does 170 oil bath aircleaner come apart?

i have a 1963 oil bath air cleaner and i need to take it apart to try to fix a dent in it.
the top comes off the base, but i want to take out the part that holds the air filter mesh
mine wont come part, before i bend something i wanted to see if there was a trick to getting them apart
thanks

They are not designed to come apart, but here is a thread detailing how to carefully cut one open in order to use a paper element.

https://vintage-vans.forumotion.com/t24257-converting-oil-bath-air-cleaner

And if you follow those instructions exactly, it will leak oil. You might be able to learn something from that procedure that will allow you to take yours apart, and still have it hold oil when you put it back together.

thanks
that isnt what my 170 air cleaner looks like though
mine is round and sits right over the top of the carb

but one might infer from this that the 170 doesnt come apart either, wonder if i could do this to mine and fix the dent while it is gutted?

can someone else chime in too please

thanks

I've had mine apart, but don't remember how... somehow, I think the two halves twist apart... sorry.

thanks ill keep fiddeling with it then