found the master cylinder, thanks for the responses guys.
the bolt on the reservior is rusted on pretty well, so i'll probably end up removing it to get the top off and inspect it while it's out.

but as for the oil filter housing.. i siphoned all the oil out of it, removed it and found about an inch deep of sludge at the bottom of the housing (as seen in pictures below)

http://tinypic.com/r/25u4176/5
http://tinypic.com/r/w09s8/5
http://tinypic.com/r/34sj8ye/5

i ran some degreaser throughout and it's spotless now; i found ONE hole in the shaft that runs the length of the housing, but it's about 3/4 of the way up the shaft.. is ALL the oil supposed to drain through this single hole, or is there supposed to be another drain hole somewhere?

after finding so much gunk in the canister, i feel the need to flush the oil system. does anybody have any experience with "MOTOR FLUSH"? my auto tech teacher way back would warn us against using it, is there a better way to do this? i figure i'll drain the sump, maybe pull the pan and wipe it clean, then run some type of flushing agent.. and does anybody use SAE 20 in their stock 216s? the lowest i can find at the local stores is SAE 30.

i know, i have a lot of questions