Original Oil filter's??

[reggie44]

Hello Fellow Turbo Regal Enthusiasts:

I have a question regarding ORIGINAL oil filter's that came on the 1986-1987 Buick Turbo Regals...I believe from new when they came from the factory the oil filter was all black in color (assembly line bulk filters) with no labels and then usually at the first oil change at your local GM Dealer it was replaced with the white and blue (with label) AC Delco Filter. Does this sound correct and accurate and if so does anybody know the part #'s of both the black filter's and the white and blue AC Delco version and even better anybody have any NOS ones for sale?

I am doign a "year one" update/restoration on my 1987 Limited and would like to bring it back to as original as possible...it's about 95% there.

Thanks.

 

[turbofish38]

Yes the original assembly line filter was black. But they had white silkscreened writing and the filter number was PF47. It might have been PF40. The PF40 changed to the PF47 sometime in the 80's. From the Factory Assembly Manual I see the part number was 93156298 so that would be on it too. I've never seen a white and blue filter on the 80's GM cars. I think those were 60's and 70's.


If you get somebody to repop these get them to make the original R45TS spark plugs with the green stripes and the 75-60 Freedom battery with the white case and choice of blue or black tops while you are at it. Nothing says correct unless you get the small details correct.

One time I found a low/no miles GNX on eBay. The seller even saved these parts. He had a zip bag with a drained oil filter and 6 spark plugs along with the OEM battery. Now thats what I call dedication. I wonder if one of the GNX now owns this car and saved those parts?

 

[usetaboost]

Believe it or not, that pos out in the garage had nearly all original parts. aside from the exhaust being rotted, and drop in k&n it was all original. Unfortunately when I got the car and started on it I was still in a chebby state of mind and chucked the original wires, plugs, and the plug wire clips and mounting tabs. Try not to bash too hard, I feel bad enough

 

[A2000RICH]

Yes the original assembly line filter was black. But they had white silkscreened writing and the filter number was PF47. It might have been PF40. The PF40 changed to the PF47 sometime in the 80's. From the Factory Assembly Manual I see the part number was 93156298 so that would be on it too. I've never seen a white and blue filter on the 80's GM cars. I think those were 60's and 70's.


If you get somebody to repop these get them to make the original R45TS spark plugs with the green stripes and the 75-60 Freedom battery with the white case and choice of blue or black tops while you are at it. Nothing says correct unless you get the small details correct.

One time I found a low/no miles GNX on eBay. The seller even saved these parts. He had a zip bag with a drained oil filter and 6 spark plugs along with the OEM battery. Now thats what I call dedication. I wonder if one of the GNX now owns this car and saved those parts?

eric-----i've got several original cars and engines with original filters-----none have white letters on them------the original filters were painted black and had indented rings around them------i have not seen any other filter that looks like these filters------i'll take a couple pics tomorrow..........RC

 

[turbofish38]

That could be. The only OEM oil filters I remember are the PF25 on my ElCamino and MCSS. I guess that means we can just paint the blue filters unless some concours judge wants to mic the diameter and count the ridges.

 

[A2000RICH]

eric-----i've got several original cars and engines with original filters-----none have white letters on them------the original filters were painted black and had indented rings around them------i have not seen any other filter that looks like these filters------i'll take a couple pics tomorrow..........RC

guys------here's what the original filters look like--------they have two distinctive grooves around them-------they were also poorly painted------it is easy to see the painted over lables that were on them originally------sometimes they were not even painted well enough to totally hide the label underneath-----and look at the small 6 holes that feed the filter element------i seriously doubt that these filters would be considered "quality" by todays standards.......RC

PS-------incidently i have measured new, unused "factory breakin oil" in some of the engines that these filters cam from------anybody want to guess what the oil contained a lot of ???...................

 

[turbofish38]

Whats that label that is partially painted over? If I had to guess by reading the engine painting instructions in the Engine Assembly Manual I'd say those filters got painted black along with the rest of the motor after they screwed them together. Makes you wonder if you gently rubbed off that top layer of paint if you wouldn't find the white silk screened label I was talking about.

 

[A2000RICH]

Whats that label that is partially painted over? If I had to guess by reading the engine painting instructions in the Engine Assembly Manual I'd say those filters got painted black along with the rest of the motor after they screwed them together. Makes you wonder if you gently rubbed off that top layer of paint if you wouldn't find the white silk screened label I was talking about.

perhaps so---------one of these days i might get the nerve to try at one with a Q-tip and a bottle of paint thinner to see what the label says but these original filters are so rare its sort of like messing with the paint on an original car---------i know its just a oil filter and a used one at that but it is original..............RC

 

[theamcguy]

Who sells the Factory Engine Assembly Manuals?

 

[reggie44]

WOW! Great Photographs...

Hello Mr. Clark,

WOW! Thank you for the great photographs and information on the filters. Sorry for not responding to this thread sooner however I was away on business and just arrived back. I remember many years ago seeing a original black filter on a 700 original mile Grand National, however the one thing I didn't realize is how 'crudely' they were painted and that it had the indented sides towards the top of the filter. Of course, I can understand the rough looking paint on them as I am sure it was just another engine going down the line and they were not trying to make them pretty. Very interesting point as well that you made about the period oil filtration holes (6) compared to todays filters available and the current GM ones.

Gentlemen, may I ask a few more questions, based on the incredible photographs any idea what color the filter was underneath all that black paint..was it originally white or ? And after a filter like this back in 1987 would have been changed at your local Mr. GoodWrench dealer during the first service what would it have been replaced with ie: color and model of filter?

And on another topic, Mr. Clark & Eric, if I were to start a thread on the original Delco Freedom Batteries, ie: black top with white cases, may I ask you both for your input and possibly trouble you Mr. Clark when you have time to take some detailed photographs of any NOS or original samples you have? I will have to make sure I have my camera ready and primed for Mr. Clark's event in October to look at all the 'time capsules'.

I know some people perhaps may think this thread is 'silly' or crazy examining original filters like this and batteries and small detail points but I truly believe that in the next several years more and more people will be looking for this information as they restore or maintain their survivor Buick Turbo Regals. This information is invaluable. Thank you for everyone's contributions.

:smile:
Jason

 

[Dutchboy]

Is there anyone that has put a manual together to restore these cars to ORIGINAL? Or something with all the details of this nature?

 

[turbofish38]

Who sells the Factory Engine Assembly Manuals?

Shoot me your address in a PM or e-mail to my addy in my signature and I'll mail you a copy. It's about 60 pages.I have these for both the LC2 motor and the LM9 Hot Air motor.

As far as putting a manual together about all we can do right now is really nothing because we don't have a copy of an Assembly Manual for one of our cars. If I had a copy I would surely be selling the reprints. Right now all you can do is start a thread like this one if you have a question. I'll say I'm not as proficient as Richard is on the details. Where as he probably has done it from a restoration stand point and I've done it in the process of repairing or scraping a vehicle. Yeah no problem on the battery. But there is at least 2 or 3 versions of the freedom battery used on the LC2 cars. Maybe more. I think 86 was blue top and most 87's were black tops. All had white cases which is probably what matters the most. I can recall a thread or two on the topic. I'll try and dig them up when I get a chance.

 

[A2000RICH]

Hello Mr. Clark,

WOW! Thank you for the great photographs and information on the filters. Sorry for not responding to this thread sooner however I was away on business and just arrived back. I remember many years ago seeing a original black filter on a 700 original mile Grand National, however the one thing I didn't realize is how 'crudely' they were painted and that it had the indented sides towards the top of the filter. Of course, I can understand the rough looking paint on them as I am sure it was just another engine going down the line and they were not trying to make them pretty. Very interesting point as well that you made about the period oil filtration holes (6) compared to todays filters available and the current GM ones.

Gentlemen, may I ask a few more questions, based on the incredible photographs any idea what color the filter was underneath all that black paint..was it originally white or ? And after a filter like this back in 1987 would have been changed at your local Mr. GoodWrench dealer during the first service what would it have been replaced with ie: color and model of filter?

And on another topic, Mr. Clark & Eric, if I were to start a thread on the original Delco Freedom Batteries, ie: black top with white cases, may I ask you both for your input and possibly trouble you Mr. Clark when you have time to take some detailed photographs of any NOS or original samples you have? I will have to make sure I have my camera ready and primed for Mr. Clark's event in October to look at all the 'time capsules'.

I know some people perhaps may think this thread is 'silly' or crazy examining original filters like this and batteries and small detail points but I truly believe that in the next several years more and more people will be looking for this information as they restore or maintain their survivor Buick Turbo Regals. This information is invaluable. Thank you for everyone's contributions.

:smile:
Jason

i'll take some pics of original batteries--------at this point i am only aware of two------standard and heavy duty-------there were lots of delco batteries that looked similar and had different part numbers--------i'll have to look them up at the shop tonight--------as for an assembly manual i've been working on one for over three years and dont' know if i will live long enough to finish it-------the more i dig up the more needs to be added---------the details are endless--------every new discovery leads to pages of detail............RC

 

[hrhoward]

PS-------incidently i have measured new, unused "factory breakin oil" in some of the engines that these filters cam from------anybody want to guess what the oil contained a lot of ???...................

Economy???

 

[usetaboost]

I'll take a stab at it-zinc

 

[at7we2]

Believe it or not, that pos out in the garage had nearly all original parts. aside from the exhaust being rotted, and drop in k&n it was all original. Unfortunately when I got the car and started on it I was still in a chebby state of mind and chucked the original wires, plugs, and the plug wire clips and mounting tabs. Try not to bash too hard, I feel bad enough

WOW! I could have typed the exact same post! Back in '01 I purchased an '87 GN with 16,237 orig. miles. The only parts on the car which were not original were:
-Hypertech chip
-battery
-stock replacement K&N air filter
-oil filter
-spark plugs

everything else was original 1987 GM parts. I knew I had a really nice car, but I didn't realize how hard it would be just a few years later to find one that original so, like you, I yanked all the usual stuff off and replaced with aftermarket parts while chucking the originals.

 

[A2000RICH]

guys------here's pics of the standard and heavy duty batt------GNX's came standard with the heavy duty batt option--------standard battery was catalogue # 730 and heavy duty upgrade was catalogue # 601-------also pictured is a replacement battery-------production batteries had a seperate number tag from the "battery tag"------replacement batteries had a single large tag with the catalogue number as part of the large label..............its really hard to come by an actual production battery with the two seperate stickers--------and if you think thats hard try to fine one that still works!!!!!!!!............RC

 

[turbofish38]

GM used the series numbers instead of the catalog numbers. UA1 HD Battery designated the 6 year battery instead of the 5 year IIRC.

Another way to tell if your battery is the original is to look at the edge of the labels or decals. The replacement battery had a warranty tag that you would normally rip off leaving little "chads" on one edge of the label.

Somebody needs to get New Castle to kick out a white case 75 series battery. We can always get somebody to reprint the correct labels depending on the car,year and RPO code. They used these things in Corvettes too.

Don't look at me. I can't even get Coker Tire to show any interest in kicking out Eagle GT tires for our cars.

 

[A2000RICH]

GM used the series numbers instead of the catalog numbers. UA1 HD Battery designated the 6 year battery instead of the 5 year IIRC.

Another way to tell if your battery is the original is to look at the edge of the labels or decals. The replacement battery had a warranty tag that you would normally rip off leaving little "chads" on one edge of the label.

Somebody needs to get New Castle to kick out a white case 75 series battery. We can always get somebody to reprint the correct labels depending on the car,year and RPO code. They used these things in Corvettes too.

Don't look at me. I can't even get Coker Tire to show any interest in kicking out Eagle GT tires for our cars.

if you look at the last pic it is a replacement battery--------on the right of the label is a perforated place marked to "tear out" and attach to warranty claim

 

[turbofish38]

Here's another thread about batteries. http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/show-car-restoration-body-repair/198509-original-battery.html

Check out the numbers on the battery in the pics.