I had the dowel handy, didn't have any springs around. The 2 rubber washers (there's one on each end) on the filter give it a lot of "spring". I was also concerned about keeping a spring on the bottom of the housing in the right place with all the vibration that will occur. The dowel is 7/8" diameter and the "well" that the drain plug screws into is about 1/8" deep by 1" diameter with the plug screwed all the way in and the dowel sits in this depression. It won't move. If I was concerned about the dowel swelling up I'd just give it a coat of SEAL-ALL (the magic sealer). Does this all make sense?
Comments?
Stan