Change to the spin on ufilter

Once you get the hang of a cartridge filter assembly they are no more awkward than a canister type. 
Most modern cars seem to be going back to a cartridge anyway, so there must be something there... probably cost...

Steve 
I got it handled- turns out I am an idiot. (but I knew that)  When I siphoned the old oil from the drain pan the spring and plate were hiding in the bottom beneath the surface. Would have thought I would have noticed them splash in but it is a contortion getting the canister full of oil to the one spot where you can drop it down and then dumped into the waiting pan.  All back together and good to go for the pizza run Sunday night.  May move to a spin on filter anyway though pulling the studs out and replacing with bolts gives me pause.  Could be really easy or they might stick a bit after 50 years........
Kim

Did your new filter come with two different sealing rings? If I recall correctly a complete filter assembly should include
the bolt, a machined thick washer type fitting, an o ring which fits the groove in the washer, the can, a spring then
the plate and filter. The housing mounted on block has a groove which holds a square section sealing ring. A good
filter should include two sealing rubber rings. It is important to remove the old one and fit the correct new one. I
have a collection of canister filter housing. I'd need to look and see if any are still complete. It is common for the
inner bits to be missing. Steve (CTR)

Thanxs

you need a washer and spring on the bottom the spring should hold the filter up out of the housing 1/4-1/2" and take a couple pounds of pressure to push it down just get a spring at the hardware store and cut it down if needed a 3/8" fender washer will work for the washer. 

Without the spring/washer  the oil won't go through the filter just all around it.  Spin on conversion is easy also. 

Happy New Year! So 850MKI with old style oil canister.  Thought I would start the new year off right with a oil change.  This is my first change with this car.  When I pulled the canister there was just a filter inside.  The workshop manuals show that there should be a bottom plate and spring with assorted washers.  I can find the bottom pressure plate replacement but not the spring.  So do I care?  New filter WIX 51184 has perforated metal around so it is not going to collapse but am not sure if that is good enough without the pressure plate and spring?  Other option would seem to be to convert to a spin on filter.  Any tricks to that conversion- looks easy? 

Kim