1954 NAA REPAIR - TOILET PAPER FOR OIL FILTER

mvphoto29235.jpg

So I’m working on my father-in-law’s old NAA to get it up and running again (he passed away last year while working on it, so I’m stepping in in my spare time to try to get it going). I take off the oil filter cover, and I find THIS. Yep, a roll of TP for an oil filter. I know that he put it there, because my wife says she remembers as a kid him showing her that he was using TP as a filter. Was/is this a thing? Can it possibly even work?? (Just to be clear, I will be using an ACTUAL oil filter, so no need to go there!)
 
Toilet paper oil filters were a big aftermarket item "back in the day".


You can still buy 'em new.

GOOGLE will show you an endless variety of them.
 
That was a popular thing years ago,but not the thing to do now.Reason is years ago toilet paper was made out of junk wood,and pretty tough stuff.Now it is biodegradable,and it actually turns to pulp in your engine.The first time I saw it happen was on an old Chevy wrecker.Most of the roll was just gone,and what was left was mush.It didn't seem to do any harm,but there was no residue in the oil when we drained it.He changed his oil once a week for a couple of months,then just kind of forgot about it.
 
Also back in the day, the filters were not full flow,if the filter plugged itself, nobody knew it.
 
(quoted from post at 18:40:53 01/05/19) Also back in the day, the filters were not full flow,if the filter plugged itself, nobody knew it.

That right there is the key to it. With a bypass system no-one knew whether it took four months or four days for it to plug.
 
With TP filter, they didn't simply stick a roll in place of the original filter in the original canister. The company that did that had a special canister so as to route the oil thru the roll, etc. It did not go in place of any full flow filter but was an add on bypass filter. Not as simple as this thread seems to portray. Effectiveness? Not for me to say.
 
It would work but isn't strong enough. I would think the bits of toilet paper going into the engine would be worse than not using a filter at all. Think of the sludge in the engine embedded with paper. If you overhauled the engine you would probably have to use a hammer and chisel to get the sludge out before having it vatted.
 
In the mid ?70s, my diesel school instructor said that they
tended to filter out some of the additives that were starting to
be used then. They are more a novelty now than anything.
 
(quoted from post at 15:30:17 01/08/19) In the mid ?70s, my diesel school instructor said that they
tended to filter out some of the additives that were starting to
be used then. They are more a novelty now than anything.

"my diesel school instructor said that they
tended to filter out some of the additives"


The same thing has been said about Luberfiner and other "bypass oil filters".

Yet, they are used to this day.
 
Ladies sanitary pads were also used at one time. Thought was the outside layer would keep any
problem of paper from getting into bearings.
 
I used to be a dealer for Frantz oil filters over 40 years ago. They work very well when used according to instructions. Frantz sold a paper roll also that was approved according to
their specifications otherwise using their guidelines for choice of paper roll worked very well also. Like one old farmer said once "there isn't anything made that can't be abused"
and I think that's true. Nowadays creative marketing has it that you don't get the same density and amount of paper on a roll that you got 40 years ago so then of course it's not
going to filter like intended and proven originally. If a roll is plugged it's easy to tell because the canister will not warm up from oil flow. The orfice allowing the oil flow into the
canister is small enough that there is no significant loss of pressure to the engine being that it is a bypass system and the filtration isn't effective until the oil is warm and flows at
a better rate. If all you do is run an engine for five to ten minutes at a time from cold start it's not going to do a proper filtration job. As you might expect there were hecklers then
as now... if you misrepresent anything heckling works.
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top