big block oil filters

steveozz67

New Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2018
Messages
5
Reaction score
20
Location
Lino Lakes mn
I noticed that there is a part number change in big block oil filters in the being of 1972 , what is the difference in the 2 filters ? can they be interchanged with each other ?
 
You don't give any examples, so taking a guess, you are probably seeing the short filters and long filters.

Around that time, Chrysler started using a shorter filter on some of the small blocks in A bodies (?). Before that, there was a right angle adaptor the angled the filter towards the rear for more clearance around the torsion bars.

So, does it work? Sure... But the longer filter holds more oil and has more filter surface, and usually costs about the same. So use the longer filter. Wix 51515 (NAPA 1515) is my preferred filter.
 
I noticed that there is a part number change in big block oil filters in the being of 1972 , what is the difference in the 2 filters ? can they be interchanged with each other ?

With my '73 Newport, the short filter fits, but the long filter does not. Too long for the space available.
 
seems when they changed the lower hose outlet from the drivers to passenger side they also changed the power steering pump bracket which put the pump lower so the belt won't clear the long filter
 
Another issue is that when the A.I.R. pumps came into use (or might appear the next model year), the lh engine brackets changed (as mentioned). The power steering belt went where the long oil filter's end used to be, so the shorter (LA-block) filter was used on every V-8.

Mopar Perf sold a angled mounting kit for the LA motors, to angle the filter so the longer filter could be used on the LA motors.

Everybody down here used the Ford/Motorcraft FL-1A filter for Chrysler and Ford engines. They were available and at a good price, plus "OEM quality". Wix is good, too.

Enjoy!
CBODY67
 
Luckily NAPA has a filter sale twice a year, ending on the 23rd here this month.

When I started changing the oil on wife's Subi 15 years ago, the 1334 filter was $3.69, now $13.38 when not on sale, but about $70 a case after tax when on sale. I see Amazon has some cases of 51515 filters for $68, pretty great deal.

The only other brand filter I've used this past decade is a Baldwin B2, and B6 for work Chevy 1 ton stepvan, and no troubles whatsoever.

Also running Rotella 15W-40 in Mopar engines for the last 3 decades with no troubles whatsoever.
 
Going off on a tangent (which I've always tended to do since I was in grade school) I remember reading an article in Consumer Reports back in the '80s about the quality of engine oil filters. In their tests, they determined the best quality oil filter was the MoPar OEM filter, followed by Motorcraft and AC Delco. The best quality aftermarket came in 4th place and it was Fram. Funny, but I don't remember where Wix was on that list, but I've always heard they are one of the best filters available. I seem to remember that Purolator was pretty close to if not the lowest on their list. That was back in the eighties though, I image things could have changed a lot.
 
Everybody down here used the Ford/Motorcraft FL-1A filter for Chrysler and Ford engines. They were available and at a good price, plus "OEM quality".
I still do in a pinch, I can get them on Sundays when no close parts stores are open.
Wix is good, too.
That's what I've been using for years, before that Fram cheapos with no issues.
Also running Rotella 15W-40 in Mopar engines for the last 3 decades with no troubles whatsoever.
That's what I've been running for the last 3 years.
 
Last edited:
Back in my high perf 383 340 days I ran Valvoline Racing Oil in straight weights, usually 40W but sometimes even 50W. But it turns out there is massive horsepower loss from churning that heavy oil, I think it's piston drag, can't quite remember, and then there's windage, another horsepower robbing biggie, that blanket of oil that follows your crank around.

I'm a big believer in windage trays, free horsepower, and "pan-evac" systems for relieving crankcase pressure at high RPM, something better than the factory system.
 
When some operatives start to try their oil filters as "quality", their "target" tended to be "Fram". An old-line filter maker which had apparently been bought out and "cheapened" from its prior glory times. From back when Fram was Fram and Purolator was Purolator.

When the 1980s Fram case was hacksawed open, the cardboard end caps were discovered! Rather than the stamped sheet metal that everybody else used. Plus the stamped steel leaf spring "pressure relief spring". No mention of the quality of the filter element or how its particle size capabilities, just those cardboard end caps doomed everything.

Wix and Baldwin had always been around at that time. Not very popular down here, except with the discount stores, especially Baldwin, it seemed. Then Dana Corp bought Wix and gave it credibility (and possibly some better internal guts) and NAPA (down here) started to sell them.

"Auto-X" magazine did a filter test in the 1990s and determined Wix to be the best FL-1A style filter they cut open and checked.

In the later 1990s, I discovered the "Shelby Dodges and Turbo Chryslers" group online. Dempsey Bowling did an extensive oil filter analysis in his dorm room. Rating the filters on their construction attributes and features. A coil spring or leaf spring pressure relief control, for example. Type of rubber used in the anti-drainback valve. Size and number of folds in the filter element. Plus a few other things. Not sure if that group or the filter analysis might still be online. Wix came out near the top of that list, too.

In the 1973 time-frame, STP came out with a "double filter" oil filter. One coarse element and one (larger) fine particulate element.

Reading the oil filter section of www.bobistheoilguy.com website can be interesting too. I read in there, several years ago, that there were only a FEW manufacturers of oil filters. But were they "all the same"? NO. Each is built to the specs of the customer and to provide a competitive filter at a particular suggested retail price point.

We put a whole lot of trust in the filters for our vehicles. Unless the engine oil filter comes apart for some reason, there is little reason to doubt they are doing their job and doing it well. I suspect that even the least expensive oil filter, in current times, can be better than the best one when the 1960s cars were still used cars . . . with resoect to the filter media itself.

Whatever y'all are happy with, keep on keeping on!

Enjoy!
CBODY67
 
Last edited:
I still have a canister around if I wanted to get rid of that silly spin on filter and go back to toilet paper rolls ;]

The '41 Power Wagon I learned to drive in back in the 70's had a Luberfiner off a diesel hanging on the fender, and I remember it semi exploding on cold mornings - blowing the clamp seals - seen as the oil was probably like nearly straight Power Punch because of an extremely worn flat 6 with only top rings, after removing the broken ones.

Later, I exploded a WIX 51515 with the 383 in the Runner, too much pressure cold, and went to a K&N, a very expensive filter but could withstand like 300 psi. I also unshimmed my oil pressure relief spring for no more than 75 psi cold. High pressure is bad news, "washes bearings" so the old timers said, and I've even see it make a big block smoke from excessive splash on the cylinder walls via old loose rod bearings, and the situation was remedied by unwashering the oil pressure relief.

The big block's external oil pump is magic.
 
Last edited:
Going off on a tangent (which I've always tended to do since I was in grade school) I remember reading an article in Consumer Reports back in the '80s about the quality of engine oil filters. In their tests, they determined the best quality oil filter was the MoPar OEM filter, followed by Motorcraft and AC Delco. The best quality aftermarket came in 4th place and it was Fram. Funny, but I don't remember where Wix was on that list, but I've always heard they are one of the best filters available. I seem to remember that Purolator was pretty close to if not the lowest on their list. That was back in the eighties though, I image things could have changed a lot.

Consumers should stick to toaster ovens and garden fertilizer. . .
 
As a mild tangent, how many of you guys have had a leak at the oil filter base to the block?

I had one once upon a time, and realized the nut wasn't quite tight, and that the nut is so shallow that the chamfer on a socket is about all you're grabbing it by and it slips, so I ground the socket opening perfectly flat - a very early Mopar life hack for me - and tightened the mount to the block properly, end of leak.
 
Hastings, like Baldwin, mostly caters to HD engines, hydraulics, etc.

If you dig around the catalogs, you'd be surprised what you can find, extra long filters with antidrainback valve like the Baldwin BT251, looks like a 1qt capacity filter, about a 1515 and a half.

Not much use on a big block unless you have a lot of a room, but nice HD for small block applications granted the exhaust isn't in the way.
 
Has lots of Zinc, great for flat tappet cams.

The best diesel motor oil is Ford Motorcraft's stuff, at ~ 1220 ppm zinc. Rotella has dropped to just about 1000 in recent years. I ran the Motorcraft stuff for several years, but went to Lucas. Now, I run Havoline with the Lucas zinc additive. I get as much zinc as Lucas puts in their "Classic" formulation (~2700 ppm) but run it for about half the cost.

If you insist on running diesel motor oils, look for the warnings against running it with a catalytic converter. THAT's your clue that plenty zinc is in the stuff!
 
Been running the 10W-30 version of Rotella in the Subarus for near two decades now, no issues.
 
Back
Top