Commando Oil Filter

tpeever said:

With the adaptor, the WIX filter I use is 51348. NAPA sells WIX under their own name and the number is similar but not exactly the same.

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Here's the NAPA. Number is 1348

With an expensive part like the oil filter 06-3371 that retails at 4.99 Sterling if you buy the genuine Norton factory one made by the OE suppliers to the original specification there is no limit to the speculations what could fit at a few pence less.

Fair point Joe, I must admit that even in my high mileage commandos I go through maybe 2 or 3 filters a year, why are we trying to save a pound (or buck) on this item which is essential to the longevity of your motor, I know we all like to find ways to make our obsession cheaper but I've found out the hard way that cheaper is almost always more expensive in the long run! :roll:

Particularly for those of us in the UK, but maybe other places too. If you go to your local motor factors & ask for an oil filter for a Citreon 2CV it's the same as the standard Commando one. I've used them for years without a problem.

Ian..

I think you are missing the point here boys. It is not that I and other "adaptor afficionados" am particularly interested in saving a few pence on oil filters (although I do find it slightly outrageous to pay 12 bucks plus shipping for a 3 dollar oil filter) but rather what filters are available to me at the auto parts store down the road. The adaptor opens up a much wider range of filters for me. There are not a hell of a lot of Citroens running around eastern Washington so filter availability can be a bit spotty.

There is no oil filter on my 1972 and I would like to install one. I don't see the point in buying a stock filter bracket/body, then buying an adaptor for the thread so I can use a filter that I can buy at my local auto supply store.

Is there a readily available filter bracket/body that bolts up nicely, and that already has a thread for a filter that is readily available at my local auto supply store?

Stephen Hill
Victoria BC

Hi Stephan,
Just do a search for " remote oil filter kit" you will be surprized at how many there are. Sorry, I cant recommend any particular one.

GB

As some have stated, spend the $8-10 and get the adapter. Just screw it on with some JB weld and let it sit overnight, done !!! The number of high quality filters you can then fit is enormous !!! Also, if you do some research, you will find all oil filters are not the same; some are simply much better than others. I use the adapter, and the Purolator PL10241 oil filter ... which all my research has shown is the best filter you can buy, bar none. Just my 2 cents ... cheers.

Stephen Hill said:

There is no oil filter on my 1972 and I would like to install one. I don't see the point in buying a stock filter bracket/body, then buying an adaptor for the thread so I can use a filter that I can buy at my local auto supply store.

Is there a readily available filter bracket/body that bolts up nicely, and that already has a thread for a filter that is readily available at my local auto supply store?

Stephen Hill
Victoria BC

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The only filter heads I have seen are those made by/for Andover Norton and cost about 60 bucks. I suppose you may be able to fit some sort of aftermarket head that will work. It has to fit in a pretty tight space though. The adaptor may be cheaper from McMaster-Carr or somewhere like that compared to a Norton supplier. Looks like CNW charges about 20 bucks for them. I probably would still be using OEM filters on my Commando but the previous owner had fitted the adaptor and I didn't find that out until I went to change the oil and fit a "correct" Champion H101 oil filter!! Took me a while to figure out why it wouldn't thread on properly.

What's the average Norton annual filter use? Three, four, maybe. Saving $10 a year doesn't seem like too big a deal to me. Not when we probably have not had a year when we did not at least do $100 in upgrades.

nortriubuell said:

I use the adapter, and the Purolator PL10241 oil filter ... which all my research has shown is the best filter you can buy, bar none. Just my 2 cents ... cheers.

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+1 on the adaptor and the Purolator filter. This filter actually comes in two types, standard and a model that offers higher filterinig efficiency. All in all...a great filter, reasonably priced and readily available at most auto parts stores.

cmessenk said:

nortriubuell said:

I use the adapter, and the Purolator PL10241 oil filter ... which all my research has shown is the best filter you can buy, bar none. Just my 2 cents ... cheers.

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+1 on the adaptor and the Purolator filter. This filter actually comes in two types, standard and a model that offers higher filterinig efficiency. All in all...a great filter, reasonably priced and readily available at most auto parts stores.

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Pray tell, where would attain the 3/4"-16 to 16-1.5mm adapter?
Edit: I have seen them at RockyPoint website.

Colorado Norton Works sells them for 18.95. I have seen them other places but can't remember at the moment!!

Hey,

Yes, I do offer an adaptor that will simply screw onto your oil filter housing and will allow you to use a modern filter. Price is 18.95 and included is also a Wix oil filter so that you have all that you need to do an oil change....well minus the oil of course.

Something that I havent seen being mentioned in this thread is the fact that oil filter technology certainly has changed quite a bit since the original Crosland filter was designed. When I first started making these adaptors, I cut an original Crosland filter and a modern filter in half. I am not going to say I know a whole lot about oil filter technology but I can tell you that they looked very different inside. I would think that as modern engines with tighter clearances have been developed, so has the need for oil filters with better filtration.

Best possible filter quality is certainly something our Commandos can benefit from.

Matt / Colorado Norton Works

Being but a Commando owner since the 1970s with xthousand miles on my various Commandos, road and track, who always used Crossland or now the Andover Norton equivalent, and who has yet to see wear in an engine attributable to dirty oil, I may be a simple soul but I should think the only job an oil filter has to do is to filter oil- which all my oil filters have done.
With the tolerances built into our dated engines I see no necessity, or benefit, from filtering the oil better than through the OE filters- if, indeed a modern filter actually does. How should it? A quality filter, unless it is a cheap oriental filter which is essentially a piece of Cleenex thrown into an empty (often chromed) tin, filters oil. If you look into one of my engines there is normally next to nothing in the sludge trap and little if any wear on the big end shells after high mileages. What we find on the magnet of the drain plug stems, as we all know, from oil that has picked up small pieces of metal abrasions BEFORE it was returned to the oil tank through the filter, of whatever manufacture or quality.
You can use rocket science on an engine that was constructed in 1948, but I should be surprised if it benefitted substantially from it. Even if it did, what causes no problems in no end of miles on road and track does not need to be improvement I should think.

ZFD,

All I am saying is this.

With an adaptor, that is relatively inexpensive, you can get your filter at any local autoparts store and it may even be a better filter than the original. This at a lower price.

I agree with you as to the original Crosland filter probably being enough for our engines but given the points above, the adaptor will give you some options that may make sense to some.

Matt / Colorado Norton Works

Oil filter don't do all that much as most the danger of old oil is the corrosive acids from heat and moisture not grinding grit, most of which is too small to be felt in running clearances new or old engines. If anything its the poor ole oil pump that takes the brunt of the bigger particles, which would fall to bottom of oil tank sludge layer anyway. In 7000 miles of hard run Peel with synthetic oil changes 1000-2000 miles d/t opening for various reasons and leaks, used 3 filters, I still found table spoon of sludge in trap. Found about twice that on 30,000 mile/30 yr use prior to me sans filter. Car references show one can change oil a few times w/o need to change filter, so over kill to change filters very often, through no harm but time/cost otherwise.

I lost my file on filters but remember that Toyota range of late 70's to mid 80's and beyond fit Norton w/o adapter. On my special using a 40 micron fuel filter into frame tank and smaller prefilter/magnet before oil fed to pump.

Here site for various small add on filters.
http://www.thinkauto.com/acatalog/intro.html

According to an oil manufacturer I exchanged emails with recently, element filters are simply not fine enough to exclude the very fine particles that are the main cause of wear. The best way to extend engine life, is regular oil changes using the correct grade of oil specifically intended for air cooled MC engine applications.

Carbonfibre said:

According to an oil manufacturer I exchanged emails with recently, element filters are simply not fine enough to exclude the very fine particles that are the main cause of wear. The best way to extend engine life, is regular oil changes using the correct grade of oil specifically intended for air cooled MC engine applications.

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Now why would an oil manufacturer say that.......... Though, irony aside, I will happily underwrite that.
Joe