Oil leak at filter conversion

[Randy]

Hey guys.....I was just wondering if anybody has had any trouble with the oil canister conversion to oil filter? Listen to this .....I have been noticeing a little oil drop when I pulled out the W for a little drive, and thought nothing of it, till today. It started as usual, backed out of the garage about 30ft. and i just happened to look ahead of the car and I see this trail of oil following me out. So I procedded to shut it off, got out of the car, looked under it, and here it was, drip, drip,drip from the area of the oil filter, at least I thought that was it. I pushed the car into the garage, lifted it up, got my jack stands under the car and started to investigate. What I found was the oil filter was just loose, but not to the point of coming off. Now I took off the filter,( remind you now that I converted it over to the filter a few years ago, I would say at least 3 years) and I noticed the threaded part the fits into the block was loose and the nut to hold it tight was loose also, how did that ever happen. So I got my ball peen hammer and a drift, unscrew that fitting just a bit and procedded to tighten the nut. Then I put the filter back on and started it up and checked for leaks, which there were none, jacked it up, pulled out the jacks and lowered the car back down.
Now the clean up job....that took me awhile.......has anybody had any trouble with these conversions doing this? I would think that if I did something wrong during the conversion, I would of seen this happen sooner ( I think) any suggestions on this?

 

[skipxt4]

If your using the Trans Dapt 1024 Adapter, get rid of the Pal Nut, and pick up a 3/4-16 nut somewhere. The Pal nut will not stop leaking.

 

[mac1]

Yes, ditto on what Skip said. The way that adapter is designed, if you don't make this nut tight, (which is hard to do with the pal nut supplied), when you tighten down the filter, it will push the filter contact disc furthur up into the block, thus reducing the nut/disc torque. In other words, the large nut will become loose.
The better design is this one here. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/TRD-1059/?rtype=10
Tightening the filter up on this one has no effect on the filter contact disc as the disc is attached to the block with two 1/4" bolts.
If you do get this one, get rid of the Chinese bolts supplied and get two grade 5 or 8 bolts from your hardware store. You'll also need a bypass valve if you use this one.

 

[Randy]

Yes, ditto on what Skip said. The way that adapter is designed, if you don't make this nut tight, (which is hard to do with the pal nut supplied), when you tighten down the filter, it will push the filter contact disc furthur up into the block, thus reducing the nut/disc torque. In other words, the large nut will become loose.
The better design is this one here. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/TRD-1059/?rtype=10
Tightening the filter up on this one has no effect on the filter contact disc as the disc is attached to the block with two 1/4" bolts.
If you do get this one, get rid of the Chinese bolts supplied and get two grade 5 or 8 bolts from your hardware store. You'll also need a bypass valve if you use this one.

This is the kit I bought from Show Cars, looks like I will be changing that pal nut and using a little bit of lock tite too !

 

[mac1]

The new nut should be the same thickness as the pal nut so it doesn't interfere with the filter. A regular nut, cutoff wheel and a vise should make short work of it. Try not to overtighten the filter.
Good luck. Mac

 

[Randy]

mac... when all this happened today and I was done getting everything tight (nut) ,I only tightened the filter using my hands only snuggly and it did not leak. I will check it out on Wednesday again. Then I quess, I should look for a solid nut to replace that pal nut. I think it should be a 3/4-16 as stated above. Gee, work is never done, if it's not one thing, it's another.

 

[yellow wagon]

you can get that PAL nut to stay tight if you add a little loc-tite to the threads when installing.

 

[models916]

ACE hardware, ask for a JAM nut.

 

[1963 Biscayne]

Also, you should look at the bellhouseing bolt at the filter location. If it is too long it will cut the o'ring and leak.

 

[GOSFAST]

Just a tip for what it's worth, but toss that Showcars setup and change over to the Mr. Gasket #1270 (pictured above and in my P.S.), and never look back!

It's the only setup all my customers use on their resto's, they actually change back to the cannister for shows, then back to the spin-on's!

(Add) Pay attention about the bellhousing bolt length (mentioned above), it can "crack" the Mr. Gasket adapter if it's too long. This we've experienced!
Thanks, Gary in N.Y.

P.S. We loctite the short nipple into the aluminum adapter and let it setup. Never had a single leak-complaint in years now! We actually stock about 15 or 20 of these conversion kits at all times. You do need the by-pass plate with the Mr. Gasket piece. (The adapter in front of the filter isn't necessary).

 

[64ss409]

I think that Mr. Gasket adapter looks the same as the one I have been using from Napa. Part no. 4061

 

[Eric Kozmic]

Good thread as I was considering making this conversion myself.

The question I have is this: If I'm only planning on changing my oil 1/year, why go through the conversion? Are the paper elements that difficult to replace? Ideally, I'm trying to keep this as "close to stock" as possible.

 

[64ss409]

Nothing wrong with keeping it stock. I just like the spin on better. No canister to clean.

 

[Randy]

Well today I bought a 3/4-16 jam nut. I will have to grind it down a bit, I believe it's just a little too thick. Then using this new jam nut along with loctite, I will complete this assembly after I change the oil, since I'm down there anyway, along with a new filter. You know something, this has been leaking a little bit all summer, more and more each time I took it out and I thought the rear seal was going and was planning on taking it to a mechanic...you just never know

 

[BB1960]

This is the kit I bought from Show Cars, looks like I will be changing that pal nut and using a little bit of lock tite too !

The picture above is the transdapt kit. They are Junk. You will go through seals frequently if you drive your car often and the overall design is poor. The only thing it has going for it is it uses a Ford filter that here in Australia are the cheapest you can get. The Derale one picutred further up the thread is much beter in quality, the seals are readily available (should you ever need one) from any Derale stockist and uses a stock Chevy filter.

I'd steer well clear of the transdapt or show--cars one, I recently took one off my car as I was sick of it leaking........

 

[Randy]

Well today I hope the oil leak is corrected. First I took the jam nut that I bought and along with my grinder, cut it in two, ground the side that I just cut, flat, so it will fit properly on the adapter (maybe 5 mins). Cleaned everything up with carb cleaner, even the adapter in the oil outlet, and wiped it clean and dry. From there I took the Loctite (blue) and put it on the threads of the threaded piece that goes into the adapter and snuggly tightened it with my fingers, then added the jam nut almost to the adapter and added more Loctite to the top portion of the nut and tightened it as much as I could with my fingers. Then, with my ball peen hammer and a drift, tightened it down some more, just a little, I didn't want to maybe crack that adapter and that was it. I'm going to let the Loctite cure over night before I put on the filter and start it up......... oops I forgot...I better check that oil level first... and if all fails, I will be changing this conversion to a newer and differant type, Thanks guys

 

[63 dream'n]

could someone please explain what the bypass valves function is and or why its needed?

 

[Don Jacks]

Well,IMO, The by-pas does as the name implies,it is a path for oil to gnore the filter if the amount of oil pressure exceeds that of the valve setting.In the case of the old style filter,if it became plugged,the oil would "by-pass' the filter.Engine greats,such as Bill Jenkins did not use them,the thinking being that they wanted ALL the oil to be filtered.As a personal practice,I routinely do not use them on smallblocks.All of the oil filters ,except maybe the hardcore race stuff ,already has at least one such valve built in,who needs two?I dont have the experiance with the "W " engines oiling to know if that by-pass has any other funtion,so someone [anybody] will have to chime in.IMO,If I dont HAVE to have one,I wont.If the filter stars to plug,there will be a drop in oil pressure,and if the drop is sudden,it's already broke something!:eek

 

[63 dream'n]

i'm sorry to redirect this thread,thank for your reply! i understand the theory of the bypass, but why is it required when changing from the old style filter to the spin on? I'm guessn its got somthing to do with the open top filter vs closed? ,and what(orifice size?)controls the pressure? and how do you determine pressure of bypass. again thank you!!!!

 

[64ss409]

If you are talking about the Mr Gasket or Napa kit, one of the main reasons it has to be used is to keep the square gasket/o-ring in place. The o-ring goes on the outside of the bypass housing just as it does with the canister. Without the bypass housing, there is no way to keep the gasket in place.