The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Where to relocate Oil Filter Canister

Good afternoon Ranks!
I'm looking for ideas for where to relocate my oil filter canister. Or since I'm going to move it should I go to a spin on type with an all-new remote location kit.
I'm going to be installing a Fenton Dual exhaust manifold with a stock Intake manifold and just wondering what other have done in the past.
I'm willing to use the current oil canister just don't know where I want to put it. I have a local shop that can make any new lines I would need in any length.

Thanks for your input,
Crummy

Why move it? Leave it where it is.

Jeff - Your question is probably going to get more of a response in the Engine Shop so it's been moved there for more conversation and discussion.

If there's enough clearance for the dual exhaust, just leave the filter in its original location and tweak the plumbing of the flex lines to clear the dual pipes. As long as the filter stays mounted to the engine, flex lines aren't needed- - - -do the plumbing with 1/4" or 5/16" hard tubing instead. You might need to use longer U bolts on the intake and add a spacer between the filter housing and the manifold.
Jerry

If you really need to move it, one of the aftermarket locations was on the driver's side inner fender. You'd need to build or acquire brackets. I could probably give you some pics and dimensions.

Jerry I think I saw one similar to what you're describing a while back. I'm in the early stages of planning this so I think I will get the manifolds installed and go from there. That is also a great alternative Kevin. That could be easily fabricated. is that an original GM bracket and brace that was used.

That bracket came with the truck and looks to be factory fabricated (not necessarily by GM), but definitely not home-built. The holes in the inner fender were a bit rough, like someone cut them with a torch.

You could relocate it to the Parts Wanted Forum. You will need to religiously change your oil every 3,000 miles or once a year whichever comes first.
I know an old timer who has owned an automotive repair shop since before our trucks were new. His customers who brought in their cars and trucks with 216s for 3,000 mile oil changes with oil filters, and for the recommended schedule of peeling rod and main shims to maintain adequate oil clearance found that even with the 3,000 mile oil and filter change, there was always significant sludge in the oil pan when it was pulled for maintenance.
After having too many customers losing their engines due blown rubber oil filter lines, he took it upon himself to highly recommend that the oil filter be omitted to prevent this expensive failure.
Of those vehicles which had their filters removed, he did not observe any increase in sludge in the oil pan when it was time to peel shims.
It should be noted that 216s did not come from the factory with an oil filter. They were all dealer installed options for an extra charge.

So Carl, you're saying that a bypass oil filter generates sludge? How would that be possible?

I think he is saying it does not matter having it or not. I just change my oil every 3000.
Its a recirculatory canister.

Most cars didn't have oil filters until the 1950s. I have a friend with a large collection of cars from the teens through the 50s.

Almost none of them have oil filters , including Cadillacs, Packards , and Duesenbergs. These vehicles are all driven regularly but not as daily drivers. They get their oil changed twice a year.

Unless your engine is shedding metal or operating in severe service, an oil filter is superfluous. Today's modern oils make it even more so.

Would I remove a filter from an engine that already has one? Probably not.

Would I add a filter to an 90 year old engine that never had one to begin with? Probably not.

I drove my 54 for over 35 years without a filter but with regular oil changes and no isues.

If you're concerned about sludge buildup in various parts of the engine, find a Franz bypass filter. These use a toilet paper roll for a filter element. I can speak from experience that they keep the oil looking clean. And the elements are nearly free. I found one on flea bay a couple of years ago.

People say that grit/carbon in the oil smaller than the oil clearance in the bearings can do no damage. I disagree. One method of cutting metal is with high pressure fluid containing grit. The same sort of fluid under pressure (30 PSI and up, except for 216s) with carbon in it going through bearings will eventually cause wear simply by its being forced through the parts.

Cleaner oil is better. That said, nearly all full-flow filters allow particles of less than about 25 microns to stay in the oil. There was a time when bypass filters were much finer. No more. What specs I can find indicate they use the same filter medium as full-flow filters.

This discussion does not address the ill effects of acids in the oil which is a considerable part of wear. The acids get in there from the oil but mostly from fuel. Diesel is regulated to very, very low sulpher content but gasoline is not. Higher quality gasoline MIGHT contain less sulpher but you'd probably have to buy airplane gas to get it. Change your oil.

Seriously need a like 👍 button on here.

FWIW, my Dad bought a '51 Chevy car brand new in '51--'ol 216. He ran that car until '61, accumilating well in excess of 100,000 miles before it finally gave up due to a cracked block (he didn't get antifreeze in it in time for a sudden cold snap). The engine (without an oil filter) got the requisite 3000 mile oil changes, and survived with no rod knocks or exhaust smoke. So I would say--if it ain't already got an oil filter, leave it off.

For a different point of view, I use an electric fuel pump and have for over 20 years. I ran the oil lines over and out through the blank-out plate for the fuel pump and mounted my spin-on filter over on the passenger side of the engine (where there is more room anyhow). It has been working fine for years now. You could combine this with the bypass filter if you wished.

Back when Carter sold a sintered ceramic fuel filter, some of their ad copy claimed that the factory-installed wire mesh strainer that most carburetors used upstream of the needle valve was for catching "rocks, marbles, and bowling balls". For real fuel filtering, a much finer media was required. The same claim can be made about "full flow" oil filters. The filter media simply can't be made fine enough to catch anything but huge chunks of contaminants that can damage connecting rod and main bearings, and still allow enough oil flow to keep the engine lubricated. To really do a good job of oil filtering, two filters are needed- - - -a full flow to catch the big chunks, and a MUCH finer mesh bypass filter to strain out the fine stuff. I think a spin-on filter with about a 1 micron mesh and a 1/16" flow control orfice to avoid oil pressure loss should be added to engines with a full flow boulder catcher!
Jerry

A bypass filter only filters 10% of the oil.This allows for the debris (sludge) to fall out of suspension and end up at the bottom of the oil pan where it will stay until you drop the pan to physically remove it.
I suspect that the reason why they used a "10% oil filter" on 216s and 235s was due to oil starvation to the bearings if they were to put a more more efficient oil filter on them.
To answer your question directly, a bypass filter does not generate sludge. The engine generates sludge. The bypass filter is just lousy at preventing 90% of the sludge from settling at the bottom of the oil pan.

That sludge ONLY accumulates if NON DETERGENT oil is used. High quality detergent oils (with the proper API rating) have been around since at least the early 1950s. That "10%" myth ignores the fact that detergent/dispersants in any oil worth using traps and suspends the "sludge"- - - -which gets drained out with every oil change.
Jerry

If you were driving the truck every day, having an oil filter might make some sense. But these days with the trucks being used for only occasional driving, and easy non work related driving to boot, a filter may not be a necessity. Change the oil every 1500 -2000 miles, or at least once a year depending on what comes first and you will be perfectly fine.

One other benefit, because these filters are bypass filters, that is they bleed a little oil and pressure from the main galley, filter it and then dump it back into the pan, not back into the main galley, you will likely see better oil pressure if you remove the filter.

If you are really set on a filter, go to a remote spin on, one of the aftermarket versions, they generally use like a Fram PH8, and mount it on the inner fender somewhere (so it’s easy to change). But you have to either use lines with the same ID as stock, or you have to use reducer fittings at the filter housing that get you to the ID of the stock hoses. Otherwise you will in fact pull too much pressure from the main galley and then you will run the risk of hurting the motor.

One of my motors, a heavily modified 261 that I run pretty hard, does not run a filter. I change the oil every thousand to fifteen hundred miles, or once a year.

Line diameter makes no difference. I could use a 1" diameter line and have no effect on flow rate, as long as there's a 1/16" diameter restrictor bushing somewhere in the circuit. That's what the tiny hole in the canister filter standpipe is there for. A canister filter drops less oil pressure than one connecting rod bearing does.
Jerry

When I was a kid working at a Chevron gas station in 1961-1963, it was a policy to change the filter every other oil change. I think it was common practice back then. Remember the stcikers on the door frame that recorded the mileages?

Good point on the detergent oil Jerry. My story about the mechanic dealing with deteriorated filter lines and seeing no significant reduction in sludge in the pan whether the engine had a filter or not was before the detergent oil era.

Carl, I know that- - - -but some of the young sprouts who hang out here have no idea why "sludge" gets formed. If us oldtimers keep repeating stale gossip, they'll never know any better! LOL!
Jerry

I run a bypass canister filter. Prefer NOS as the modern available elements are basically just full-flow material and capture efficiency….made to fit the canister size.

I can’t offer any real data, but my oil does stay very clean looking for quite some time after a change.

I read an article some years back in Auto Restorer Magazine comparing the canister filter and spin-on filter. The canister type was found to filter 87% of oil while the spin-on type filtered 92% of the oil. Basically there's no meaningful difference between the two.

As we all know, frequent oil changes are the best protection you can give your engine regardless of filter type, if any.

If all the oil flows thru the filter, then it's filtering 100% of the oil. How much of the contamination is filtered out is dependent on the micron rating of the filter. I fixed it for you.

I used a much-too-expensive Moroso adapter for a spin-on filter for my 261 big lines. I put it on the intake manifold with long U-bolts. I also had 2 pressure gauges for both sides of the filter for the fun of it.
.

Don't keep us in suspense! How much fun was it?

And did you verify that both gauges read the same when they were both connected to the same side of the filter??

Fun it was....but the 2 gauges were different brands and had different response times. There were too many variables in this experiment.

Here is my 261 full flow filter set up. Hoses made at local NAPA.

Just so no one is confused:

If you use a filter configured as a FULL FLOW on a late 261, the line size does matter. A LOT.

I initially configured my 261 with a kit I bought complete with mounting bracket for dual exhausts, a Wix 51515 filter and 3/8" SS pipe. in cold weather it took an alarmingly long time to come up to pressure -- like five minutes. I switched to 1/2" line with JIC fittings and eliminated about a dozen elbows after my first long trip. Oil pressure comes up in bout 30 seconds now with 15/40 oil in sub-freezing weather. Running oil pressure is better too.

Thanks for the insight guys. Most of my motivation is to just clean up the look of under the hood. If I move it, just gives a better view of the engine and it's eye candy as Jerry puts it. . I was not aware or ever thought about not having a filter at all. The oil will be changed often. I guess the filter just reinforces my OCD tendency.

Good choice. I fought the idea at first till it was explained to me.
You can have it or not have it, just change the oil regularly.