Web Forum for Singer Cars

Hi Anyone & Everyone .. at our recent Singer Club Xmas Dinner, one of our members showed us his MS 1500 oil filter, and wanted to know if anyone could help him with a filter,.. anyway after inspecting the oil filter, we noticed that it was spring loaded, where as the 1500 motor I and another club member have is not ... My question is .. did all 4AD ( mine is a 1952) oil filters come out without a spring, or has it been omitted some time in the past .. (when I replaced the original filter, there was no spring) ... Regards Stephen

I have never seen one without a spring (and I have seen a lot of them, if that helps)

I have only seen a couple of Singer oil filters but as Mike said, they do have a spring on the bottom of the filter canister. The spring pushes the filter element upwards and seal the cork gasket between the filter housing and the top flange of the element.

Here is a picture of the original M11 oil filter
http://www.guru-group.fi/kabu/component ... 241297.jpg

Since the original M11 filter is rather difficult to find, I designed and fabricated parts that enable using a modern filter element inside the unmodified original canister. The filter element I selected is used in many different Mercedes-Benz models. It is Clean Filters type ML 029.

Here is dimensional information and a cross reference table to other filter manufacturers for the ML 029 filter element.
http://www.clean.it/catalogo/scheda_art ... 29&Lang=SP

My design consists of two turned aluminum sleeves and a gasket cut from cork sheet. The height of the ML 029 with the aluminum end pieces match the height of the original M11 element height. The benefit is that the modern element does not need to be modified any way, so it is easy to change it when required. Here is a picture of the parts
http://www.guru-group.fi/kabu/component ... 536773.jpg

I should have a dimensioned drawing of the parts somewhere, but could not find that now.

Regards,
Pekka

Thanks Mike & Pekka, ... I thought that was the case .. my oil filter bowl had the original perforated tin filter installed when I took it apart, but no spring,.. so it looks like the original owner has misplaced it about 45 years ago when it was probably last taken off ,..I will find a suitable spring and install,...currently I have a Ryco R21939 filter, which is same diameter but about 3/16" shorter, so I have a couple of washers on the bottom to make it the same height ... thank you for the replies ... Regards Stephen

Guys,

Be aware that the filter on the 4AD is a bypass type filter which only filters a small portion of the oil that flows into the crank and other areas. So keep the oil changes more frequent. I make a conversion using a Sunbeam Alpine oil filter and a couple of MGA locator plates to replace the M-11. Still not a full flow design. Singer designed oil filter takes a small amount of the oil from the pump, filters it and drops it right back into the oil pan. Look at the oil flow diagram for the SM 1500 saloon engine section.
BRG

Hello all,

As I nibble away at all the little details of the engine restoration of my 52 4AD, at disassembly of both the engines that I have, I noticed that neither had an oil filter or the spring mentioned in this thread. With the options listed here, I think I want to keep the OEM look, which rules out the spin-on conversion. I can make the needed adapters for using a modern available filter as Pekka has done, but is the spring used in this conversion? This looks like the way to go, but how critical is it to use the correct spring? Is the OEM filter available? Any other ideas anyone?

Thanks again,
Fred

I ran across these (see 2010 posts from Mark below) that seem to be a very simple fix. Is this setup still working well? I assume that I do need the spring.

"Regarding the oil filter cartridge, I've been using Wix filter #51328 and Car Quest filter #85328 for the past seven years. They are readily available and come with the square cut O-ring as well."

"I actually have an AC M11 element. It measures 4-15/16" between sealing surfaces. The filters that I recommended measure 4-3/4" between sealing surfaces. The difference is 3/16 inch. I forgot that I had dropped a washer on top of the spring at the bottom of the housing to compensate for this. This is a simple remedy that allows us to use elements that are readily available and economical. I have driven my car 13,000 miles in the past five years using these elements and have had no problems."

Thanks again,
Fred

Hello Fred,
Yes, I have had no problems with this setup. And yes, it does need the spring to seal at the top. Also, I use a rubber washer on top of a flat fender washer (large OD) to provide a seal at the bottom as well and fill in the 3/16" difference.

Best Regards,
Mark

Good tips, thanks:)