline 99010.457 or LCE Performance 1033-030. Yes JAM also makes an adapter, but as we discussed earlier, these shift the e3/e9 air cleaner rearward, creating some clearance issues. The specs for the Redline and LCE adapters say they are for air cleaners with a 5-1/8" id opening, while the BMW cleaner has a 5-1/4 id hole. Perhaps that small difference doesn't create a problem, but before ordering one or the other I thought I would ask if anyone had tried them.

Here are the links to these two Weber 32/36 to stock air filter adapters:

https://www.lceperformance.com/Weber-32-36-38-Carb-to-K-N-Filter-Adapter-Kit-p/1033030.htm

https://www.ebay.com/i/201399708243...YBbufUOdS0eaZ6GgGq4VseRo2xpaUcZAaAqUXEALw_wcB
 
HB Chris said:
Both of these say they are for aftermarket round air cleaners.
Click to expand...

Well, yes, but the elements in e9 air cleaners are round! :)

But seriously, they look like they would work - except for that 5-1/8" vs 5-1/4" thing. And Dick Steinkamp reported that the unbranded ones pictured in post #15 above worked for him, so I'm guessing that the Redline or LCE should work. If no one has tried it, I'll run the experiment and report back. But thought I would ask first.
 
Last edited:
I ordered a pair of the LCE adapters, but my experiment wasn't an unqualified success. These adapters are nicely made, but designed to adapt a DGV 32/36 to a K&N filter - not to an e9/e3 BMW filter. So while the LCE adapters are an improvement over the JAM adapters, in that they locate the BMW filter in its stock position (good), their diameter is a too small and their "U"-shaped support is too high (bad).

I think I can make the LCE adapters work by modifying two things:

- Using smaller dia./thicker O rings where the filter base meets the adapter to make up for the adapters' smaller diameter.

- Substituting some hardware from McMaster-Carr for the "U"-shaped piece supplied by LCE.

Once I get my parts from McMaster-Carr I'll take some more photos and report back. But as a teaser, here's a shot of my LCE adapter with the JAM adapter on top of it, showing how much the LCE shifts the air cleaner forward.



BMW air cleaner adapter (2).JPG
 
Last edited:
I succeeded in shifting the air cleaner back to its original position, substituting LCE for JAM adapters. The JAM parts shift the filter ~1/2" rearward, creating interference with the rear hold-down and underhood light lens.

As I wrote in post #19, the LCE adapters are designed for a filter with a smaller hole diameter (e.g., a K&N, not a stock e3/e9) and the "bridge" over the chokes is too high. Solving these problems wasn't too hard:

- I replaced the stock O rings with smaller id but thicker ones to yield the original od. I used McMaster-Carr p/n 9452K416 which are 1/4" thick. Here's a photo of the stock and the thicker O rings:

O ring comparison.JPG


- If you have access to a milling machine you could remove ~1/4" from the base of the "bridges" to reduce their height enough to fit under the cross braces of the air filter. Since I didn't have a mill - and didn't want to just hacksaw them down - I made substitutes out of spacers and steel bar stock, using McMaster-Carr p/n 92510A768, 7/8" H x 1/4" hole dia. standoffs and a cross piece made from 3/4" w bar stock. Here's a shot of that:

Adapter side view.JPG


And that's about it. If anyone wants more detail, contact me. So K&N filter mounts can be adapted to e3/e9's to produce a better fit than JAM adapters. It would be interesting to try the Redline 99010-457 adapter mentioned in post #11. I suspect those would also need thicker O rings, but it might be easier to reduce their bridge height.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top