Hello,

I have been looking at a 1979 RX-7 that seems to be in decent condition. Cold starts well, engine idle is good, clutch it good. Overall everything looks to be in alright shape. (mostly) Single owner. Around 200k KM on the engine.

Question I have is there seems to be two oil bypass filters on the car that apparently uses toilet paper? One is in the engine bay, and it looks like there is another one underneath the car just south of the seats on the left hand side. Has anyone experienced these before? The person I am buying from bought the car from original owner, but is now selling it. He said he just had it sitting in the garage for about a year. Never registered it or got it safetied just didn't have time for the car and would just would drive it around the block every week or so as to make sure it wasn't sitting for too long.

Any advice on this would be appreciated, sorry I was foolish not to take any pictures last time I went to look at it. Looks exactly like picture below. Any way to get rid of these? Any risks about buying the car considering these have been installed. I heard horror stories about tissue paper particles filling up the engine internals over time?

 

WTF????? I have never heard of this before. Seriously? Toilet paper oil filters. And I thought FRAM made bad filters.

There should an oil filter on the top of the engine drivers mounted upside down with some coolant hoses routed under it as well. I assume this is an oil filter mounted off the engine with hoses running to the filter mounted on the fender somewhere? More pics would help.

The one under the car is not an oil filter but probably a fuel filter and I doubt it looks like the pic above. Prove me wrong I guess.

 

Yeah Tim,toilet paper filters were a “thing” a while back. They filtered fairly well. The ones I have seen were on domestic vehicles from the 50s that had low flow,low pressure oiling systems.
I believe modern high volume/ptessure oil systems would tear these apart,you can envision the scenarios...
I’m posting from my phone ,suspect op is from overseas. Pic of tp filter canister is nothing like I ever saw on domestic cars,we know it’s not factory equipment.Can’t imagine running oil lines under the car for a filter there,doesn’t make sense. Filtering fuel thru one,only scenario I can think of is to try to “fix”a car with a contaminated fuel system without fixing it right to save money. I’m sure fuel pump wasn’t happy with that in circuit,probably introduced some drive ability issues too.

 

Well, any risks I should know about before buying?

Would it be simple to remove these bypass filters?

Located in Ontario to answer that question as well.

 

They used to be pretty prevalent in the early Z cars. Never seen one on a 7.

 

Ok this is completely new to me so very quick google search and ppl saying you basically put one of these tp filters in and never change the oil again.
First question that comes to my mind is how the hell do you know which brand/ply count/ type of tp are you supposed to choose as if every roll was created equal or will even fit, let alone outperform every single purpose designed actuall oil filter ever designed and made by a factor of infinity +1.
Anyway it looks like they are still around and claim their TP makes used engine oil cleaner than new oil and 100k change intervals. Make of that what you will lol.
https://www.frantzfilters.com/synthe...llulose-media/

 

If referring to the tp filters,the only way to "know" if they're compromised is to open them up and put eyes on them. Not known what was done to fit them to car but the car should be able to be returned to an oe spin on oil filter.
Have you driven this car to assess its condition? Would suggest you do so before purchasing so no surprises

 

New to me too, so looked it up like WankFactor ( https://www.frantzfilters.com/ ). Made popular in the 50's. Nike, is this guy 100 years old? Car doesn't have a flathead ford in it, does it? If that is the only funny thing about the car go ahead and buy it, then remove the goofy extra filters. OE filters work just fine. If you're really interested in the car take a drive, see how it feels, and post lots of pics here. Lots of enthusiasts, experts and mechanics here can help point out goods and bads to you. Take pics of the engine bay and these "bypass filters". Pic says a thousand words.

 

If it were mine I would remove all of the aftermarket filters and put the system back to its original form. The oiling system is quite good and the filtration system is adequate.

 

And check the oil. If the oil is 100k miles old and cleaner than new oil then you are on a winner. If it is black and full of toilet paper and metal swarf you have a problem. Its probably fine, but seriously, check the oil.

 

Brings back memories. I had a 1957 Pontiac Cheiftain Tri-Power that the original owner had installed a Franz toilet paper filter. My dad told me it was a TP filter, and I didn't believe him until I popped it open. Chevy V8s and VW aircooled engines didn't even come with factory oil filters.

 

Hey, I thought i might as well update this post to see if anyone has any further thoughts on the process I need to take in order to remove these toilet paper oil filters. One is below the car, the other one is in the engine bay.

I have attached some pictures for your reference.

 

Is it me or is the underside of that car coated in oil and dirt? I don't think I'd like a roll of TP for a fuel filter. The original style lets you see the amount of dirt it's collecting and won't diodegrade in fluid like TP is designed to do. Is that your only under-hood picture? Is the rest of the engine that Hooptie?

 

It's an oil filter, not fuel.

 

Re the top picture,follow the big hose back to engine where it originates and take pictures of that. Take pictures of the lower left side of engine(use a light so we can see) and pics of oil lines running to back of car.
Yes you need to remove all of this and return the engine to the original beehive cooler/spin on filter. I can't imagine how the engine was oiling properly with that cobbled up "system". What was the oil pressure readings on dash gauge?

 

The one in the first pic is his oil filter, but the one in the second pic seems to have replaced the fuel filter. If the previous owner actually did route an oil line all the way back to the axle to add an oil filter, that might be why there's oil all over everything. Way jankey. I want to see what other "improvements" were made to the car.

 

OP,these pics show what the beehive oil cooler looks like that originally came on your engine. Engine coolant circulates through it to cool the oil.It is available new still for $700.00. Used one i found on ebay for $50.00 that comes with all the attaching hardware-good deal,needs some cleaning. You will need new coolant hoses and "0" rings to install and seal Beehive and new crush rings to reseal oil pipe at Beehive housing. Mazda part #s below.

"O" rings -9954-10-1601 need 2
crush rings-9956-21-800 need 2
Hose water/heater N23-15-550
Hose/oil cooler N23-15-530A

Remove the whole current TP filters system and all hoses. Buy Beehive cooler,used a very good deal,need to be cleaned up/flushed out. New oil and filter should have you up and running with correct oil filter,cooler,hoses

This will get you started,any questions,post here.

 

OP has a 1979 so it would have been a front mount oil cooler and not a beehive.

 

Good point. But regardless, OP will need to remove that goofy-*** TOILET PAPER filter (think about that for a minute... TP ?!?!.) and install the correct parts. If this is the only questionable item then it might be a good car to restore. But I want more pics of the engine bay. I think there's a lot more "Swamp People" tech going on here.

 

Alright team, updating you all with a whole bunch of photo's. As far as I know the after market oil filter is the only strange addition to the car. I believe the under body looks covered in oil like that as it has undergone many undercoats over the years.
Currently working on replacing all of the liquids (coolant, differential, oil, break fluid, transmission) an redoing the front and rear breaks.

I'd like to add the the car currently drives. Starts up every time, it hasn't flooded itself or anything strange, seems to run strong. Idle is pretty even sounding.

Exhaust assembly was also modified to be straight pipe.

Wiring seems to be pretty messy as well. I will cross that bridge when I get there however.

 

Needs a good degreasing before anything else 😳. That will make it soooo much easier and cleaner to start work on.
The good thing is it probably prevented more rust.

 

I never read back thru thresd to to remember it was a 79.
Well that was a waste of timelol,exhausted,should have gone to bed...

 

Don't feel too bad GSL-SEforme,.. the point is the same. Someone put a whole lot of stupid crap on this car to supplement the already efficient OE filters.
OP - pull that silly crap off and restore it to original filter setup.

 

Im not even OCD and im getting anxiety looking at it.. Degreasing this car will be soooo satisfying.
A credit to the crackpot who previously owned it though that it still runs despite its appearance. Maybe his methods wern't completely all madness?

 

WANKfactor,made me lol when i read that...no doubt original owner kept rust at bay,undercar is the better for it.
Keep imagining scenario of undercar filter/lines coming apart and all oil pumped out of engine in no time at highway speed,NOT good. Remotely possible owner could have spun out in his own oil...
Noted Fram filter on pedestal so long the orange had faded on it. I wonder if it still has FMOC in place and hooked up with lines/filters. That engine will be for the better once the Mr. Magoo tp filter system is removed.