GTC

Hi all, I'm new here but have benn lurking for a few weeks.

I recently bought a restored 1955 2 door coupe. I have done nothing to it yet other than drive since Wisconsin's winter will be here soon enough for me. I have seen an adaptor kit to change from the paper cartridge oil filter to the modern spin on variety. Is it a worth while change? Does it make that much difference? It sure must be less of a mess but, am I taking away the character of a 51 year old car?

comments/suggestions?

Retrorocket88

I have a 56' and I plan on doing the swap. It is not going to be a 100 point show car so I really don't care about the looks, or being correct. It also makes finding a filter easier and cheaper!!!

ozoneblue

I agree just save your old parts

59-59-59

I cant speak for the 324's, but this worked well on my oil canister - equipped '59 394. I took off an oil filter housing off a '62 394 ( that has a spin on filter ) and it was a direct bolt up to the 1959 394. Now oil filters cost about a third what the big canister types did and you dont have to worry about breaking the thin gasket they give you with the canister.

J'ville

I did the spin on adapter on my 57 Olds. I am quite happy with it.
For one thing, a quality spin on filter will trap much smaller micron particles than the cannister filter. I am using a larger capacity GM diesel filter on mine that traps down to 5 microns. The best the cannister filter will do is trap 20 micron particles. Plus the cannister is a mess to change and usually leaks.
Unless you are attempting to keep your Olds factory original, I would definitely go for the spin on setup. You could always keep the cannister hardware and change back, if it is absolutely necessary to have your Olds 100% original for a show or sell at the Barret-Jackson auction.

GTC

Follow up:

I installed this spin on oil filter adapter this spring and HIGHLY recommend it. Very simple to put on and now have the conveince and reliability of a modern oil filter. Also, the spin ons have an anti-drainback valve in them so there is positive oil pressure at start up. No noisly lifter clatter at start up anymore.

Oldskool88

I have a '56 324 and would also like to install the modern spin-type filter adpater. Can you recommend a good kit? Thanks!

AboutClassics

I recently made the change on my 56 Olds from canister to spin-on oil filter. It's an adapter that is made for your car. I now use a Purolator spin-on filter for my car. Much easier. I can get a filter for it at my local auto parts store. My filter is at the bottom of my engine so you can't even tell it has the spin-on filter. If concerned about purist car shows - modify the canister to fit over the filter to look original.

You'll need RTV Silicone Gasket Maker $4.95 to seal up the adapter to the canister housing. You can get it at "The Betty Mills Company" right on-line. It comes in a small tube. If you are squeamish about making the change - your local auto repair center will do it for you. Just give them the instructions. Get instructions on the internet or the exact instructions will come with the spin-on kit. Make sure you get the kit for your car.

This web site will give you information on the kit.
http://webpages.charter.net/dhomstad...me1Source1.htm

Ranmat

I purchased my 1955 Olds last year & it came with the conversion spin on filter. In attempting to change the spin on the filter apparently was frozen to the adapter plate & I am currently trying to get this mess corrected. Right now I have not had any success. I may have to have the car towed to a mechanic with a lift to remove this mess. Sometimes the original is the best.

59-59-59

Why would you have it towed when there is a total of three or four bolts holding this adaptor on?? You sure you removed all the bolts?

lazy394

I recently fitted one to my 59 and am happy as , and the centre threaded tube holds the whole thing together.
Undo it and the whole thing comes off.

Tedd Thompson

I still have the original filter on my 55, but I do show my car in a few points type shows. When I quit showing in these events I also will switch to a spin off type just for convince and better filtering....Tedd

coldwar

There is no reason to convert to a different style oil filter, it is a change for the sake of change and has no operational or demonstrated filtering advantage over the factory parts. I can't believe after years of reading threads like this people simply do not see or disregard the drain plug on the factory housing which ought to completely debunk the 'big mess' argument, see pic below.

1) Remove drain plug, draining canister of liquid contents.
2) Go screw off on the greater internet and get some information which has no basis in facts concerning Oldsmobile oil filtration for maybe five minutes while canister drains.
3) Remove canister, used oil filter and clean canister housing, a job you might do once per season or at 3000k mile interval if you over maintain your Oldsmobile, as many do. Replace and tighten drain plug.
4) Install inexpensive, commonly available filter and new rubber gasket to canister edge, such as NAPA Gold 1121 which has about 3X the filtration area of the PH-25 style spin-on filter the adapter maker specifies.

The NAPA Gold 1121 uses the same developed modern filtration media guys everywhere on the internet have declared excellent based on what they think they are looking at, or better then Fram, or 100 other less relevant details having little factor in performance. The 1121 type filters are not hard to get from any auto parts supplier, and where I live in Ohio, a Carquest and NAPA stores have the filter in stock at all times. I can't wrap my brain around the 'easier to get' PH-25 argument against the factory part; What then are your oil change plans, to drive someplace strange and then try to change or have someone change your oil filter having brought no parts with you? What modern (1949 and up) old car owner actually does that?

The PH-25 style spin-on filter the adapter uses is designed for 'open end up' use, and is or is not internally valved dependent on the replacement part manufacturers design, the 'AC' design intent no longer having relevance in this use. People talk around 'anti drainback valves', but that design point seems relevant when the filter is mounted horizontally, as the factory Oldsmobile filter is in this instance. Why not design for a filter then properly designed to run sideways, and rest sideways? Even if you step up to a older much longer 427 Chevy truck style filter then near same filtering area as factory Oldsmobile canister, you still run it sideways out of scope of design. I too know from experience with these adapters owned by others even if you open the drain plug you still either get a armpitful of oil when removing the spin on, or you again crack it loose and go screw off on the mis-information super highway for five minutes and let it drip.

In all the changes guys seem to want to make to their otherwise very well designed Oldsmobile engines, this is one of the changes that brings a whiff of 'trying to make it more like a chevy'. This engine is not a Chevy, it does not usually have the high running oil pressure Chevy guys think they have to have, so discussion of running filtration leaks due to high pressure are not warranted. If your canister filtration system is leaking it's your fault, not a result of design.

Considering the filtering area and level of ease of service, where is the net gain? There is no benefit here from second guessing the mechanical genius of Charles Kettering.

Oldsmobileoilfilterhousing_zpsc13ca4f3.jpg
oldsmobileoilfilter_zpsf8e71e41.jpg

Tedd Thompson

Cold war, I seldom reply or start a post that will create or start a pissing match ,no one really wins and nothing is gained for the forum,I respect your knowledge but you seem to think that your way is the only way and others are ignorant and your demeaning manner, I feel is disrespectful to me and others who contribute to this forum.

I have have or had both systems (63 Holiday 394 and my 55) and I find that that the spin off system is much easier and cleaner to service, after all there is a reason Oldsmobile went to the spin off system them self with the 394 which is basically a tall deck 324. We all have opinions, mine are based on my personal experiences over the years and when it's time I'm going to switch to the spin off style.....Tedd

coldwar

Geez Ted I was making an argument against a useless change with a basis in some facts I can point to, offered with no apologetic prefaces about pissing matches. Please be assured it doesn't matter to me, the hobby or the planet that keeps right on spinning what anyone does to their car, because what a guy does to his own property is in the end none of my business. I argue ONLY against the logic in making this poorly thought out retrofit, and that is a contribution to this forum.

Arguments for making this change are made with again, no basis in mechanics, performance, cost or reliabilty everywhere you read and I stand in the way of that. Oldsmobile did go to the spin off filter eight years before Chevrolet as one example, but it was correctly a nearly vertical design with a filter designed for that mounting and angle of use and rest, and is no doubt based on my own experience easier to service then a sideways mess removing a spin off poor design retrofit. I know people due to human nature make a visual reference comparison in a 2012 context to dumb Chevy power everyone seems to dump in to everything and if it doesn't have a spin-off filter like a Chevy, well there must be something inferior about it. Think about that.

I don't give a flying rats a$$ if my tone seems condiscending, as the mob consensus of 'changes for nothing' has certainly been furthered by internet meetings of people attempting to apply ideas to mechanics that have basis only in BS, and that gets right under my skin. We are living the evolution of this, formerly stupid ideas sooner or later got swept aside, today with the internet and it's limitless exchange of ideas, mis-information has become perpetual. You might continue the current trend and chop your frame off at the firewall and adapt a Nova subframe (so you can easily bolt in a 305 Chevy from a worn out wreck) or Jaguar front suspension, install a Pertronix ignition, replace your generator with a one-wire alternator, dump your junk Hydra-Matic for a 2004-R, trash your mechanical fan for a buzzing electric hair dryer, scrap your 4GC for a Edelbrock with a dumb adapter, all because the 'change for the sake of it' internet mobs have decided it. Or don't do any of it, including the oil filter swap as it gets you nothing except internet and cruise night bragging rights, and maybe a ounce of false peace of mind. Have a nice day. CW

copper128

Coldwar,
Why don't you tell us what you really think? ...don't hold back like that

aholiday

I wonder why all newer Olds'... Or for that matter, EVERY single modern car uses a "spin-on" type filter now, as opposed to the nasty paper filters of years gone by. I guess their engineers never knew what ColdWar knows about modern oils and oil filters and engine maintenance.

By the way I have been using an adapter kit on my 55 Super 88 for three years now and it has paid for itself in filter cost savings already and given me the added piece of mind that paper, sludge particles, an small furry critters have not creeped into my engine.
The process is simple, easy to do for anyone with minimum maintenance abilities.
By the way, it's my daily driver so I have put a several thousand miles worth o' oil through it.

aholiday

By the way, I also swapped out the vacuum wipers for an electric set. I don't care who you talk to, the electric wipers were a lot better in the Florida rains than that old vacuum system. Also, after rebuilding two generators, I went with a single wire alternator and haven't looked back.
If the car is gonna sit in your garage most of the year and be a fair weather drive, you don't have to worry about any upgrades or changes much. If you wanna drive it and enjoy it year round, you may want to modernize(not for the sake of modernization, but to improve drivability).
PS this was sent from my IPhone

lazy394

All this aside some changes are done with the best intentions are able to be reversed should some **** retentive future owner want originality over practicality. My motor suffered from oil drainback as it sits for lenghty periods. To start her always sounded like torture with the lifters crying in pain. Another equally important reason was the incessant oil leak associated with the old filter, nothing more embarassing than leaving a puddle whereever you park. The adaptor allowed the fitment of an anti drain back valve and solved one more oil leak. Now all i do is crank the motor for 5 seconds touch the throttle and it bursts into life with little or no noise.
As for bragging rights at the cruise nights im yet to meet anyone who is even remotely interested in my resourcefulness, its kinda like peeing in a wet suit I feel all warm and content but no one else notices.

Oh and have the best possible day

lazy394

Yup and i have a hands free car kit attached to my new kick a$$ audio ( all skillfully hidden of course )

Russ P in MD

My 2006 Hyundai Sonata with the 3.3L v6 engine actually uses an element/cartridge, not a spin-on filter. Fortunately, it is top side and opens upward. Unfortunately, it costs more than a spin on filter and you have to remove the plastic engine dress-up cover to get access, but that's just 6 screws and nuts. I've no idea why the used that, if they still do, or how prevalent it is in their cars.

55/98

I will be converting mine to spin on.There is no way its not better.Some people need to check screws regularly for tightness.

coldwar

And guys like you who can't make any argument except to get personal using poor grammar are probabaly not bright enough to consider another point of view but I'll pile on some more in spoon sized terms you might be able to digest. Any of the arguments already made for this conversion seem based on claims made on the sellers ad on ebay, the pic showing the use of a PH25 filter. The PH25 is once again, designed for open end up use, and it's selection alone does not allow the 'I now have a anti-drainback valve where I did not have one before argument' as that type does not include that feature universally through the aftermarket, or in it's specified use. Now, there is a PH25 replacement designed to run sideways WITH a anti-drainback valve, but I have not read any point where any user has made that correct selection for this use. Another point where one guy claims to have had start up rattle eliminated might indeed have had this result observed, but that result might have resulted from him simply changing his oil and any filter. Start up rattle in Oldsmobile V8 engines was and has been completely researched and the answer is not found in the oil filtration, filtering media, or within GM recommended limits of time and use, frequency of servicing. The spin-on filter is NOT less expensive, that is a matter of fact, and modern replacements have the same 2012 filtering media.

I'm amused to read so much anti ebay hostility everywhere on car related boards, yet on a technical matter guys believe a almost universal multi-application oil filter adapter sales pitch on ebay presented in a technical matter attempting to sell parts. Well I do acknowledge now many Oldsmobile owners are intimidated by what they don't understand, canister filters, ignition points, mixture settings on carburetors, older automatic transmissions. The thinking is something 'must be flawed in what I can't grasp on face value. So let's throw money at it to compensate, as that I CAN do.'

I will restate my earlier thought, it's no business of mine what anyone does to their car, my argument is against the thinking arriving at useless changes in the name of modern improvement. And end user reasoning based on a sales pitch isn't nearly a big enough screwdriver to tighten my screws. Knock yourselves out.

redoldsman

Why does a thread like this have to become such a pizzing contest? It is really just a simple matter of preference. It is not like putting a chevy engine in an Olds. Personally I think the filter swap is a great swap.

coldwar

You have stated it succinctly, and I thank you. If it is a matter of preference, then there is no basis to discuss the merits, I accept that. I do not challenge anyone's preference, or changes made on that basis. Perhaps I think red has been overdone in choice of color for a car, well that's my preference, it should not mean the start of a pissing contest. Guys make mechanical decisions based on personal preference, and then want to shore it up with technical points, which in the case of the oil filter conversion there are none that stand scrutiny. I've found when you challenge what is popular to do, the defense of the popular point is 'this guy is making trouble' Well hell no I'm not, for some at least I'm presenting information that challenges the comfort zone of baseless automotive modification, in or out of the scope of preference. I'm glad to fall in to step with the mobs on stuff that really works or improves, this isn't one of those instances.

55/98

Whatever dude.

Ranmat

Ranmat

My stupidity on trying to get my oil filter mounting off my 55. It as four bolts & I thought it had only three. I could not see the third one & finally saw it with a mirror. Any way I got it off to remove the stuck adapter. The previous owner had apparently partially stripped the threads on the adaptor screw making it almost impossible to remove the filter & the adaptor plate. In the mean time I found an original cannister. My question now is does anyone know if the bolt that attaches the cannister to the housing have a seal at the bolt head. It seems like that if it does not it could leak at that point.

lazy394

This is why this is my favourite Forum, I really enjoy the spirirted banter.

The previously mentioned PH25 filter shown on the Ebay ad indeed does not have a anti drain back valve and is one of the reasons I didnt fit one, well that and i live in Australia and they are not common here.The correct cartridge is not available at all and requires a fortnight and $50 cheque to Fedex.
What I did fit was the Holden V8 filter with the anti drain back valve. This particular filter was developed to remedy the noisy start ups in the 90's Holden V8s.I know this as I have owned a number of Holden V8s. Seems the boffins at Holdens realized the effect of retaining the oil in the galleries. The solution had little to do with filtration.

You made a valid point in this should not deteriorate to personal insults, its the passion and spirited banter that makes these threads entertaining.

55/98

I am sorry for getting personal and rude with coldwar as he is correct that a spin on filter and a cannister type will only filter around 30%.

kirkwoodken

I just bought 6 WIX 51122's for $5 each off the web. Easy to find. Easy to change. 6 will probably last the rest of my life. The canister does have about three times the filter area of the spin on.

Got them here: http://www.discountfleetsupply.com/

Interestingly, Ford, Chrysler, and GM have used this filter, and it continues to be used enough to warrent its continued manufacture/sales by many sources.


55 Olds oil filter interchange:
AC-DELCO PF1182
AC-DELCO PF122
ALLOY A-106
BALDWIN P25
BIG A 92121
CARQUEST 85121
CENEX CO64
CHAMP LF209
CHAMP P122
CHAMPION OF408
CHAMPION OF410
CHRYSLER 1818542
CITGO P122
CO-OP PL-122
COOPERS AZL067
CROSLAND 563
DELUXE WD-64
DEUTSCH D4015
DEUTSCH P122
DONALDSON P551275
DYNALIFE CN-6
FLEETGUARD LF524
FLEETRITE LFR-8524
FORD 000-6731-D
FORD C4RZ-6731-C
GENERAL MOTORS 5572128
GENERAL MOTORS 5572286
GENERAL MOTORS 5573112
GRAND PRIX P122
GROUP 7 L40124
HASTINGS LF206
HYSTER 97116
KRALINATOR L836
LEE L-124
LUBER-FINER P122
MARATHON P122
MARATHON-LETOURNEAU P122
MASSEY-FERGUSON 1900373-M91
MASTER PARTS P-122
MIGHTY L40124
MIGHTY P122
MOBIL L40124
MOPAR L-2
MOTORCRAFT FL 21
NAPA 1121
NELSON WPF-122
PUROLATOR L40124
PUROLATOR P124
QUAKER STATE L40124
ROL-PAK AP-122-FF
ROL-PAK APQ-122-FF
SHELL L40124
UNITED (ENGINE LIFE) APF-122
UNITED (ENGINE LIFE) U30L
WARNER P122
WGB S-34-CP
WIX 51121
WIX 51122

Dave’s Holiday 55

At the risk of starting up the pissing contest again, where can I find one of the spin on oil filter conversion kits for my 55? I can’t seem to find one on the internet and Fusick and Summit don’t have any. I remember getting a face full of oil when I changed my first canister filter about sixty years ago. I don’t want to repeat that experience.

sysmg

Somewhere above there is a picture of a drain bolt on the housing to allow all the oil to drain first, so you don't get the face full of oil. I however don't have any experience to say if that's successful or not.

Dave’s Holiday 55

I know this post was from long ago but where can I find a spin on oil filter adapter for my 55 324?

classicmuscle442

Have one that I installed but could not get to stop leaking, will send for cost shipping if you want it. This thread is from 2013.

Dave’s Holiday 55

Thanks for the offer. You’re probably a better mechanic than I am. If you couldn’t make it work my fail would be epic. It seems the adapter is not readily available anywhere so maybe it was not such a great idea in the first place and they quit making them.