1948 Panhead oil filter

[vph-d]

The year suffix number is the first year the individual part was approved for use in production.
VPH-D

[Rubone]

I agree in most cases but I find this case to be an anomaly. The oil filter first appears as a -48 part # for all models. Then in 1950 a retro fit kit to change the mounting fashion appears and is assigned a -47 number for '38 to '47 models! I don't feel that it had been designed three years earlier and never released, but that the -47 number was assigned to make it easy to identify as a pre '48 kit. Robbie

[Chris Haynes]

The oil filter is not listed on the 1948 order blank. The first appeared during the 1949 model year which began in Sept. 1948. The reason the design changed in 1951 was it was discovered the the screw on oil filters were causing oil tanks to crack around the fitting they were screwed to.