OK gang, I wanted to report back on my research about whether the 1962 Plymouths came from the factory with this Golden Commando 395 air cleaners. Bottom Line: I don't believe they did, but if there were any, it was likely a small number of one-offs.
I checked in with Nick at Nick's Garage, since he showed that air cleaner correct for 1962. Nick said he wasn't really sure, he couldn't remember where he got that info from, and it was possible those air cleaners only went up to 1961. But he did give me a part number for the air cleaner: 1947364
So I checked my 1962 Parts List book (the big fat catalog). I looked in the air cleaner section (section 14-29), and that air cleaner is not listed anywhere in the book for Plymouths, Dodges or Chrysler Imperials. This section (and most of my book) was printed in March 1963, which should have included any late-year production modifications to the 1962 vehicles.
Finally, I called Joe Suchy, an expert on 1962-65 MoPars. He had never even heard of this air cleaner before, and definitely had not ever seen a 1962 with one on it. He had seen a few '62 examples of the dual 4-barrel carb cars that had the smaller gold oval air cleaners, but not the Golden Commando 395. He suggested I call AMS Obsolete to see if they had one. I gave them a ring - they didn't have one, it didn't show up in any of their 1962 parts books, and they actually went to Nick's Garage website to see what I was talking about. Ironically, Nick had already changed his website to 1958-61 as a result of our conversation.
However.....despite all this lack of evidence, I think we all know that it's still entirely possible Chrysler stuck this air cleaner on some of the 1962's, specifically the Golden Commando 361 4-bbl cars. These cars were deemed "ugly", so Chrysler was having to pull all sorts of tricks to bling them up - different trim packages, number of tail lights, etc. The cars at the beginning of the year looked different than at year end. So I personally think there's a good chance Chrysler added this air cleaner on some of them.
If anyone has some good evidence (first-hand knowledge of factory car, magazine article, etc.) that can validate this theory, I would love to see it, so we can help set the record straight. For now, I've decided to go ahead and put this air cleaner on my 1962 Sport Fury Golden Commando 361 4-bbl car, I think it's just too cool to pass up!
If anyone has a different perspective or more info to add to the pot, please reply and let us know so we can learn together. Thanks much -
Wade
On Tuesday, August 11, 2020 at 7:06:28 PM UTC-6 62-65-mail...@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
The decal does look good on that air cleaner.
I do not recall seeing one of these air cleaners on a 1962. Maybe some very early 1962s come off the factory with them
installed? Probably not though and Nick's Garage has the dates wrong.
Try to go through the parts catalogs online of air filter manufacturers and see what they have listed for 361 air cleaner
filters in 1962 Plymouth 361s and compare that number to the 361 1961s. Visually I bet these 1961 air cleaners use a
different filter element than the one snorkel air cleaner usually seen on a 1962 361.
Thanks,
Gary H.
> -------Original Message-------
> I searched the forum archive & tech page, and didn't see anything
> about this topic: The Golden Commando "395" engine was a marketing
> tool that Chrysler used - it was the 361 4bbl that we're familiar
> with, rated at 305 HP and 395 ft lb of torque.
>
> According to the Nick's Garage MoPar air cleaner ID site (link below
> my name), this engine was available from 1959 - 1962. The air cleaner
> was pretty neat looking - gold color with a neat decal on it, and a
> "notch" cut out of the front (see attachment).
>
> I did an internet search, and only found pictures of 1959's - 1961's
> with this particular air cleaner. But no 1962 cars.
>
> Has anyone ever seen a 1962 Plymouth with this particular air cleaner
> on its 361 engine? Otherwise, perhaps the air cleaner was only
> available until 1961? I have a 1962 Sport Fury with a 361 engine, and
> would love to plop this air cleaner on top of it, if year-appropriate.
>
> Thanks much -
>
> Wade
>
> https://www.nicksgarage.com/aircleaner.htm
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