Right Angle Oil Filter - NEED HELP!!!

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PolarBear

PolarBear

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Okay - I'm stumped............... I'm putting Spitfire headers on my '65 273 Barracuda. The driver-side header went on with no major problem, but the passenger-side is a different story.

I have a Mopar Package P5249624 right-angle oil filter base. Surprisingly, it really doesn't look much different than the original base that was on the engine (just a very slight difference in the oil filter angle). Anyway, I mounted the new one like the old one (filter pointing backwards), but it won't work, as the header collector will hit it (even without an oil filter).

Is the oil filter supposed to face forward?

There's a metal brace running from the bell housing to the motor in the vicinity - which, I believe, will preclude mounting the base "upside down" - which would make the filter point forward.........

What the heck am I missing? ..........Does anybody have photo of a correctly mounted right-angle oil filter base?
 
it can go in about any angle unless it is the one with the locator tabs.get everything in place with the filter on then tighten it down if there is no interference.good luck and hope this helps
 
I had a later aluminum one off a Dippy cop car that I fit to my engine with stock manifolds. Everything fit fine, until I tried to put a filter on it. The angle was different (very hard to see) and it hit the frame rail no matter what I did. Had to go back to the stock cast iron one.

My guess is, the angle is wrong and you need the earlier one.
 
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On my 69 cuda I had to leave that brace that you said ran from the bellhousing to the block off toget everything to fit.
 
I hope that brace is just a redundant safety measure - and not a crucial element - cause I took it off, swung the oil filter adaptor down (so that the oil filter faces forward), and the header will fit now - barely.

I had to grind off a little on one edge on the header collector flange, as it was touching the big bolt that holds the oil filter adaptor in place - and I'm still having trouble getting the front header bolt to line up and go in. I may have to grind a little more - or hog out the hole on the mount plate - or who knows what!

Looking back, I thought the driver side header would be the problem - I never dreamed the passenger side would be such a nightmare.
 
It did cross my mind. But I'm not sure that it would work either, as it would (I believe) still interfere with the header collector.

I'm curious - am I the only '64, '65, '66 Barracuda/Valiant owner that's ever tried to install Spitfires on the original 273 V8? ......anybody else out there?
 
That's exactly why I'm concerned about taking it off - but to reiterate, I'm hoping it's only a redundant safety measure, and not a super-critical component.
 
PolarBear, you are not the only one to install the Spitfires on an early A. I have had the Spitfires on my 66 for about 4 years now. I got one of the very first sets, just after Harold made a couple changes to the first sets he made. I had the same problem as you with the filter (mine is pointing forward and the large pass through bolt is close), and the header bolts were a bear to line up on the passenger side. In the end, i should have left the 2 studs on the ends of the heads in place to locate the header and hold it in place, but hindsight is always 20/20. One piece of advise I can give you is to use the BEST header gasket you can find. I used some good ones, but had to change the drivers side already, a job not near to my heart. I bucked down and used the blue header gaskets, I forget the manufacturer now, but the gaskets were almost $30.00. No problem since though, so in my mind money well spent. On the plus side, I am really happy with the response increase from the motor with the headers. FYI, my motor is a 66 273 commando motor, rebuilt as stock except for the 340 magnum hydraulic camshaft addition. Good luck with the headers, and just wait till you get it to the muffler shop, their gonna love those TIGHT spaces to run the pipes. Geof
 
Did Harold weld your connectors on or did you do it yourself?

He welded mine on, I hope I don't run into the same problem when I try to put the 340 in the 66 Dart.

My 74 Duster and the 65 B'cuda are both missing the engine to tranny braces. I guess the previous owners always took them off. ARE they really necessary?

If it is one of the "ears" hitting can you cut it off, rotate it and weld it back on?
 
cosgig:

Glad to hear from you - and glad to know that there ARE others who have experienced the tribulations of the 64-66 A Body Spitfire installation. It's also comforting to hear that I'll experience a boost in performance - although my main objective was "looks"....... I really wanted to get those ugly old rusty iron manifolds out of there, as I have an old Edelbrock DB3 aluminum intake, chrome valve covers, air cleaner, alternator, etc.

And I bought metal-type manifold/header gaskets from Mr. Gasket (I believe it was)...... hopefully, they'll make a good and lasting seal.


340 Dart:

The muffler shop welded the connectors on for me. Fortunately, it's not an ear that's rubbing - it's the area between ears. And I think I can can grind it a little more without hurting anything.

My guess is that you'll have the same issue with the 340. If I had it to do over again, I'd visually line up the header and the connector before welding. In my case, I was just lucky.
 
:cheers: Yay..........

Finally got the passenger-side header bolted down last night. Had to grind a little more on the flange, but I now have about 1/8" clearance between it and the pass-through bolt on the oil filter base.

I ended up using longer hex head bolts (5/16" x 18 x 1 1/4") and lock washers (at each end) on the header. Got 'em at the local hardware store, as ARP only seems to have 3/4" length available - which I think is way too short. I'll probably change out (at least a couple of) the ARP bolts on the driver-side as time goes on.

So the next step is the muffler shop - hopefully sometime next week!

Just wanted to say thanks to all who commented, gave advice, and asked questions about the install.
 
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