Oil Filter Adapter

[damnyankee36]

When disassembling the reman block in the 68, it had this kind of filter adapter. I assumed it was original to the truck and transferred to the new block. It has a GM casting number on it. Did the 68's have the canister style or spin-on filter? Was this an adapter to convert to the spin-on style?

Why couldn't have the more modern adapter worked? Is it because it had a canister filter? I really don't understand how the canister type works compared to the spin-on type. I thought to convert to a spin-on, the later style adapter was all that was needed.

Can anyone educate me on it?

[Steeveedee]

'68 was the last(?) year for the canister type filter. Fram made an adapter that used a Ford oil filter. This was because the gasket is on a smaller diameter than the spin on Chevy filter. If the engine you're going with doesn't have a provision for the canister type filter (it would just be flat, no groove) you can use the regular Chevy filter.

['68OrangeSunshine]

1968 must have been a transition year. My '68 C/10 Stepside out of Fremont had a factory RPO L25 -- 292 L6 with a spin-on PF-35. I now use Wix 51061.

[Steeveedee]

Pretty sure that the 4- and 6- cylinder engines had the spin-on filters since Chevy went away from the 235 engine in '63.

[MARKDTN]

Been a long time but I had a 327 that was pulled from a '68 Impala in the mid '80s. I just added the spin-on adapter I thought?

[1967GMCC20]

That's actually a good adapter, uses factory bypass valve. Many 283s, 327s used them by POs.

Canister gets you a larger filter, and if headers are close, protection from heat. Need oring for internal piece with bypass, and canister. These canisters are dirt cheap at swap meets every where..

[Steeveedee]

They are also more efficient, and as much fun to clean as an oil bath filter. If it were my guess, Chevrolet did away with that design because of the nuisance of changing that o-ring every time. If you don't change the o-ring, things can go very wrong. I learned that at the age of 15 when I changed the oil in my eldest sister's '57 Plymouth, and left the old ring in because I thought it would be OK. I know that I didn't like that style, and I've done hundreds of oil changes since then.

[1967GMCC20]

I'd bet they replaced them for same reason manufacturers make changes.

Significant Cost Savings... Somebody's grandfather got promoted.

Less parts.
Cheaper.
Lighter.
Ease of assembly.
Faster Tac-Time.

[Steeveedee]

^ Yup, I'll bet just putting the newer style filter on saved a ton of time. GM keeps track of component costs to the 1/10 of a cent, at least they did in the '60s. Don't groove the block for the o-ring? Time savings. Same goes for all those filter parts and installation time. Do it a million times a year?

[1967GMCC20]

Right on, having worked for a large Diesel Eng Manufacturer, to be competitive, you have to keep cutting costs soon as your in production after final design approval.

In small engines look at history of MTD.. the masters of small engine products cost reduction.

[doowopper]

My '69 C20 with a 350 that I bought new has a canister.

[FirstOwner69]

Originally Posted by doowopper

My '69 C20 with a 350 that I bought new has a canister.

Same with my '69 C20 which I also bought new. I always wondered if the reason was that the truck is a 3/4 ton.

[dmjlambert]

My 69 CST/10 with 350 came with a canister filter. My engine rebuilder converted it to spin on when he rebuilt the engine for me.

[67C10Step]

My 67 with its original 283 has this same adapter. It was leaking a bit when I got the truck running so I got a new one because I could not find seals listed for the one on the engine.

I've had at least three modern Toyotas with canister filters. Highlander, Tacoma, and 4Runner.

[damnyankee36]

I'm going to guess the canister blocks were machined differently than the spin on? The block adapter was installed on a modern block and it appeared work OK.

They didn't have to use the adapter as far as I can see.

[Steeveedee]

^ Yes, there is a groove cut for the flat o-ring to sit in to seal the canister to the block on engines equipped with the canister. If that adapter was on your engine, it likely doesn't have that groove. If it has the groove, you're extremely lucky that the filter covered the gap. It's possible that the o-ring is still in there.