no, the part that "catches the dirt" is not just the surface of the oil reservoir, the way the oil bath works is the turbulent air moving thru causes enough mist of oil movement that the mesh screen stays wet, which is where most of the dirt is caught, and then washed down to the reservoir - just empty one that hasn't been cleaned in awhile and look at the sludge built up at the bottom of the oil, and note the mesh will still be wet
and Denny, the reason you don't see oil bath filters on endurance race cars is cuz they aren't run on dirt roads for 50,000 miles the way these ol trucks were back in the day
Bill
