Painting and Installing the Bracket and Filter Head
I have the filter head mounting holes drilled, and I also took a few minutes to file down the sharp edges on the steel where I had cut the holes and the notch. It wasn't necessary per se, but I wanted to make the install as clean as possible. I opted to paint the bracket with black Rustoleum, to match the other accessory brackets on the engine. Also, following my efforts to color-code the entire engine compartment, I painted the filter head blue.
The coolant filter bracket mounted to the fuel filter head bracket. The imperfections in the paint come from a paper bag. I painted the bracket and the filter head in the early evening and left them outside to dry, and it began raining a few hours later. I rushed to bring the parts inside, and placed them on a paper bag to finish drying. Some of the paper bag stuck to the bracket, but I was later able to get the paper off, and there was still enough paint to be safe for now. It's something I'm keeping an eye on, however.
The coolant filter head mounted to the bracket. I was originally going to face the coolant filter aft, so that it would be next to the fuel filter. I realized there were two issues with that, though. First, this would make servicing the fuel filter difficult. Second, this would make it impossible to remove the engine oil dipstick. So, I flipped it around so that it's facing forward. In spite of that change in plans, things look good!
Making and Installing Filter Head Bracket
Painting and Installing the Bracket and Filter Head
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Page updated November 13th, 2005