Early oil filter base finish

[Limey]

Was the base of the early series oil filter covers be painted or not?

I have attached a pic of my restored and replated unit for ref of the part I mean but before fitting would like to be more certain.

View attachment 1539

Thanks

Oliver

 

[jumpinjan]

It could be black, but I don't remember. Its either black or natural aluminum
Jan

 

[puff4]

I vote natural... at least most all of the ones I've seen on motors are natural, and I suspect that's original.

 

[65beam]

oil filter base

i have a new one and it's aluminum. it's not painted.

 

[jumpinjan]

Here's one of mine that looks pretty original, and it has traces of black on evrything.
Jan

 

[sunalp]

I have a few of those and they all have black paint on them. One that came off of my S3GT, which was fairly un molested , had flakey black paint comming off of the base.
HTH!
Cheers!
Steve

 

[John Boggis]

Was the base of the early series oil filter covers be painted or not?

I have attached a pic of my restored and replated unit for ref of the part I mean but before fitting would like to be more certain.

View attachment 1539

Thanks

Oliver

You better get the paint stripper out Oliver ! The base is the natural alloy finish.

 

[Limey]

i have a new one and it's aluminum. it's not painted.

That's interesting. A new one!! What is its provenence out of interest? How do you get hold of a NOS filter base? Ain't it amazing what sticks to us enthusiasts. Kudos! I have a vague recollection of better informed members than me (a mere young'un) mentioning in anecdote that some new parts when supplied seperately/ as a spare, where unpainted, only being painted in factory but plain if supplied as a spare NOS part. My old bases had traces of black but my your NOS item is interesting. Any Pics?

Ta.

Oliver

 

[65beam]

filter base

limey,
you misunderstood me. i have the entire unit.and my computer is so old and slow that i sometimes have trouble pulling up sites so i have a hard time posting photos.

 

[Limey]

You better get the paint stripper out Oliver ! The base is the natural alloy finish.

Interesting, evidence for both painted and unpainted. That's the last thing I want to read.

 

[puff4]

Well, I guess the real question is if they installed the oil filter base before or after the engine went through the paint stage. Your original may well be bare alloy, because it never was installed and hence never painted with the motor.

That being said, as I noted before, all the Alpine engines I've personally seen had bare alloy filter blocks. However, is it possible that the earlier engines - the ones with canister filtres - could have been painted whilst the later ones with spin-on filtres were not?

 

[64beam]

Hi Oliver,

It seems the majority of the posts point to the painted version and by the effort you have gone to as well as the quality of your finished assembly, I would leave it as is . It makes sense that any bases supplied as a spare/replacement were 'as cast'. It still leaves some doubt though . Is it for concours? If it is, and you loose points for it being black change it for the next judging .

Regards, Robin.

 

[ALC 68A]

My Series 3 with the canister filter has an unpainted alloy base. If there are some painted ones about, perhaps it was something done on cars earlier than the 3.

That being said, all of the other alloy engine parts are in bare metal finish and logically, the cast iron parts would have to be painted after they were made to stop them rusting while they were in storage before fitting up into a complete engine. I can't imagine the engines were painted after assembly of ancillary parts such as the filter base. So why would Rootes paint only the filter base separately? It seems an unnecessary extra production line job that would cost money and serve no useful purpose.

Steve

 

[Limey]

I have been told by a long time Alpine enthusiast (30 years+) a that the Rootes factory assembled the front axle almost to completion and then painted it. Don't know if this is true or not.

If so it's not beyond imagination that the engine may have been painted with at least some parts on: timing chain cover and crank balancer? Generator bracket? Water pump?

Then again its easy enough to paint the oil filter unit as a separate pre-assembled unit as well and then fit it. Jan's pic shows traces of paint on the 3 fittings on the base suggesting this to be the case.

Maybe I need to consider painting over the 3 fittings in the base to be factory accurate. I will do it if required.

Oliver

 

[Limey]

You better get the paint stripper out Oliver ! The base is the natural alloy finish.

Not so fast Boggis!!! You own one of those Johnny-come-lately Alpines with their modern Series IV 'Improvements'

I'll keep the lid on the paint stripper just for the moment

 

[65beam]

oil filter base

here is your problem limey. i have an original nos unit in the box with an unpainted base . others have bases that are painted . there seems to be no definitive answer yet as to what is right so who is to say that either is wrong? the same with your generator . ??????? just need to use a little common sense here. is it the right part for the time frame that the car was built? remember that rootes was on the way out due to money problems. did they cut corners and not specify a set standard on parts bought? there are lots of " what if's " here. are there any records in the archives? i'm not trying to be ------- about this but where do we find the absolute definitive answer? it seems to be a confusing situation. my answer to you would be to bolt on the right parts and then detail and detail again. makes for a great car.

 

[64beam]

here is your problem limey. i have an original nos unit in the box with an unpainted base . others have bases that are painted . there seems to be no definitive answer yet as to what is right so who is to say that either is wrong? the same with your generator . ??????? just need to use a little common sense here. is it the right part for the time frame that the car was built? remember that rootes was on the way out due to money problems. did they cut corners and not specify a set standard on parts bought? there are lots of " what if's " here. are there any records in the archives? i'm not trying to be ------- about this but where do we find the absolute definitive answer? it seems to be a confusing situation. my answer to you would be to bolt on the right parts and then detail and detail again. makes for a great car.

We need a book of norman for the Alpine .

Regards, Robin.

 

[65beam]

oil filter base

YOU GOTTA BE KIDDIN !!!!! they can't even agree on what is repairable or how to repair it. why add that controversy to the alpine world????

 

[Ken Ellis]

Less than one week. I win the pool.

Ken

 

[moonstone SIV]

POOL? NOBODY TOLD ME THERE WAS A POOL!! And I've only just put away my inflatable octopus for the winter.....................(sigh).