I would appreciate knowing what the color and finish should be on the XK 150 oil filter canister.
Thanks,
Dick Russ
I believe Black. I now have a spin on, but my original canister is black.
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Dick,
See attached photo of an original Tecalemit FA2708 OIl Cleaner as fitted to XK150…
Note the HEAD remains natural as-cast aluminium, unpainted.
But the steel CANISTER is painted the usual Tecalemit metallic brown, with in the case of these FA2708 canisters has the instructions stenciled over in white paint (although someone said they thought you could now buy reproduction decals)
They are obviously not all the same. Here is mine from an early XK150 with a 3.4 liter. Its been black since 1973 but I can’t confirm original color. Rogers filter arrangement is just like one I have on a 3.8 liter Mark IX.
Kris,
Good pick-up, and apologies Dick.
My pictured Oil Cleaner is a Tecalemit FA2708, and is indeed as fitted to late XK140 (from Engine No. G6233 ) (and also Mark IX), and on checking, is definately not XK150.
All XK150 had a Tecalemit FA2741/101 which as per Kris’s photo is angled up at 30 degrees and has an external oil return hose to sump.
My little information does say that they are still painted metallic brown with stencilled white instructions, but I dont claim that to be conclusive, or indeed typical of all FA2741/101 as all I have at hand is pictures of RESTORED/REPAINTED FA2741/101 which is simply not reliable evidence of original paint colour.
So maybe best to see if anyone can show photos/examples of unrestored/original paint FA2741/101, as I think most unlikely they came in two paint colour variations - metallic brown and/or black - but you never know without good reliable evidence.
But regardless of the Canister being painted black or brown, it seems that the head remains natural as-cast aluminium.
Roger
My 58 XK 150 has the same engine as yours, with the same oil filter positioning but my filter canister is more a bronze/brown color. Not sure if it is original though.
A lot can happen to paint in 60 years. You should paint it what ever dark color you like. I like to minimize to number of different colors under the bonnet. Think they were painted with the same color for years or just painted with the cheapest paint of the day? Could it be brown primer over black top coat? IMHO that is the deal with the red differential cases that some prefer to use rather than black. I’ve been showing my 150 in JCNA concours in the Midwest since 1995 Never got dinged for wrong oil filter canister color.
Kris,
I doubt Dick would have asked the question, if he wasn’t seeking an answer, regardless of whether this detail is judged or not judged in a Concours. Of course he can choose to paint it any colour he likes, if he doesn’t care about authenticity.
With the Oil Cleaner - these were made and supplied to Jaguar by Tecalemit, who most certainly did care about the paint quality and colour they used. A metallic brown paint is hardly the ‘cheapest’ paint of the day.
But as per earlier, I don’t have much definitive evidence/photos of XK150 Oil Cleaners 1957 to 1961, so maybe there was a colour change at some point ???
.
Might be useful if any owners of original XK150 oil cleaners could advise/picture colour and their Engine Number, so any pattern can quickly be worked out, or indeed establish if they were originally metallic brown and/or black.
All the XK150 filter cartridges I have seen and have been bronze in fact one I have still shows the white lettering.
The may have changed on very late 150’s
Suspect you mean CANISTER Terry, the ‘cartridge’ is the element that goes inside.
And by ‘bronze’ you are presumably agreeing with my earlier pictured Canister that I refer to as being ‘metallic brown’, with its stenciled on white painted instructions.
Regardless, a strong push for ‘metallic brown’ (bronze) which for my XK140 OIL CLEANER I was able to get a local paint shop specialist colour-match an original patch of good original colour I had surviving on another Oil Cleaner, and supply to me in a pressure-pack can…
Note - the picture is of my XK140 Oil Cleaner, a Tecalemit FA2690/101 model (used up to Engine No. G.6232), and they have both Filter Head and Canister painted (what I call) metallic brown.
The XK150 FA2741/101, I believe, only has a painted Canister, with the Filter Head left natural ‘as-cast’ aluminium, as per my pictured FA2708 (as used XK140 G6233 on). (NOTE: I got this FA2708 detail wrong back in 2010 when writing Jaguar XK140 EXPLORED - page 196, so hand amend your copies 
)
As I noted before, I Don’t have any evidence of original black paint on my Xk 150 oil filter. My memory of why I painted it black in 1985 is cloudy. My intent was originality at the time. I do have a spare 3.8 liter engine Nc5315-8 from a Mark IX with a filter housing very similar to this one of yours for anXK140, but has just a cast- in tecalemit name but without any trace of a riveted nameplate or part number. Almost all of the steel canister has what looks to me like 60 years of rusty red patina except for just a few traces of tired black paint. The aluminun housing has no trace of paint. So from this example I am confident it was painted black a long time ago. Just my opinion of looking at these different models but with the xk150s and later, cost savings was a design consideration maybe more than for than earlier models. The dark brown of your xk140 oil filter is nice. But I know from experience that black is cheaper. I suspect that if paint was not required for corrosion resistance at least on the 150s, expense of paint was spared. Like generator or starter non-ferrous components. My car has been judged by many JCNA judges over the years with much higher judging pedigree than my own and none ever mentioned my oil filter canister color was obviously wrong. So I am pretty confident that my black filter isn’t the first one they had seen. So was it originally black or brown, yes, I suspect it was.
This metalic brown one has evidence of original stencil, but I can’t see such evidence on this black one.
Just thought I’d post it for the color reference to the brown one.
Clive.