Well on the old board, I posted about a cone filter from Amsoil that I was going to adapt for my AEM short ram intake. The filter was on back order for a couple of weeks, but alas, I finally have it. I found what I needed to make an adapter from the filter to the intake tube and have just about got it done. I will post pics as soon as I give everything a test run to make sure its all going to hold up.
Chelly, if all works out and I dont find any flaws with the process, I will do a write up for you and send it your way so you can do the same. Its a little crude in the process, but really simple and shouldnt cost more than a few dollars to adapt the filter for most intakes I believe. I'll let you know once I have everything tested and proven it will hold up well.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
Well I took the Focus out for a drive after getting the filter installed. We had some storms here today so the roads were a bit wet and I wasnt able to give it the run I would have liked. However, with just the little bit of testing I was able to do I can tell you that the Focus is definately accelerating better which would suggest better air flow.
The filter is bigger than the K&N I had on which I would think would give it more area to draw air in through so that could be a factor as well. The adapter I made worked rather well, though my first attempt at sealing it did not work so well. That mainly due to the fact I believe due to what I used to join the pieces. So I tried something totally different and it worked perfectly. It cost about an additional $7 for the adapter and the stuff to join it with the filter and seal it off. Considering I wont have to buy another filter, get better filtration, better airflow, to me its money well spent.
The paper filters for the Focus, the quality ones anyway, run about $10 each. So the Amsoil filter, though costing a bit more up front will more than pay for itself in the first year.
Chelly, I havent forgotten about you. Give me a few days and I will get all the information and process together and send it out to ya.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
Yes sir it is. Its a 2-Stage Foam filter. It has a layer of coarse foam and a layer of fine foam. You service it every 25,000 miles or 1 year. It comes pre-treated. The foam filter oil costs about $4 for a 8oz bottle and it will do your filter probably three times if not more. All you do is wash the filter in warm soapy water (I use Dawn dish soap) then dry and re-oil. With the K&N you'll have to wait at least overnight for the cotton to dry well enough to be re-oiled and used again. The Amsoil filter will dry in just a couple of hours or sooner if you can blow some air across it like from a fan or something. Dont use compressed air though.
The Amsoil Air filters are the reason I got started in Amsoil in the early 90's. A dealer convinced me to buy a filter by showing me the economics and performance of their filters. I bought it for a 1991 Dodge Daytona I had at the time and I can say I was TOTALLY impressed and from there I started using their products nearly exclusively.
I wish they made an air filter specifically for the Focus, but they dont currently. But it is in the works and they are working on making cone filters as well among a few other things. Basically Amsoil is gearing up to compete more aggressively with K&N. I can tell you from the information Im getting I think they are going to put a major dent in their market.
Amsoil uses a industry standardized test on every product they produce. They are publically available for all to see and the test on their filters are no different and they clearly show that Amsoil's 2-Stage filters have better filter life and dirt removal. They use test SAE J726C if you are interested. Go to K&N and try and find any ASTM or SAE tests performed on their filters. I dont say this to be inflamatory, I say it because Amsoil makes it a point to use standardized, industry recognized tests so you can clearly see on a level playing field who is on top.
Anyway, I know that was a bit more than you were looking for Mr. V, but I thought I would throw that in there. If you go buy a K&N cone filter, you're going to pay about $25 - 30, at least locally. The Amsoil cone filter I used, though not designed specifically for the Focus, works and runs about $40. And even if Amsoil did not flow more air, I wouldnt mind because of superior filtration. I'll give up a little performance if it means keeping my internals cleaner. Reduce the dirt taken in by the intake and you increase the life of your oil some because thats less dirt the oil has to suspend or otherwise take care of, and obviously if you got less dirt coming in, then thats less dirt to cause wear on the motor.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
Thank you Dan - I was actually discussing this with Joe and Chris yesterday in chat. I knew they had one, but wasn't sure what was going on with the back order situation.
Is it the actual Focus one or is it the Mustang cone modified?
____________________ Get in, Sit down, Shut up and HANG ON!
As far as I know they have not released the filter for the Focus as of yet. Even when they do I think it will just be the drop in panel filter. I used the cone filter for the Mustang TS-191. It worked perfectly after I figured out how to join the pieces. Sealing it off was a piece of cake, it was just getting the two pieces together and to stay together.
Ive have drove around with it a bit alread and it is working perfectly. Definately worth the money and the time.
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
Great information for those of you all who have the intakes and need the cone filters (focus owners). I have a stock intake...haven't had the funds for anything else yet and with all of the horror stories I get from ppl. with intakes going through water...I'm skeered! lol! just kidding
Anyway...excellent info and that is what I had thought and discussed with Joe.
____________________ Get in, Sit down, Shut up and HANG ON!
Ive had the Amsoil filter on for about a week now. I can say I like VERY much, not that there was any doubt of that. I definately feel a bit more pull down low which is good. It seems I may have picked up some mileage too. It looks thus far to be maybe around 2 mpg or so. If I could keep my foot out of it I think it would be a little more, but it has been so much fun to drive.
I also used Amsoil's Power Foam to clean the upper intake track before putting the filter on to clean the upper intake track, valves and so on. And that has definately helped it idle smoother. I used the Power Foam on my Grand Prix several years ago and I wish now I had used it sooner on the Focus. A wonderful product it is.
I sold an air filter to a guy here a couple of weeks ago to put on his Dodge 3500 Diesel. He has his own commercial cleaning business and he said he normall gets about 10mpg when he is pulling his trailer, and that on the highway. He called me the VERY next day after buying the filter and said that the performance difference was "absolutely amazing". This truck has a 5.9L Turbo V6, so to me that says something. About a week and a half later he called to tell me that his mileage, while pulling the trailer had jumped nearly 5 mpg. He was now near 15 mpg with just the air filter alone.
So impressed was he that he has placed an order to change his entire vehicle over to Amsoil. He is doing the oil first, and will be putting on a dual remote by-pass unit. Then he said probably the next month he would change over the differential and transmission fluids to Amsoil. He's committed and ordered the oil and the by-pass unit and that thing holds 13 quarts of oil without the by-pass unit. The by-pass unit is going to add about 3 - 4 more quarts to the system due to the size of the filters.
So there ya have it. Another satisfied and impressed Amsoil customer. Just thought I would share that for anyone that was skeptical about the performance of Amsoil products.
I sell their products not just because it is a business, but because I believe in them and I can talk to people about Amsoil products from the heart. I dont have to read literature to tell you about Amsoils products because I use them and I KNOW about their products and their performance.
Okay, Im getting off the soap box. Next!!
____________________ My car is a synner! It uses Amsoil Synthetic Lubricants.
2001 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
It whines a lot, but I like it
Thank you Dan - I was actually discussing this with Joe and Chris yesterday in chat. I knew they had one, but wasn't sure what was going on with the back order situation.