It would be most helpful if you could post another photo showing what the overall engine bay looks like and the full valve cover. I can't tell from the photo you posted if it's a '65-'66 style cover or the "Powered by Ford" '67-later cover.ScooterJazz wrote: ↑Sun Feb 25, 2024 10:03 pmScooterJazz wrote: ↑Sun Feb 25, 2024 10:00 pm I have a question on my air cleaner in the 65 tbird (I’m a little new to the tbird restoration). There is this plastic breather pipe going from where the oil cap would be - it is running into the air cleaner. It is very loose. I would like to get one of these oil cap breathers vs the breather tube. Would i need to switch out the whole air cleaner as well to get that set up?? Can I just switch to a breather cap. Any help would be awesome
You wouldn't need to switch out the air cleaner, provided you get the right oil filler cap with a straight spout/hose nipple and use a straight length of hose to connect the two. The fitting in the air cleaner shown in your photo is not correct for '65-'66 air cleaners - it's an aftermarket add-on to allow for installing a closed breather cap with a hose. The original closed emission air cleaner has a metal tube that was welded to the wall of the air cleaner at the 6-o'clock position when looking at the air cleaner from the top with the breather/snorkle at the 7-8 o'clock position.
With closed emissions systems that have the air cleaner connected to the oil filler cap, the '65-'66 rocker arm cover required an oil filler cap, C4TZ 6466-B, that has a couple of tangs at the bottom to allow it to turn and lock into the cover, along with a straight spout/hose nipple. A molded hose, C6AZ 6A664-A, was used between the air cleaner's straight hose nipple and the straight spout/nipple on the oil filler cap; the original-style hose has a 90-degree bend at the air cleaner spout/nipple. The hoses were held in place to the hose nipples with spring-style "Corbin" hose clamps. Thankfully, these cap-hose combinations were used on more than T-birds, including full-size Fords, Fairlanes and Mustangs.
The caps, hoses and clamps can be sourced from T-bird, Mustang, full-size Ford and Fairlane parts vendors; just be aware that the oil filler caps can be fund with a straight (typically used on T-birds) or bent hose nipple (see the attached chart for part numbers/applications), so make sure you select the right one.
This is a list of hoses used for both the air cleaner-oil filler breather and for connecting the PCV valve in the opposite side air cleaner to the intake manifold.
The closed-emission caps are listed below. The C4TZ 6766-B cap is shown for use on the '65-'66 T-bird.
For comparison, here's a listing of the open-element oil filler caps typically found on T-birds and others. The '65-'67 T-bird used C5AZ 6766-B