Ah, the ol' "if something costs more it's gotta be better" argument. Wix--aka "Napa Gold" and probably others--is hardly a 'cheap'--in the quality sense--filter. DWR sells a Wix 'racing' filter for their spin-on adapters, but if you do a little research the racing type are built for greater flow at the expense of less filtering (you can't have it both ways; if a filter filters smaller particles it has to have a denser media and will restrict fluid flow, and vice versa--it's simple physics):
https://www.wixfilters.com/Speciality/WIX Filters Racing Catalog.pdf
Truth be told, for a typical street-driven--a few hundred miles a year--Healey even the crappy, cheapest Frams are adequate (I think they have a burst pressure of 300psi and, supposedly they have burst on occasion but your pressure relief valve should prevent this). My dad used the cheap Frams on everything and we never had a problem with them. The important thing, IMO, is that the anti-drainback valve seals well so you don't get a completely dry start (since the spin-ons are mounted horizontally, it still takes a second or two to fill the filter). On both my Healeys with the Wix filter I get oil pressure in 3-4 seconds on cold start which isn't bad because the gauge pick-up is at the tail end of the oiling system. On my old (2008) Mustang I used Ford-recommended Motorcraft filters I got for less than $5ea at WalMart, and that engine ran perfectly and used little oil at 135K miles. The people who've done 'studies' deconstructing oil filters have generally lauded Wix, K&N, Purolator and even the higher-end Fram filters.
AUSMHLY, does your car have a brake servo? On my BJ8 I can just barely get a Wix on and off without butting up against the Girling servo; if the K&N cans are the same size as the Wix cans the nut on the end would prevent getting the filter on/off without unbolting the servo.