That screen in the MAF, filers, and such...

[Axianator]

I'm thinking maybe that's one of the reasons why the early Ford MAF systems required a BARO sensor...because that type of data had to be more precisely measured on account of the early MAF systems (and EEC systems in general) not yet being up to the task of handling it properly.

Would you agree with that hypothesis?

Yep. That would also explain why a majority of the newer EEC-V vehicles are without a BARO sensor altogether - MAF technology had finally reached a point where they could safely and accurately infer barometric readings via the MAF sensor and other inputs. In doing this, they were able to ditch the BARO sensor completely and realize a significant cost savings as a result.

Moral of the day - money talks, esepcially for Ford.