Ford tractor 8N oil canister converted to TP filter

It must have been getting enough oil to keep it alive for all that time, the bearings looked like they had a lot of debris go through them, the wear otherwise appeared fairly normal for the mileage. That's the point I was trying to make. I have had 3 cars with Ford FE engines, this one being the lowest mileage and best maintained and it had the worst wear overall, with the tp oil filter. People can use what they want but theres better products out there these days.
Was it setup to get unfiltered oil because the full flow spin-on was not existant (removed) and the oil was just getting partially filtered by the bypass filter ?
 
Was it setup to get unfiltered oil because the full flow spin-on was not existant (removed) and the oil was just getting partially filtered by the bypass filter ?
It was set up so the spin on filter was removed/eliminated, although in that application I'm not sure any other way how you would do it, and back in 1967 or 1968 when it was installed, there may not have been any other way to set that thing up, like today there are a couple different versions of the kit. it might have been their only kit then for all I know. The engine was getting filtered oil, and I remember being able to see oil splashing around in the intake valley through the oil filler tube when I first got it, so I know it got plenty of oil.
 
It was set up so the spin on filter was removed/eliminated, although in that application I'm not sure any other way how you would do it, and back in 1967 or 1968 when it was installed, there may not have been any other way to set that thing up, like today there are a couple different versions of the kit. it might have been their only kit then for all I know. The engine was getting filtered oil, and I remember being able to see oil splashing around in the intake valley through the oil filler tube when I first got it, so I know it got plenty of oil.
Would have to see the installation instructions, but would seem strange even back in 1967-1968 that a Frantz filter would be meant to be a full-flow filter - ie, take the place of the factory spin-on filter. Think it was always designed to be a bypass filter to be used along side the factory full-flow filter. So if the full-flow spin-on was totally removed, then the oil was probably only getting partially filtered by the Frantz bypass filter.
 
Well sdowney717 I have read & read & looked at your pics & your write-up and pretty well understand everything up to about 95% of everything you did but still a bit unclear how you sealed the 2 inter tubes.
I have a By-Pass filter housing a lot like your 8N, but not sure what it came off of. Has no bottom drain and will have to drill and tap one. Other than that mine looks like yours. Oil comes in bottom up thru small tube and out small hole towards top where bolt that fastens top cap on screws into small tube. My spring on the bolt is just a coil spring, no hold down washer thing like yours. Also I have no rubber/ felt washer you described that the tubes fasten to at the bottom to seal.
I have found that for the outer tube a piece of chain link fence tube is about a good size to fit inside a roll of toilet paper snuggly.

As I understand you soldered a Tomato Past can to the outer tube leaving about 3/8" to dig into the TP to seal it at top end. Other end of outer tube you soldered a beveled/ground washer inside that tube that slips inside the TP and fits at bottom of the TP roll.
Then you have a smaller inner tube that is pressing down on the beveled soldered on washer thats inside the outer tube. The spring is what holds tension down on the smaller inner tube and everything.
What did you use for the smaller inner metal tube?
There is a spacer goes in first, then the SS grate/plate, then the rubber washer, then the TP with the bigger innet tube slipped inside, the the smaller inner tube, then fasten the lid on.

How close did I get things figured out? Please let me know what I'm missing and not understanding.
TIA James

The smaller diameter inner tube was a tube section from a kids wagon handle, like 3/4 copper pipe will also work.
The spring (with its steel base which yours is missing), presses on that inner tube and the inner tube at the bottom presses down on the bottom end of the outer tube. The washer seals it up so oil cant bypass the paper. Everything still in good shape.
 
Hardest part of this is figuring out the larger tube to fit the TP roll, everything else is easy.
I do notice the 8N housing has a slightly rolled steel lip, and that catches on the TP when taking it out.
It is not really made for what I am doing, but it does work ok. The TP does shrink down after a while from the pressure.
I have thought adding a gauge in the cover would be nice, might help you know when the filter is clogged up. As the TP clogs up, the gauge psi should rise somewhat. When it is totally clogged it wil be equal to engine oil PSI. A new TP roll should relieve oil pressure as it can flow away and out the drain. But seeing the low volume of flow, a gauge might not be very useful. Right now I mostly use my hand, flowing means warm housing sooner. But still it will heat up just from radiant engine heat, so even that is not too useful, since the housing sits right above engine.
 
https://photos.app.goo.gl/pbiRtCvF5JCGGLiL7

Since they discontinued the bypass filters for the old housings, I decided fooey, I will make my own TP roll filter design. I bought a 1940's 8N oil canister, and figured out how to make this function. Oil comes up the center tube, and goes out the drain at the bottom, which this earlier canister did not have, had to drill and tap for a fitting. Some later models did have the drain.

I set this up to use a great value Walmart TP roll.
The double tube design, the inner tube holds down the outer sealing tube by way of the spring in the cover.

The inner SS screen is a cut off piece from a vegetable steamer, cost me 49 cents at thrift store. It need a bottom support for the TP filter so it wont collapse.
I converted a flat head Ford V8 canister filter to use a 4 1/2 inch diameter roll of Scott 1000. Cut the thread end of a small full flow filter off and drilled extra holes in it. Debured the holes. Put a spacer under it to put the top of the tp near the top of the filter housing. Had an old radiator cap I used to make a washer to bridge the space between the the tp core and the Ford center tube. The washer is plastic. Used a step drill to make the washer a snug fit. The lid spring pushes down against it. The filter inlet was near the top so I could use it. I put a pipe plug in the outlet and put a new outlet in. I used a self tappjng hollow bolt. I didnt want to use the Ford orifice. The old canisters didnt drain below the orifice put a 1/16 inch orifice at the inlet. No center tube is needed with the 1000 sheet. Later I removed the spacer from under the perforated plate and have half a roll pf VIVA Signature cloth paper towels in it. Dont need a screen. The paper is strong enough.
 
I converted a flat head Ford V8 canister filter to use a 4 1/2 inch diameter roll of Scott 1000. Cut the thread end of a small full flow filter off and drilled extra holes in it. Debured the holes. Put a spacer under it to put the top of the tp near the top of the filter housing. Had an old radiator cap I used to make a washer to bridge the space between the the tp core and the Ford center tube. The washer is plastic. Used a step drill to make the washer a snug fit. The lid spring pushes down against it. The filter inlet was near the top so I could use it. I put a pipe plug in the outlet and put a new outlet in. I used a self tappjng hollow bolt. I didnt want to use the Ford orifice. The old canisters didnt drain below the orifice put a 1/16 inch orifice at the inlet. No center tube is needed with the 1000 sheet. Later I removed the spacer from under the perforated plate and have half a roll pf VIVA Signature cloth paper towels in it. Dont need a screen. The paper is strong enough.
With mine the oil comes in the top. The core is sealed so the oil goes down thru the paper thru the perforated plate and out the bottom. You could buy kits in the old days that did the same thing. Good luck finding one.
 
I would seriously avoid the tp oil filter. Last summer I bought a 64 galaxie that had a frantz tp oil filter installed since the 70s. When I tore the engine down for rebuild, which was all original and never touched it wasn't super dirty but the bearings were very worn out for the mileage and looked like they had a lot of debris go through them. The crankshaft even had a groove worn on the mains. I had oil change records for most of its life and it got 2000 to 2500 mile oil changes. Really doubt the TP filter did it any favors. I've torn apart much nastier and higher mileage fe engines that had better bearing using a spin in filter. I took that thing off immediately.
I have used toilet paper filters for over 60 years starting with a Frantz. I have Motor Guards Gulf Coast filters a Australian Jackmaster Classic and a flat head Ford V8 canister filter that is converted to use Scott 1000 toilet paper.
 
The fairlane must have way smaller brakes than the galaxies do because the manual drum brakes on both of my 64's stop just about as well as the 4 wheel power disc brakes on my grand marquis do. If you wanna drive a rig that is scary to stop fast get yourself a 78 dodge b200 van with the undersized 11" brakes. That thing was something else, I took my drivers license test in that white knuckle butt puckering device.
I got my commercial licence with a truck that had a 5 gallon bucket for a passenger seat. The trooper saw the bucket. He said I know you can drive it. Been seeing you on the highway. Gave me a license.
 
Was it setup to get unfiltered oil because the full flow spin-on was not existant (removed) and the oil was just getting partially filtered by the bypass filter ?
My old f250 with the 390 engine has a 50 year old Motor Guard oil cleaner on it. Of course the Motor Guard used toilet paper. The toilet paper sends a stream of clean oil to the oil pan untill all of the oil in the engine is clean. The full flow filter isnt supposed to clean oil. It is there to remove engine damaging abrasives from the full flow of oil to the engine parts.
 
My old f250 with the 390 engine has a 50 year old Motor Guard oil cleaner on it. Of course the Motor Guard used toilet paper. The toilet paper sends a stream of clean oil to the oil pan untill all of the oil in the engine is clean. The full flow filter isnt supposed to clean oil. It is there to remove engine damaging abrasives from the full flow of oil to the engine parts.
What's the efficiency of that full-flow filter? It's going to be more than a fine screen door. Whole purpose of a full-flow filter in a setup like that is to take most of the debris loading, and the bypass filter is only there to slowly remove all the debris below around 10u and smaller that the full-flow doesn't get most of. If the full-flow filter doesn't clean the oil much, then it's not a good bypass filtering system setup.
 
Would have to see the installation instructions, but would seem strange even back in 1967-1968 that a Frantz filter would be meant to be a full-flow filter - ie, take the place of the factory spin-on filter. Think it was always designed to be a bypass filter to be used along side the factory full-flow filter. So if the full-flow spin-on was totally removed, then the oil was probably only getting partially filtered by the Frantz bypass filter.
Frantz and Motor Guard had adapters that eliminated the full flow filter. They screwed on in place of the full flow filter with a 1/8 pipe port. I ran a 84 Subaru over 250.000 miles with that adapter and a Frantz with no oil changes. Its a little risky unless your engine is pristine like mine. The Motor Guard on the Chevy engine on my Farmall H has the adapter that eliminated the full flow filter. Another pristine engine.
 
Frantz and Motor Guard had adapters that eliminated the full flow filter. They screwed on in place of the full flow filter with a 1/8 pipe port. I ran a 84 Subaru over 250.000 miles with that adapter and a Frantz with no oil changes. Its a little risky unless your engine is pristine like mine. The Motor Guard on the Chevy engine on my Farmall H has the adapter that eliminated the full flow filter. Another pristine engine.
The adapter that removed the full-flow filter was most likely only allowing the bypass filter to connect to the engine. No way a filter like a Frantz was meant to be a full-flow filter - way too restrictive for that. So basically the full-flow filter was completely removed and installed only a bypass filter in it's place. The term "pristine engine" doesn't mean much unless you know what the oil cleanliness actually was, and how the wear rate of the engine was effected by just using only a bypass filter without a good full-flow filter also in the system. Post 39 mentions journal bearings looking like they had a lot of debris wear. If there was no full-flow filter, then lots of debris is not going to be caught and go into the oiling system. That's why modern bypass filter setups use a good full-flow filter in conjunction with a bypass filter.
 
Last edited:
Was it setup to get unfiltered oil because the full flow spin-on was not existant (removed) and the oil was just getting partially filtered by the bypass filter ?

The adapter that removed the full-flow filter was most likely only allowing the bypass filter to connect to the engine. No way a filter like a Frantz was meant to be a full-flow filter - way too restrictive for that. So basically the full-flow filter was completely removed and installed only a bypass filter in it's place. The term "pristine engine" doesn't mean much unless you know what the oil cleanliness actually was, and how the wear rate of the engine was effected by just using only a bypass filter without a good full-flow filter also in the system. Post 39 mentions journal bearings looking like they had a lot of debris wear. If there was no full-flow filter, then lots of debris is not going to be caught and go into the oiling system. That's why modern bypass filter setups use a good full-flow filter in conjunction with a bypass filter.
My 64 Rambler American L head 6 came with a factory installed spin on bypass filter bolted to the head upside down with steel oil lines. The oil was always dirty and black. To clean the oil I removed it and installed a Frantz. The oil turned clear like new. It was nice starting with a nearly new engine. Not so good starting with a neglected damaged engine. All the Frantz could do is send a stream of clean oil to the oil pan.
 
My 64 Rambler American L head 6 came with a factory installed spin on bypass filter bolted to the head upside down with steel oil lines. The oil was always dirty and black. To clean the oil I removed it and installed a Frantz. The oil turned clear like new. It was nice starting with a nearly new engine. Not so good starting with a neglected damaged engine. All the Frantz could do is send a stream of clean oil to the oil pan.
So this 64 Rambler came from the factory with no full-flow filter at all, and only had a spin-on "bypass" filter? What was the advertised efficiency of that OEM spin-on bypass filter?

The bottom line is that the best and proper way to setup a bypass filtering system is to use both a good efficiency full-flow filter in conjunction with a very high efficiency bypass filter. Just using the bypass filter alone may keep the oil clean enough, but it's not going to be as clean as the correct way to setup a bypass filtering system. Were any UOA particle counts taken? ... or all this is based on how things "looked".
 
So this 64 Rambler came from the factory with no full-flow filter at all, and only had a spin-on "bypass" filter? What was the advertised efficiency of that OEM spin-on bypass filter?

The bottom line is that the best and proper way to setup a bypass filtering system is to use both a good efficiency full-flow filter in conjunction with a very high efficiency bypass filter. Just using the bypass filter alone may keep the oil clean enough, but it's not going to be as clean as the correct way to setup a bypass filtering system. Were any UOA particle counts taken? ... or all this is based on how things "looked".
The flat head 6 came only with a bypass filter. The over head valve models only came with a spin on full flow filter. Not much in a modern engine oil large enough to be removed by a full flow filter. A Car Quest filter for the Rambler is advertised as a 10 micron filter. Im a simple man. If the oil looks and feels clean im good. My Mazda diesel came factory equipped with both a spin on bypass filter and a spin on full flow filter I cleaned the oil by removing the bypass filter and installing a Frantz. Forgot to remove the Frantz before selling it. Told the guy I would put the Mazda filter back on. He knew about Frantzs. Told me to keep the Mazda filter. Its still on the shelf. Frantz wasnt the best design. All I have now is Motor Guards Gulf Coasts. a Australian Jackmaster Classic. and a flat head Ford V8 canister filter designed to use Scott 1000 tp. It has half a roll of VIVA Signature cloth paper towels in it now.
 
Not much in a modern engine oil large enough to be removed by a full flow filter.
Not from what I've seen in a lot of C&Ps of filters in the Oil Filter forum here. Even in a new modern engine I wouldn't just use a bypass filter. It would be in conjunction with a high efficiency spin-on filter, like it should be.
 
If that was the only filter on it, I completely agree. An engine should always have a full flow standard oil filter. My 1962 Buick had a spin on full flow oil filter. If an engine only has a bypass filter, what good is that! Unfiltered oil is circulating to the bearings etc...
If it had a full flow filter, then you can not blame the bypass filter for all that damage.
And oil from decades past was lousy compared to today's engine oil.

A bypass filter should only be an add on type filter to slowly clean oil, never the primary filter.
On my 1970 boat engines, ran into similar issue as you. Engine only had bypass filters from OEM design. Both engines needed new main bearings. And prior owner wore one out so bad entire engine was replaced. The engines are fresh water cooled, so rust was not the issue, it was wear from unfiltered oil.
It seems that 'back in the day', the need for full flow oil filtration was not considered essential even for cars. Those boat engines were marinized by Palmer from International Harvestor 392's which DID have full flow oil filtration from IH, but Palmer removed that and went with bypass only. I think they had the mistaken idea that since engines were in a boat, that no dirt is in the boat or air to get into an engine, so why is full flow filtration needed.
Many years ago I worked for a guy with a Mustang dragster. He pulled the Mustang with a early 60s Chevy Suburban with a 292 big 6. He told me to put a Frantz oil cleaner on it with a Frantz adapter that eliminated the full flow filter. Without the full flow filter he could monitor the condition of the engine by what was showing up on the top of the toilet paper. Without the full flow filter the 292 was the same as the 235. He didnt change the oil but changed the toilet paper and added a quart of Standard Delo 20 W. I suggested Delo 30W. He got racing oil free.
 
Back
Top Bottom