Sunday I decided to check out the oil leak on the Chevelle. I'd noticed a leak a while ago and thought it was a bad gasket on the spin on oil filter. The leak went away for a while, and then came back. I tightened the filter a bit more and the leak seemed to be there still, but it looked like it was the filter. On Sunday I put the car on stands and got under it while running.
Turns out that the leak was coming from the oil filter adapter (swapped over from the old 327 when I assembled the short block 10 years ago), not the filter. I tried to remove the filter, but I had tightened it so much that I bent the handle on the filter wrench! I finally got the filter off and pounded on the handle to get it somewhat straight, then removed the adapter. The bolts were not all that tight, so I assumed that it might be as easy as cleaning up the adapter and installing again. I did get it nice and clean, but when I went to clean the block I found the gasket sealing the adapter to the block was crumbling. This was the source of the leak. Since I swapped this into a short block, the 350 block did not have the usual oil filter fitting, but it was easy enough to swap over the pressure relief ring and spin on adapter from the dead 327 way back then. I figured all I needed was to go and buy either another adapter (since nobody would be selling the gasket only), or buy the pressure relief/spin on combo setup without the adapter from my local speed shop. I get in the car and drive over to find out that they are now closed on Sundays. So I head over to Pep Boys. They don't carry one, but they say NAPA should. Kragen is closer, so I go there first. They don't carry it either, but NAPA should. I drive to NAPA and guess what? They are closed on Sunday too! Now I'm beginning to wonder what to do. Do I cut my losses and get help to push the car into the garage (not all that easy since it is in front of the other garage), make my own gasket from rubber or cardboard, make it from RTV, or cannibalize the engine for the Corvette. That engine is on an engine stand so it would be easy, but I hate to mess with something that is already put together. While looking at the setup on the stock engine, I realize how different my 327 setup is. I also realize that I still have one PF141 filter and the entire canister setup from the blown Corvette engine! Now, the only trick left is to figure out if that can work. So I grab the old canister and stick the long bolt into the block... Success. I don't know why, but Chevy still machines the threads for the canister bolt. I found some shorter bolts to hold the pressure relief ring in and bolt it up. I then load the canister with the filter and fill the canister with a quart of oil. I carefully get the O-ring in place and slowly screw the canister into place. All done, I start the engine and check under the car. SPLURT! There goes a pint of oil before I can shut off the engine. It overwhelmed the cardboard and made a nasty puddle in the driveway. Now I was getting really pissed at the car. I removed the canister, dumped the oil, and checked everything. I saw nothing wrong, not kinked O-ring, the canister seemed to be tight, everything fit dry. I figured what do I have to lose, so I worked the O-ring into place first, then installed the canister again and started the car. NO LEAKS! So now I have a '67 Chevelle with a '70s 350 and '60s oil filtration. When it comes time for the next oil change I'm not sure if I'll stick with the canister or swap to a new factory style spin on fitting. Other than the PF141 filters being hard to find, it seems like a decently large filter. How was your weekend? Brad Waller ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) '66 Corvette | 327/dead | 4-speed | Wilwood Brakes | 245/45/16 BFG R1 '67 Chevelle | ex-SS396 | 355/700R4 | F-Body Brakes | 275/40/17 Kumho MX
