[T3] EMPI air cleaners and power loss

[David Yaghoubian <goob@home.com>]

Hi Volks-

Due to the fact that the single round air filter element for my brazilian 
made air filter for dual carbs is impossible to find, I had been looking 
forward to buying a set of the slim round "singles" that fit directly to 
each carb for quite some time. The other day I finally bought a pair of the 
EMPI units, went home and installed them (with a new, longer breather hose 
leading to the right side air cleaner breather inlet) and was surprised to 
find when I went for a test drive that I lost MAJOR power, especially at 
the high end... I usually take 2nd gear up through 35-40 mph without 
hesitation before shifting to 3rd. With these units installed the engine 
seems maxed out at around 25-30mph - loud but no power. Thinking I might 
have inadvertently altered some setting (timing, carb, etc) while pulling 
the brazilian cleaner off, I decided to try putting it back on to see if I 
still encountered power loss. Inexplicably (to me anyway) the cart ran 
perfect again with the brazilian unit... full power through the gears. I 
tried the EMPI units again just to humor myself, and sure enough I 
encountered the same power loss.

My question to you dear volks is what could possibly cause this? The guys 
at BuggyHouse (Hayward CA) were very cool in letting me return the filter 
set but had no idea what could have caused the power loss. TIA for any 
wisdom you can share.

Cheers,

David Y.
68 Square/dual solex

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