When installing a filter on my Subaru engines, I like to use a cap wrench to install them.
I can already feel a lot of you gearing up to tell me you don't need a wrench to install, and I know you're right, but hear me out first. I have two reasons. First: I have tendon problems in my wrists, and hand tightening a filter puts my hand and wrist in just the right (or wrong, I guess) position to aggravate that condition. Second: It's way easier to do exactly the specified amount of tightening (3/4 turn, 1 full turn, whatever is called for) with a handle or bar than it is to gauge it by hand. Satisfies my OCD.
Now to the point. I bought a dozen Champ filters for these engines, and I can't find a cap wrench that fits them. So I made one that fits:
This is an old cap wrench I bought for a car I might have had 30 years ago. I wrapped one of the Champ filters in Saran Wrap, lined the inside of the old cap wrench with JB Weld epoxy putty, smushed the plastic-wrapped filter into it, and let it harden. It fits the filters perfectly, and as a bonus, the JB Weld didn't stick to the Saran, so I was able to peel that out cleanly. It's a little funny-looking but it does the job. Probably wouldn't hold up to being used for a lot of removals, but to tighten that 3/4 turn it's just fine.
I can already feel a lot of you gearing up to tell me you don't need a wrench to install, and I know you're right, but hear me out first. I have two reasons. First: I have tendon problems in my wrists, and hand tightening a filter puts my hand and wrist in just the right (or wrong, I guess) position to aggravate that condition. Second: It's way easier to do exactly the specified amount of tightening (3/4 turn, 1 full turn, whatever is called for) with a handle or bar than it is to gauge it by hand. Satisfies my OCD.
Now to the point. I bought a dozen Champ filters for these engines, and I can't find a cap wrench that fits them. So I made one that fits:
This is an old cap wrench I bought for a car I might have had 30 years ago. I wrapped one of the Champ filters in Saran Wrap, lined the inside of the old cap wrench with JB Weld epoxy putty, smushed the plastic-wrapped filter into it, and let it harden. It fits the filters perfectly, and as a bonus, the JB Weld didn't stick to the Saran, so I was able to peel that out cleanly. It's a little funny-looking but it does the job. Probably wouldn't hold up to being used for a lot of removals, but to tighten that 3/4 turn it's just fine.
