A complete history of (spin on) filter design

[edwardh1]

with the recent e core post i wondered what the progression of filter design has been, starting when spin on filters started to be made- when was that / late 60s??? up to the present - anyone got any pix of what the designs have been?
It might help us, along with lubeowners real world tests, see if the industry is moving forward or backwards or maybe sideways.

In front load clothes washer design the recent maytag neptune/whirlpool calipso class action lawsuits go a long way toward saying it a good idea but executed poorly.

Anyone got any historical pix since the 60s?- and remember they used to say change filter EVERY OTHER oil change? what technical study said to start changing every change (no its not the "dirty oil' not much of that there in the small filters (and they filter SO WELL the box says.

[ March 15, 2005, 09:00 AM: Message edited by: edwardh1 ]

 

[Filter guy]

Spin ons as we know them were available in the early '50's.

They started to become a standard engine fixture in the mid fifties. Until then they were an option from the big 3 automotive OEM's.

By-pass filters were more the norm before spin-ons became a standard item. And even at that, it was more an aftermarket item. You drove your car to a garage who installed a by-pass filter.

Part of that was due to the fact that there wasn't a 3,000 mile oil change recommended interval. Part of it the oil formulations. ( change intervals of 1,000 miles were common) Part of it because of warranties of the day. You bought it, you owned it back then.

In the mid to late 50's things started to change.


Anyone rememebr the STP Double Oil filter?

It was a pleated paper element with an outerwrap of media. (Champ built it btw)

Here's a story for those who are old enough to remember when the Indy 500 wasn't live and replayed the same evening on ABC.

Do you remember when STP had a commercial where Andy Granitelli used to hold up a can of STP oil treatment and say " Every car who starts the Indy 500 uses STP in their engine".

Of course you went to the store and bought some to pour into your engine because if it was good enough for Indy cars it was good enough for your engine.

But the reality was that STP had contract with the Hulman family that every car that ran the race had to use STP. So that part was true. But "how" the teams used STP oil treatment was actually...they used it to lubricate the gasket of the oil filter. So in fact in was used by every car that started the 500.
Truth in advertising...

 

[Mickey_M]

quote:

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Filter guy:
Spin ons as we know them were available in the early '50's.

They started to become a standard engine fixture in the mid fifties. Until then they were an option from the big 3 automotive OEM's. .....

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There were some false starts and dead-ends on spin-ons.

If you read Purolator's company history, you'll find that "Purolator invented the spin-on filter". Yes, but the spin-on filter they invented wasn't a commercially saleable product, was never OEM with any automobile manufacturer, and there are no lineal descendants of it in production.

FRAM made a spin-on filter for the 1950-52 Crosley. However, although it was a spin-on filter, it turned out to be an inadequate design and FRAM dropped the filter from their line. Restorers of Crosleys who want to drive the vehicles adapt them to a modern spin-on filter.

The modern spin-on oil filter, and the father of today's filters, was invented by John Doane "Jack" Wicks. Mr. Wicks left a filter company, sold candy for awhile, then returned to the filter business with his own ideas and patents. He and his partner - Paul Crawshaw - set up shop in Gastonia, North Carolina, where there was a ready supply of cotton waste.

The product on which the company began was a "sock" type filter for the bypass-type filters then in use. The idea was that you could change the filter more easily with less mess.

He also conceived and patented a spin-on oil filter, which he called “twist of the wrist,” in the 1940s. Getting it into a form that could be reasonably priced in the market was done by two of his engineers, Kingsley Humbert and Paul Francois.

In 1954 Wicks' company patented the first commercially viable spin-on oil filter based on their improved design. Development work with OEMs was underway, and in 1956 WIX spin-on filters were OEM on Ford, Mercury, Lincoln Continental, and Thunderbird.

The other major filter manufacturers followed within a year.



._________________________

 

[edwardh1]

WIX is probably ripe for the American tradition of selling out to a "investment group" who sends the design to india the production to mexico/china then sells out after running it into the ground.
sorta like the demise of johnson/evinrude outboard motors.

 

[Steve S]

quote:

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Originally posted by edwardh1:
WIX is probably ripe for the American tradition of selling out to a "investment group" who sends the design to india the production to mexico/china then sells out after running it into the ground.
sorta like the demise of johnson/evinrude outboard motors.

---

That is the Merican way.

 

[Big Jim]

quote:

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Originally posted by Mickey_M:

quote:

---

Filter guy:
Spin ons as we know them were available in the early '50's.

They started to become a standard engine fixture in the mid fifties. Until then they were an option from the big 3 automotive OEM's. .....

---

There were some false starts and dead-ends on spin-ons.

If you read Purolator's company history, you'll find that "Purolator invented the spin-on filter". Yes, but the spin-on filter they invented wasn't a commercially saleable product, was never OEM with any automobile manufacturer, and there are no lineal descendants of it in production.

FRAM made a spin-on filter for the 1950-52 Crosley. However, although it was a spin-on filter, it turned out to be an inadequate design and FRAM dropped the filter from their line. Restorers of Crosleys who want to drive the vehicles adapt them to a modern spin-on filter.

The modern spin-on oil filter, and the father of today's filters, was invented by John Doane "Jack" Wicks. Mr. Wicks left a filter company, sold candy for awhile, then returned to the filter business with his own ideas and patents. He and his partner - Paul Crawshaw - set up shop in Gastonia, North Carolina, where there was a ready supply of cotton waste.

The product on which the company began was a "sock" type filter for the bypass-type filters then in use. The idea was that you could change the filter more easily with less mess.

He also conceived and patented a spin-on oil filter, which he called “twist of the wrist,” in the 1940s. Getting it into a form that could be reasonably priced in the market was done by two of his engineers, Kingsley Humbert and Paul Francois.

In 1954 Wicks' company patented the first commercially viable spin-on oil filter based on their improved design. Development work with OEMs was underway, and in 1956 WIX spin-on filters were OEM on Ford, Mercury, Lincoln Continental, and Thunderbird.

The other major filter manufacturers followed within a year.



._________________________

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I remember it slightly differently. The first spin on factory oil filter as I remember was the 1957 Ford (introduced in 1956). Others changed in the next few years, except for Chevrolet which kept a cartridge filter well into the 60's.

I had a kit on my '54 Ford that allowed me to use the '57 Ford spin filter.

I also had a '63 Chevy that I installed a kit that allowed me to use a spin on filter. It also used the Ford filter.

 

[Mickey_M]

quote:

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Big Jim:

quote:

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....
I had a kit on my '54 Ford that allowed me to use the '57 Ford spin filter.

I also had a '63 Chevy that I installed a kit that allowed me to use a spin on filter. It also used the Ford filter.

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]

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There are still adaptors available.

Here's the installation of a NAPA version for a small block Chevrolet V-8:

http://www.customclassictrucks.com/techarticles/0311cct_spin/

Here's one for the BOP models of 1949-59:

http://webpages.charter.net/dhomstad/InfoFrame1Source1.htm

and here's a photo of the Y-block Ford with the spin-on adaptor:

http://www.rodandcustommagazine.com/tipstricks/74739/

available from Bob's F-100:

http://www.bobsf100.com/CatPg15.html

For a driver, they make a lot of sense. I hold on to the parts, though, because if you want to sell one of these old cars the canister is desirable.


.

 

[TC]

1924: First use of oil and air filters on cars
1937: First replaceable filter element (cotton)
1943: First full-flow oil filters
1946: First pleated paper oil filters
1948: First engine block-mounted oil filters
1955: First spin-on oil filters

http://www.pureoil.com/
Click on link, then "Company Info," then "History," then "Britney Spears Nude."

 

[Big Jim]

quote:

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Originally posted by TC:
then "Britney Spears Nude." [/QB]

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Nice try to get us to try the link. It would be much more likely if it were a Pirelli Tire web site than a Purolator web site.

 

[Mickey_M]

quote:

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TC:

..... 1955: First spin-on oil filters
....

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Nope, Fram had them on Crosleys in 1952.

The Purolator was not OEM.

The WIX was original equipment.


.

 

[TC]

Big Jim: Whoosh! Whooooooosh! There it goes again....Duck! Whooooooooooooosh!!!

Micky M: "Nope, Fram had them on Crosleys in 1952."
Nope. Per Dana Corp., John Wicks conceived and patented the spin-on oil filter, which he called “Twist of the wrist,” in the 1940s.

[ March 18, 2005, 07:46 PM: Message edited by: TC ]