Oil filter housing paint

This oil filter housing from my MK3 is approx 8000 miles old (or 3 years old). It has only had Torco RC-1 oil through it. During a routine oil change today I noticed the paint is coming off the inside. I am not sure if I am correct in saying that there probably was not much to worry about as it would get stuck in the filter before going back to the tank. So I don't think much chance for paint bits to go in my motor. Nether the less I worry too much about this kind of thing. I looked around the internet in Google images and they all seem to be black paint inside. Here is a photo of it. Luckily I caught it before all the paint fell off:

I would never want paint there.

swooshdave said:

I would never want paint there.

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I agree. Due to the fact that it is peeling, you might want to wire wheel and even strip that out of there.

Because this is common to all Commandos, we'll accept this topic here and not require it moved to the MKIII section.

Original equipment oil filter housing not painted inside?? I can't remember now... :?:

concours said:

Original equipment oil filter housing not painted inside?? I can't remember now... :?:

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Not on my '74 (I just had to check).

Nathan

not good, that crap will quickly block the filter, by pass mode, all crap back to tank
paint strip, chuck filter on and paint outside only
how did you see it, I would have never spent long enough on the floor looking up at that greasy crap hole,although your bikes a darn sight cleaner than my british oil sieve

I'm fairly confident mine is not painted. I know the sealing surface is not. You're right that it would simply get caught in the filter and the filter has plenty of area so it's unlikely it would clog.

To ID the mount, Jerry's pix shows a casting circle at 9:30 and 5:30. I have two RGM 063139 like that and I have had several problems with the quality of manufacture. These may be powder coating pealing off... maybe paint.
In the past I swore off RGM housings and bought a batch from Norvil and guess what I got....RGM. I had to machine the gasket face square to the screw on post so the gaskets would seal. I notified/warned Norvil of such. They compensated me for the corrective machining.

I have two styles that appear to be Norton made... yet casting PN 063136? Factory ones are not without their flaws.
Of the 7 in the parts box, only one is not painted. I have not checked the other 1/2 dozen bikes around the shop for filter housing ID.

how did you see it, I would have never spent long enough on the floor looking up at that greasy crap hole,although your bikes a darn sight cleaner than my british oil sieve

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Last time I put a filter on I had to over tighten it to stop oil leaking. That's why this time I looked closer. It was not powder coated, it was paint. Although in my photo you could see just a few bits of paint coming off, as soon as I touched it with a screw driver it started peeling off. It has been soaking in paint stripper all night. So today I will clean it up and re-assemble.

It is from a major Norton parts manufacturer, where we all get our parts, like Dave mentioned.

Nothing is ever straight forward on a Commando it seems. Was supposed to be a quick oil change.

Just out of curiosity, what is Andover selling?
Ive never bought a oil filter base from
anyone, my 74 mk2 hast he original and Ive never thought to notice if it is painted. I bet not.

The crap would not block the bye pass...mot instantly anyway...It requires the main filer element to become blocked before the bye- pass is activated by the rise in back pressure and on the original Crossland filter it was set to operate at around 12 lb per sq inch. Of course if you employ filters with a much less filter element area ...... For example the original Crossland filter had approx 152 sq inches of filter area but an equivelent Wipac filter only about 100 sq inches with various others between the two. I assume the change intervals recommended by Norton apply to the original Crossland filter with its 152 sq inches of filter and that others with less filter areas should be changed at lower milage interval?? Or are many Commando owners running around with totally blocked filters with oil flowing through the unfilterd bye pass valve? I bet the average BSA / Triumph 3 owner was...the Coopers filter for them measured only just over 50 sq inches in area and the change interval was, if I remember correctly, as Norton.....although it was in the flow side and not the return.... Of course there were, when I last received a list of same size filters from a manufacturer, some that did NOT have a bye-pass valve incorporated .......... Mind you one London dealer at one time biought a load of filer bodies and screw on filters from a VERY good salesman which he flogged to unsuspecting owners......they were fuel filters and they did NOT even have a bye-pass valve which made them totally unsuitable for motor cycle lubrication ststems...according to the info I received from the filter mannufacturer...... Wonder how many motors were starved of oil and blew up / failed before the owners realised the filter was to blame? Cheapo filters are OK providing you know what you are doing... You can always pick up the phone and ask the manufacturer for info... although if manufactured in China?????

I recently bought a RGM oil filter head from a place I regularly buy from, and when I opened it, I about crapped! Terrible looking jagged black finish on it. No way would the filter seal on it. Rough as a cob. I was afraid it was powder coated, and I couldn't get it off, but paint stripper took it right off. Before I even had a chance to mount it I saw the post on the improved Andover unit, and I immediately bought one. (I just HAD to do it!) I don't know what the finish is, kind of a gun-metal grey color. If I were to guess, some kind of plating or powder coating. Looks like it's on there to stay. I would also report that the two barbed spigots are screwed in with visible shoulders where they meet the surface of the housing. Nice stuff! And the hardest part for me to swallow is that with the current exchange rate, and shipping figured in, the Andover part was a bout $1 less than the first one I bought. Doh!

J. M. Leadbeater said:

Or are many Commando owners running around with totally blocked filters with oil flowing through the unfilterd bye pass valve?

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Seeing as the Commando had already been in production for over 4 years before the spin-on filter was introduced, I think perhaps you may be overstating the case.....just a little.

Just to add to the fray ....
I was surprised to see Jerry's 75 bike with an aftermarket item since all 75 came from the factory with one. However failing to seal is a result of the threaded stem not being 90 degrees from the sealing face or visa versa. This was the flaw with the rgm housings I got from Norvil. Not to be out done, in the late 80's seemingly before there were repops from RGM, a leaky commando was diagnosed to have a factory norton housing out of square and was hung on the wall of shame for display. When you screw on the filter the gasket would touch on one side and have a gap on the other. Only with severe tightening would it eventually seal.
5-10 years ago I made a tool to hold the threads and hold the fixture in a lathe for a skim cut on the gasket face to make them square, because the shipping back to Norvil would be silly.

Loads of parts were missing from my Mk3. Thats why i had to buy that one. I would not have thought it was that easy to screw these up, but wrong i am. I was always suspicious about it. I purchased and original used one for my 750 and will look for another to replace this. I do have to tighen the filter on hard to stop leaking. It could also be that the painr was partially of the face.

I have removed the paint, cleaned it up and refitted it. Hopefully its ok as i need to get out and ride the bike...

J. M. Leadbeater said:

The crap would not block the bye pass...mot instantly anyway...

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There's maybe 7 square inches of paint at most - not to worry.

if nobody has mentioned this, the centre threaded connection is oil in, the other ofset connection is oil out. therefore paint peeling will not end up in the filter instead in the oil tanks....

850commando said:

if nobody has mentioned this, the centre threaded connection is oil in, the other ofset connection is oil out.

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Centre is oil out.

old age memory missed, its nice to be corrected gentle... next time i double check the part visually and not use the gray matter

850commando said:

old age memory missed, its nice to be corrected gentle... next time i double check the part visually and not use the gray matter

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It's actually the way most, if not all filters work.

I know the feeling about relying on memory! I go charging into a room for something, can't remember what it was, go back out and start again.