Flying Dogfish Air Cleaner

You may think this is an old movie you've seen before called, "The Leaping Tuna Air Cleaner", but this is the sequel and is bigger and better and shinier and is not for the china girl, but for the 4 stroke Greyhound engine. They do have things in common, for instance they smell alike having started life as tuna fish cans, but as you can see in the photo, this baby is bigger and mucho better. Anything is better than that honker of an air cleaner that comes on it. A big rectangle of plastic. When I saw a picture of Jim Davis Corvette build with that cool Whizzer air cleaner on his I knew I had to do something. So the same high technology comes into play with this one and the price is right.
You'll need the big size tuna can and a can lid of the same diameter. I went to town this morning for hardware and stopped in the grocery store for air cleaner supplies.... the can of tuna, a big can of krautand a stainless steel pot scrubber. Around five bucks and you get to eat the contents.
Open the tuna can in the same was as the smaller version using a small punch (ice pick will work) to punch holes in a circle to open the can. Don't use a can opener since you need that big lip in order to close it up again. Look at the pictures and you'll understand. Connect the dots with a small knife and tack hammer, going from one hole to the next. I cleaned up the roof edge with the dremel tool and a grinding bit. You can use the intake manifold gasket as a template on the bottom of the can to determine the bolt holes and the opening for the carb to take in air. Drill the holes to size and try it for fit, being sure you have room for the choke lever above to clear. Mark the spot where the breather tube is going to go.
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I use a cone shaped bit to open up the hole for the carb to draw in air and drilled a hole for the breather tube. I put it in place and then marked half way up on each side to determine where to have breathing holes in the can and where to stop. I didn't want for water to be able to get in if it starts raining hard while I'm riding, so the breather holes go on the bottom half. You might think this is not enough and the air intake will be restricted over the stock air cleaner, but take a good look at the inside part of the stock one. Don't be fooled by how big the thing is overall. It will breathe. Punch exactly the same number of holes I did. This is important. Less holes and your Greyhound will choke to death. Too many holes and it will catch a cold. I determined the exact number using a Ouija board and tarot cards. i stuck the stainless steel pot scrubber inside so you see what I'm up to. If you are uncomfortable with the idea and don't think it will be the cat's meow then use foam and you can even cut up the pieces from the stock one... but you'll need to figure something to go between the carb and the foam to act as a spacer. Take a look at the way the stock filter was set up and you'll see what is needed. The scrubber I'm using won't lay flat against the manifold, so I don't need to worry about it. I'll oil mine a bit first and when I clean it periodically I'll oil it again. The oil will help to catch dust and wee little nasties like Minnesota's mosquitoes which are more like small birds. Attach the filter to the manifold and cinch down the nuts. Put the scrubber in.l Oh yeah. I forgot to mention the three screws (only had three) to hold the lid in place.
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And that's it. Before mounting mine I ran over it with a wire wheel to give it a bit of shine and then shot it with clear coat under the theory that it will keep it spiffy. We'll see. I think it looks pretty good for a five buck air cleaner and a whole lot better than the stock one. Now I have to figure out what kind of dish combines tuna fish with kraut...
SB

Thanks, Dan. I have no idea what effect removing the spacer would have. I've only had this motor a couple of days, but I don't really mind the shroud on it. It isn't offensive anyway. The orange one on the HS motor is another story, not so bad black, though. I'll be interested to see what you Greyhound looks like with no coat. Skinnier no doubt. I thought about painting the shroud black, but I don't mind the blue color, goes OK with the bike it's going on. I've decided not to do a copper exhaust pipe, but will use the flexible pipe instead. it will be nice when there's more aftermarket for these four stroke motors. I ran the Greyhound for about twenty minutes before removing the gas tank, etc. and liked how easily it starts, runs smoothly and sounds pretty cool with that low idle. Think its gonna be an OK motor.
SB

I was joking. Didn't know they could get too much air. And I have no idea how many holes I punched. Close to a half bazillion. I figure that when I have it on the bike I'll try running the motor with the lid off, in other words with unrestricted air and see if there's any difference. I bet not. I think as long as they get enough all is well. On the other hand, I don't know much about motors except that I like 'em.
SB

OK then, give or take a quarter bazillion holes. I still need to disconnect the governor and then figure out how to run the throttle... connecting it up at the engine. That little gas tank that came on it is kind of nice. It would make a neat little auxiliary tank behind the seat for extra range. I'm pretty impressed with this motor so far, especially for $81.75, make that $86.75 with the upgrade air filter. Tomorrow I want to work on the engine mount. Got my hockey pucks and sure hope this mount idea actually works. Some ideas are good. Some aren't so good. We'll see which is which. Good luck with your modifications. Yes, poor little abused motor... you should be ashamed, Dan.
SB

Dan said:

OH! I meant to take pics for ya Tin. I used the small black spring (from the gov) and a screen door wheel. Wrapped the cable around and stopped it with a wirestop. Used an old spoke for an arm to operate the butterfly. Could just back spring with a small angle shaped bit of metal. As soon as I lose the fly-wheel shroud, is what I am doing.
Anyway, spring from inboard. cable from forward and back locked to carb.

Ayup, needs pics but works great. Even with the cost of the screen door roller, cost less then a buck.

Save the gov parts! Got a bunch of them cool tanks in a draw. Would make great aux tanks. Way nicer then a pea tank. Just so dang small

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Yeah, I'd do better seeing a picture. The tanks... do you know if they leak at the cap? If they don't leak then there is a third of a gallon sitting there. With the peanut tanks you can only fill them half way anyway or they leak out the cap. The cap seems to shut down tight, must be vented. If it doesn't leak that would be cool. Good to know if they're usable or not. It would be a comfort to know you had spare gas in case you ran out on the main tank. It has a nice low profile and would tuck nicely behind and kind of under the seat on a rear rack. I think I'm going to watch the HF sales and pick up another motor to have on hand. Why rebuild one when it wears out if you can replace it for $80.00? Elmo said something about adjusting the valves for better power. Is there a thread on how to do that? What is a good spark plug?
SB

Fossil said:

Very cool silverbear. Looking at your picture I see something else you can do. Unbolt and rotate the recoil starter one hole counterclockwise. That will put the handle straight up so you will be able to easily start it while sitting on the bike.

Jim

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Yes, I was noticing yesterday that the way it is you'd need to be on the right hand side of the bike and forward to start it and today staring at it realized the pull start could be rotated one bolt worth if the bolt holes were all the same distance apart. So they are then. That's good to know. Kind of a cool motor, I think. I was reading over the whole thread of yours and Chris's on the Greyhound Corvette build and was glad to read about the low end grunt power. I'm more interested in that than top end speed. I want to just walk right up those hills even if it is at a very modest speed... so long as I'm not pedaling or getting off to walk up the hill with it next to me then I'm happy. I'm running a 65 Tooth driven sprocket and will later get that adjustable pulley. This is a harder installation than the HS on the straight bar Schwinn, but I think it is going to be a cool ride, especially if it climbs those hills in the mountains of Maryland. If it can do that then it won't have any trouble pulling a canoe sidecar along here in Minnesota. I'm looking forward to it. Tomorrow I fool with the mount. Hope what I have in mind works. Sure do like these four strokes.
SB