Oil Filter Part 1

Triumphs of this era didn't have true oil filters.  What Triumph called filters in the sump and in the oil tank are really just coarse screens.  The only real provision for removing particulates from the oil is a centrifugal separator arrangement in the crankshaft.  Accumulated sludge could purportedly eventually reduce or even block off oil flow in the crankshaft.  Additionally, since it's the job of modern high detergent oils to keep particles in suspension, the separator may not even work as well as designed.  Because cleaning the sludge trap involves total tear-down of the engine, there seems to be some room for improvement here.  It is widely believed in Triumph circles that adding a true oil filter is one of the most beneficial modifications to these machines.

The most common approach to adding oil filtration to older Triumphs is to borrow a part from the Norton.  The Norton part uses an inexpensive spin-on automotive filter.  

I bought the Norton filter mount and filter, and went looking for where I could mount it. People have found quite a few places on their bikes to put the filters. I wanted someplace out of sight, I wanted the filter to be mounted hanging downward for ease of cleanup, and I didn't want to modify the frame or other parts in any permanent way. This left me with two possible places: between the rear fender and the vertical frame tube (between the oil tank and the tool carrier cover), and in front of the vertical frame tube, under the gearbox. After doing some mockups, it appeared that the rear location just didn't have enough room, and the lower location left the filter hanging lower than I liked.  

Also, though the Norton part seems to me well made, it had a couple of things I didn't like. It would fit my locations better if it were smaller. Certainly the filter itself determines some of the dimensions, but even a trim of the height of the mount would help. Secondly, if I chose the lower location for the filter, the oil tubes on the filter carrier were on the wrong side, which would require circuitous routing of the hoses. Also, the Norton inlet and outlet are for 3/8" hose, while the Triumph uses 5/16" hoses. A trifle, maybe, but it bothered me.

I looked around and found a lot of other automotive remote filter mounts, but none were better than the Norton. Mostly they were bigger.

It was about this time when I started considering a shop-built oil filter mount. I would make it as small as possible, and provide for oil lines to connect on either side.

First, I went looking for a smaller spin-on filter. The one on the left is the one that fits the Norton mount. It's about 3" in diameter by about 3" high. The other two filters are a smaller series with a diamteter of about 2-5/8". The shorter one is only about 2-1/2" high. It is used on some small Suzuki trucks, and available as part of NAPA's high performance filter line, but I had ot order it.

I had this chunk of 3/4" aluminum, and I calculated that if I could do a mount only 3/4" thick, I'd save another 1/2" on height compared to the Norton.