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Can anyone identify this filter unit? It was sold to me as the type used in 1951-1954 (or maybe 1948-1954) but looks totally different than the A/C types that all my others have had. This one is Purolator and is stamped Packard Oil Filter on top.

I see some traces of Packard Green engine paint when 1951-1954 were always grey except for the bronze 359.

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That may be a prewar one. Is it stamped IN on the bottom?

I think it is going to be hard to specify what you have without a lot more info and even then I think it would be a guess. Add to that, if a dealer had last years filter style in stock and it would fit it would most likely be sold and installed on this years car.

Here are some of the basic shapes Packard offered and I believe they mostly used Purolator with hex head lid bolts. These photos are from acc folders and fact books. As to what could have been on a car, in addition to what a dealer might have sold remember in that time frame aftermarket oil filters were common and were sold by just about every garage, parts store and half the filling stations.

In these Packard photos, prewar 40-42 style has a fairly pointed canister bottom end with the inlet on the bottom.
All postwars filters reversed the inlet and outlet so inlet is now on the side and bottom of canister exit end is fairly flat. Some of the 48-52 canisters had a drain plug.
54 and probably 53 has a fairly pointed cap but flat bottom. Inlet on the side. Believe those got rid of the drain plug and I am also not sure when the orifice started to be drilled in the postwar center tube of filter rather than being in the brass 4 port block fitting.

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Thank you Kev and Howard. I’ll look tomorrow to see if there is a stamping on the bottom. I did take a side view shot that shows the shape and it does appear to be one of the prewar ones that Howard posted.

Gerry, where I got this, seems to think that I’m a know-it-all anyway when I point out that the part he wants to send is not original to my year and gets upset when I point it out so I tried to gently dissuade him to no avail. I was sure then and I am sure now that it is not stock for 1951!

I have only ever seen the ribbed-top AC as factory equipment in these later postwar cars unless, of course, as Howard pointed out they were added by the dealer using whatever they had handy that fits. I have never seen a stock postwar filter with a drain but I have seen aftermarket units with it. The AC unit also has a hex bolt on top but it is far smaller than the one here.

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Just checked and this filter does say Inlet on the bottom which is revese of what Howard said it should be.

In the meantime, I tried to clean out the messy one from the 1954 and it cleaned up reasonably well but unfortunately it is rusted through on the bottom.

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That would be the wrong filter for a postwar model. Here is another illustration, this from the 52 fact book showing a different filter from the photo above. This filter looks to be without the drain plug. It also shows the 51 and later plumbing change where they added a return port so filtered oil drops directly into the crankcase rather than supplying the lifter gallery port. Since the 51 and 52 models were virtually identical this illustration would probably be relevant to your car.

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I have that same (pre war) one on my 54, I just plumbed in backwards like the 54 should be. No issues.

Thank you, Howard! That kind of confirmation is exactly what I needed.