Donaldson air filter disassembly

[specialty]

Has anyone ever disassembled a Donaldson oil bath filter? I want to get rid of the oil bath mess and get this thing apart and find a dry element that will work with it. I know these are not to be disassembled but they went together so they have to come apart. I have searched and have only found a few places that look like a spot weld that I drilled but still no luck. Surely these elements over the years have been taken apart.

[garage gnome]

I forget who, but someone did that here.

[aboyandhisdog]

Gunslinger knows all about these filters - he works for Donaldson.  If he doesn't chime in, you may want to send him a PM.

[specialty]

Gunslinger knows all about these filters - he works for Donaldson.� If he doesn't chime in, you may want to send him a PM.

It's not that I don't want to use the oil bath but my son when we were cleaning parts sand blasted it and now it's full of sand and no way to clean it out. I would be afraid to use it now so I thought I would try to put paper element in it to keep the original look. This Jeep will not be driven much anyway with my other Jeeps sitting around. More of a piece to sit in the garage to keep making it better and enjoy that classic look. Driven to town occasionally to keep cob webs blown out. Actually I plan to drive it to my shop on nice days occasionally this summer if I get it ready. Almost done with mechanical (I hope) and chassis work. I have already welded in panels and repaired the body as far as the metal work. Hat channels to go yet and then to the dreaded body work. Hope to get it painted this spring if all stays on track. Many, many hours spent since last summer on this but work has been slow thanks to this booming economy they keep talking about.

[Ryan_M]

Can't you swish it around in a bucket of kerosene to clean it out?

If not, I'd look at buying another complete filter from eBay or elsewhere. Probably cheaper and easier in the long run than having to replace paper elements.

[specialty]

Can't you swish it around in a bucket of kerosene to clean it out?

If not, I'd look at buying another complete filter from eBay or elsewhere. Probably cheaper and easier in the long run than having to replace paper elements.

How would you ever know if all the sand was out? Nothing worse than sand to ruin a engine. Since I already had this element I thought I would experiment and see about a paper element, it sure would eliminate the mess associated with oil.

[Tumbleweed]

I have converted my oil breather to accept a paper filter. I will take some pictures of the modification for you. I followed the instructions from one of the guys on the CJ2A page. My air filter replacement is NAPA 6179 and it fits perfectly into the cavity of the old oil filter. You have to rip the guts out of your oil filter and cut the metal out of the top portion to make a good fit. This is not hard at all you just need a cut-off wheel from a hand grinder.

When everything is put back together it looks stock.

Tumbleweed

[specialty]

I have converted my oil breather to accept a paper filter. I will take some pictures of the modification for you. I followed the instructions from one of the guys on the CJ2A page. My air filter replacement is NAPA 6179 and it fits perfectly into the cavity of the old oil filter. You have to rip the guts out of your oil filter and cut the metal out of the top portion to make a good fit. This is not hard at all you just need a cut-off wheel from a hand grinder.

When everything is put back together it looks stock.

Tumbleweed

Thanks. So you need to just dig into the air cleaner and rip the stuff out first? I see no other way since I can't find where it is put together. At this point with all the sand it realy does not matter anyway. I just do not want to spend $150 for another unit. From what I have read a paper filter is a little better than the oil bath anyway, depending on who you're talking to. I will be looking forward to those pictures, thanks again.

[Tumbleweed]

You bet, there are also replacement filters a little cheaper than nthe NAPA 6179. I just purchased a new filter from Autozone that was about 2 - 3 dollars cheaper. I have also seen K&N filters installed in the Donalson but I don't know if that is worth the extra $. I actually have a bypass filter on my '53 wagon with the K&N filter and it looks neat. If I want to use the oil breather I just disconnect the K&N and put the flexible tube in place.

I'll send the pictures in the morning.

[Tumbleweed]

Hey specialty,

I found some pictures of the filter modification procedure that I used. I did not have to add any spacers or rubber spacers to make my filter fit. If you have any doubt I would take your gutted filter to you auto parts shop and get a filter to fit but the filter number I gave you worked in mine. I'll still send pictures in the morning.

[specialty]

Looks simple enough. I will check out that filter. Thanks

[specialty]

Looked the NAPA filter up. $6.99 is cheap enough. I was looking for it to be more expensive.

[johnrb3b]

Here's another variation on the theme.

http://www.42fordgpw.com/mods2.html

[aboyandhisdog]

George, great photos - do you have any that take it a bit further showing the fitment of the filter into the housing and the end result?  I'm having a little trouble getting my head around how this actually works exactly.   

[Austin]

I was just wondering if the top part of that air filter just sits on top for the body or if there is something that latches it together. Also, is there a gasket between.

Thanks,
Austin