Air Cleaners (1970 R-Code)

During the 1969 and 1970 model years there were two basic air cleaners available for your Cobra Jet Mustang: Q-code cars received an enclosed air cleaner with a chromed lid (this same lid was also used on Boss 302 Mustangs), and R-code cars received a special "ram air" air cleaner with an air scoop that protruded through a hole in the hood. The ram air setup came to be known as the "shaker" air cleaner because of the way the scoop would shake in response to changes in engine RPMs. Goose the throttle and watch it move!

This page describes the R-code (ram air) air cleaner used during the 1970 model year. I've created a separate page to describe the shaker scoop assembly since I'm not aware of any differences in the scoop assembly between the 1969 and 1970 model years.

There was one R-code air cleaner used in 1970. The service part number, build (broadcast) sheet code, and measurements (as found in the 1975 Master Parts Catalog) are described in this table:

Year & Application Service Part Number Build Sheet Code Measurements
1970 R-code D0ZZ-9600-F 0Z T 18.83" x 5.50"

1970 R-code Air Cleaner Part Numbers

I believe the MPC measurements are for the complete air cleaner assembly, not the base alone. The actual measurements are closer to 16 3/8" x 2 7/8" for the base and 17 5/8" x 2 5/8" for the midplate. The lid is approximately 14" wide and the scoop is approximately 1 1/2" tall.

The 1970 base used for R-code cars has a black plastic elbow that's commonly painted blue (marked in red in the picture below) mounted in a rubber grommet in front that's used to link the base to the breather that mounts on top of the driver's side valve cover via a rubber hose. This base uses a small blue plastic cap (marked in yellow) to cover a hole on the passenger side of the base. Note the location of the square nuts (missing on this base) used to mount the air cleaner snorkel.

Here are two shots of the 1970 R-code air cleaner base:

1970 R-code Air Cleaner

Notice the stud (marked in green) in the picture below. It can be found on the driver's side of the air cleaner, and it's used to secure a support bracket that mounts to the intake manifold. The shaker scoop mounts to the three upright studs (circled in blue), secured with a hex nut. Note that wing nuts are not concours-correct! Note the Autolite service parts sticker:

1970 R-code Air Cleaner

This particular sticker is more commonly found on 1965 - 1967 Mustangs, so it may not be original. Here's a close-up:

1970 R-code Air Cleaner Sticker

Here are some mug shots of a 1970 R-code base. The inner raised center of the air cleaner base and underside of the lid was originally painted flat or semi-gloss black. The base was painted the same Ford Dark Corporate Blue as other engine components.

1970 R-code Air Cleaner Base, Top 1970 R-code Air Cleaner Base, Bottom
1970 R-code base, top 1970 R-code base, bottom
1970 R-code Air Cleaner Lid, Top 1970 R-code Air Cleaner Lid, Bottom
1970 R-code lid, top 1970 R-code lid, bottom

Here are some pictures and service part numbers of similar air cleaners used on other Ford engines (with the name of the person who provided the picture shown in italics):

1969 390 C9ZZ-9600-J (Peter Disher)
Notice that this air cleaner base has a little extra rim around the top. This makes the air cleaner slightly taller (5.82") than the 428 CJ air cleaner (5.50").