The Official 356Talk Forum

I've looked at some of the previous postings about oil filter canisters and I can't seem to find answers to these:

1. When exactly did the orange canister get used? if up to 1957, about what date did it switch to gray?
2. What rattle can brand & color is best or recommended? I have Dupli-Color Chevy (Engine) Orange, DE 1620. It seems to have a little more orange in it than what is in the Stoddard decals. Not a perfect match, if that is a concern.
3. Placement of the big decal on the canister. Photos in the archives indicate that it went at the bottom of the can and centered below the exit tube, which means that, when mounted, would be on the left side of the can and almost out of view. Were there variations of that, such as centered above or below the clamp? Mounted and centered to be seen from the rear? I'm trying to be "correct" here for concours reasons.

I appreciate your responses,
=rds

Hi Ronald,

The orange Fram canister was used from 1953 onward, though not exclusively (Mann and Knecht were also used). Mid-June 1953 was when Porsche started adding oil filter canisters as standard equipment, but of course they were available before then as options.

The stickers were as you describe in 3 - centered below the outlet at the bottom. Here's a period photo of a 1955 engine for reference. The orange ones used on Porsches were the C3 canisters which used the F3 filter. The correct C3 sticker for the top is not currently reproduced. The F988 sticker that is currently available is for the silver/grey Fram canisters.

Fram (a Rhode Island company) canisters were made under license by two firms in Germany, Merz-Werke and DFG. Both were suppliers for Porsche. Each had their own stickers. It would be good if the bottom and top stickers matched for the extra anal retentive concours souls. Though sometimes DFG stickers ended up on Merz-Werke canisters and vice versa. Probably attributable to Feierabend. =)

Unfortunately people have been restoring these Fram canisters incorrectly with the wrong stickers put in the wrong locations for a very long time, so using other restored cars for reference is not a great idea.

was the orange oil canister ever used on the 912 if so what year?

James: How about the bolt on the top cover? Is that carbon black or cad plated? I have a early '58 Cab with the orange filter and the black carbon bolt... Copper washer?

Thanks,

Franny

The top bolt on the German Fram filter canisters is painted black, same as the top lid.

I believe the two different manufacturers of German Fram filter canisters take different sized bolts.

Wow... That is some solid knowledge!!

The head on ours is 22mm I think.

Thanks!

Franny

You can see the Merz-Werk (lumpy lid) looks like a smaller bolt than the DFG ones (smooth lid). See photos below. I've never measured them though.

Ahhh... Mine must be the DFG (smooth lid) with the 22mm.

Would this be correct for the C3?: https://www.impactdecals.co.uk/collecti ... -decal-set

Thanks,

Franny

More answers than you need on oil filter canisters. Anyone know where top bolts for the Fram DFG version canister can be purchased? I have few canisters missing them.
https://porsche356registry.org/article/230

Nice find Franny! Those look perfect for the Merz-Werk canisters. I just ordered one myself. =)

I must say I've also seen some variation on the Merz-Werk canisters. The early ones from 1953-55 seem to have the lumpy lid and these are easy to spot in period and factory photos. But later ones seem to be smooth, and some have a drain hole. I haven't done much research on the later ones because I'm mostly anal retentive about pre-A stuff. =)

Anyway, see photos below of (what I think are) later Merz-Werk canisters. As you can see, those reproduced decals you found are spot-on.

Another Merz-Werk canister, this one with a drain hole.

Ya know,... I bet ImpactDecals could produce the DFG decals as well... They are 95% of the way there and they do mention that they do all sorts of repo decals. The folks over on F-Chat would be pretty psyched about that opportunity too...

So, sounds like they don't mind shopping overseas?

Franny

Chatted with Rob Sangster at Impact Decals, a former 356 owner. He's not a member here, but is happy to work on these sorts of projects. A real enthusiast! So any reference material to help improve and feedback on his work is appreciated!

Anyway, I got set of these decals in mail, and they look great. Much more accurate than any of the existing Fram decals in many ways.

Some comments.....

The "Oil Filter Story" has been going on for years. The lids get separated from the cans, the bolts get lost and (these days) you seldom see an unrestored/untouched engine with the filter. I once made a dimensioned list of 11 different top bolts -- I'm still looking for that sheet of paper! I have never seen any Porsche nor vendor documentation about any of these filters -- it didn't seem to matter until lately now that restorations are getting to a high level.

Suggest James Davies to be in charge of making up a Truth Table (or write a book) of all the various Filter Cans used on which engines, decals, etc. I believe Tom Scott has done quite a bit of research also.

For interest, here's Willhoit's latest offering of restored cans Fram, H-Filter and Mann -- no orange ones for some reason. http://willhoit-auto-restoration.mybigc ... -canister/

This looks similar except for the bracket and wing nut.
NOS and the guy has 3 @ $287 = $40 S&H (pricey shipping)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Porsche-356-Je ... UV&vxp=mtr