The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Toilet Paper Roll For Oil Filter

A Chevy service manager told me that it is ok to use a roll of toilet paper in my 62, 235 oil filter canister as a filter element. I was doing this for a long time but stopped after I had the engine rebuilt. I was changing my oil today and they gave me the wrong filter soooo I just popped in a fresh roll of toilet paper.

Anybody know if this is an "ok" thing to do?

Thanks

I'd pass on it myself. If it starts coming apart make a mess through your engine.

That's what I thought but it doesn't come apart at all. I was quite surprised. Again, I haven't done it in a long time but when I did it before it seemed to work fine. I'm thinking about making a wire mesh basket that will enclose the toilet paper though just to make sure.

Where's an old-timer when you need one?

Tab, do you use quilted or extra absorbant? Just kidding. I remember see ads in Pop Science and other magazines for toilet paper oil filters. Have heard some that say it worked good others not so good. Might depend on quality of paper??

the original TP filter [Franz] was an add-on bypass filter, and worked fine, especally in conjunction w/ the OEM full pressure filter - when I was a tadpole, dad owned a little cab co [3 cars] - his hick mechanic put the Franz filters on the cabs, and they took many many miles without major motor work

googled franz filter and found this page - the gov uses them?!?!? oil companies use them?!?!?

Bill

Ever since I was a young'un all my old-timer friends have spoken of this exact topic. All of them talked of how that's how it "used to be." Of course they were speaking of vehicles several decades older than yours.

I keep hearing that my 235 doesn't have the oil pressure to convert to a screw on type filter. All my canister oil "filter" does is trap contaminants it doesn't force the oil through the filter. Therefore I believe that a roll of toilet paper will work as good as an expensive filter designed for this canister filter system. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I like the price though... 22 cents for a filter.

While I'm at it I have another filter question.... I want to get some foam to saturate with oil to wrap around my existing air filter but I can't find any. They make them for lawn mowers but not cars. I removed the original oil bath because it was a pain in the butt and messy.

Tab, where in Texas are you?

When I was a kid The LA fair had aguy selling T. P. filters

I found the We Filter It site . Interesting reading. I remember something about TP oil filters from when I was a kid back in the 60s. A man in our community had an old Studebaker and he put a TP filter on it. He ran it for years and years without changing the oil again- just change that toilet paper and add oil as required. I had forgot about that. I'm now thinking about trying that on my 50 Chevy 216 with the original by-pass canister. I'm not looking at my truck right now and don't remember if the flow is in the bottom of the filter up through the center and out the side at the top, or vice-versa. Tab, how is yours plumbed?

In the side, out the bottom is the way it works.

SixCylindersOverTexas: Well first of all YOU NEED A SHORTER NAME. LOL... I am located in, not so lovely, Cleburne, TexAss. My truck is in the 62 gallery here.

About the toilet paper: I just dropped a roll into the canister but there must be a better way. I don't konw exactly how that canister filter works. " In the top and out the bottom" that's useful info but that spring that holds the storebought filter in place doesn't do much with the roll in there. Oh and btw: I use THE cheapest toilet roll I can find. If it's good enough for my butt it's good enough for my truck.

Anybody know where I can get a wrap around oil soaker element for my air cleaner?

Tab, Harvard Corp. out of Evensville, Wi. sells bypass oil filters that I believe were based on the TP filters. But Harvard filters are made to work with pressure systems. harvard.com, or harvardfilters.com

Ask a crafts store where you can buy the material and what to use for glue. I'll bet they can fix you right up. Mike

Only thing I'm wondering is how the oil gets through the cardboard tube in the middle? I was looking at an old J.C. Whitney catalog last night, they also sold TP oil filter kits. Actually you could run your 216/235 without an oil filter at all. The only oil that passes through the filter is what the engine doesn't need, so the more wear in the engine the less that passes through the filter. There is a write up on www.inliners on how to convert the 235 to full flow oiling. Though this would be best done on an overhaul. I wish I knew this years before when overhauling the 235 I have. Oh well, maybe next time.

Uhh, take it from the son of a toilet paper roll maker... Stop using it, immediatly (at least in your engine).

Modern toilet paper has lots of dies bleaches, glues, and other chemicals added to it so the cheapest pulp can be used to make it. These chemicals are not necessarily good for your engine and may react with the additives in your oil. The fibers also tend to come apart when wet. You are probably doing more harm than good using a roll of TP. Get a real filter, it will work a lot better and there is no risk. While it may have been ok to do this in 1955, since TP was a lot less soft and had less chemicals and better pulp it is not a good idea now.

If you really feel like you have to use TP use the single ply Scott Tissue 1000 sheet roll, it is the best quality paper with the least amount of die and glue.

"die and glue"!? My 235 not withstanding that explains a whole hell of alot. I'm canceling that doctors appointment.

Since those canister "filters" don't really do much filtering I don't think it matters as long as the roll holds together. My experience says that it does. I think that the oil doesn't have to flow through the cardboard center it just seeps through the edge of the paper on down. But that's a good question because I wondered the same and I don't know for certain. I'm going to check out Harvard Corp if I can find them on the web.

About that oil foam for the air cleaner.........Somebody has got to know....

Guys, I hate to be a naysayer, but would popping for a few bucks once or twice a year to get a quality refill filter for your pride an joy really be that expensive?

Especially for the unknown "benefits" of a TP filter?

Think about it.

When I couldn't find a prefilter for my tractor's air cleaner, I made one from a universal foam air conditioner filter (the kind you can get at Walmart for window air conditioners). I just wrapped it around, cut it to size, and hot-glued the cut ends together. It slips on and off pretty easy and has worked good for over 4 years now. Hint: To oil the prefilter, put it in a large ziploc bag and add about an ounce of oil. Seal the bag and then work the oil into the filter. No mess, no oily hands.

LOL... I hear ya but ya know I get lots of pride and joy when I put that roll in there and cap it up. This 2 ton pile of greasy junk will still be so long after we are all gone.

You guys need a lot of rolls to deal with all the ,,,, (well you know) going on here!!!
WHY bother with a roll of tp in there???

If you do not use a real filter, your engine will end up full of,,,,

These remote filters on an low presure engine didn't filter all of the oil all of the time... it just filtered some of the oil some of the time.

I spent quite a bit of time on the We Filter It website researching their product. (I even spoke on the phone with the company owner.) The principle behind the Frantz Filter is sound. They have a good cutaway drawing of how the filter works: Oil goes in the bottom up a center tube then spreads out and goes down through the length of the TP element. Oil doesn't have to go through the center roll. They claim it can catch particles as small as 1/2 micron. There is a screen base that keeps the filter medium in place. I think it really works. I do wonder how effective it would be to put a roll of TP in the original style by-pass canister on a 216/235/261. I looked at mine on the 216 and the flow is in the side near the top and out the bottom center. Oil flow would have to go through the hard paper center. Tab has apparently had good luck this way on his 235 but I wonder if he's getting any flow through it..?

Frank:

The roll is shorter than the store bought filter and therefore allows oil flow over the top. I swear that when I changed the TP filter before it had lots of particulate matter on it.

In about 4K miles I will open that canister up, take a photo and up it to this forum along with my smiling or frowning face.

It occures to me that we are more careful about what we put in our auto engines than our own bodies. I wonder how many in this forum who replied negatively to the TP filter are typing with a cigarette in their face....? Just a thought.....

Tab, the site is harvardcorp.com out of Evansville, Wi. I misspelled the city name in the earlier post.

I suspect you are right about a lot of people being more concerned about what they put in their Stovebolts than what they put in their bodies. Once I heard Jack LaLain remark; "some people get up in the morning, light a cigarette, drink a few cups of coffee, eat a couple donuts. My god, they wouldn't treat their dog like that". Mike

LOL... Yeah I remember a friend of mine telling me that she doesn't smoke in her new car because she didn't want to ruin the interior. hahahahaha...

DUKW45:

Thanks for the oil foam tip! Going to WalMart tomorrow. Using oil soaked foam + the paper store bought air cleaner element should do a very good job of filtration.