100% oil filtration conversion kit question...

[Marshall V. Daut]

14 years ago I installed one of those oil full filtration kits that has the replacement valve cover and side-mounted screw-on filter. I recall having a little difficulty routing the inside oil line around the #1 lifter boss and getting it into the 1st main bearing oil hole behind the timing gear. Yesterday, I wrestled with a new version of this kit on a different engine and had an almost impossible time getting the copper tube into the hole because the tube was too big. I filed and sanded the end in an effort to make it small enough to go down that hole. NO luck. Drilling or filing the hole bigger is impossible because of its location and cramped area = a drill or rat tail file will not fit. Thinking a steel fuel line might fit better than the kit's copper line, I tried that. It also wouldn't fit, even after filing the outer surface and sanding it smooth. I finally ended up using a plastic elbow vacuum fitting from a Corvette and after some sanding and downward pressure, it seated in the little hole. I used a rubber fuel line to connect between this fitting and the supplied copper tube with special threaded fitting that goes into the new valve cover and hence, into the filter.
O.K. That was frustrating enough, but after I had everything buttoned up and started the engine, I checked the oil pressure gauge and found it was registering between 3 and 4 pounds at a fast idle. The engine ran for about 10 minutes this way. Just to be sure that my adaption was working, I disassembled the right side of the engine and removed the valve cover. The line was still connected, but NO OIL came dripping out of the filter (as it always does when removed) and there had been none in the line. It was still bone dry inside. The line was checked and was clear. I'm wondering if oil even was getting to the front main bearing since none was passing through the tube.
My question is - how long should it take for a new oil filter to get enough oil to be functioning? I should think the 10 minutes the engine ran would be long enough. At least SOME oil should now be inside! Hopefully the main bearing gets oil splash to lubricate it until the oil starts coming through this line. It's a brand-new inserted engine with NO miles on it, so I'm afraid to test drive it until I'm sure the front main is getting oil from the filter via the adapter line.
What's going on here? Anyone else had these problems with this oil filter kit? This is a new one on me!
Marshall

[H. L. Chauvin]

Mr. Daut,


Not sure what kit you have, but if I remember correctly:


1. With no oil filter, as original, the displacement type Model A oil pump lifts oil into the valve chamber whereby for lubrication, the mains are gravity fed; and,


2. with the side cover filters I have seen, looks like the oil pump again lifts oil, pumps it through a tube & through the oil filter, then dumps it into the valve chamber whereby the mains are still gravity fed as opposed to force fed.

Is your crankshaft drilled out as some are modified to provide forced fed lubrication?

Someone may chime in to unravel this.

[J Franklin]

Mine runs the tube from the pump outlet to the filter and the filter dumps directly into the valve chamber. Check your instructions carefully.

[Jordan]

I have one of these kits for sale if anyone wants it. I wanted to put it on my new engine, but it won't work with headers. It's never been ran before.

[Kurt in NJ]

Does the engine pump oil to the filter---have you cranked the engine without the oil filter installed to see if oil gets that far---- if it doesn't perhaps the rubber hose is getting a kink that is stopping the flow ---if the rest of the oiling system is stock no oil in the front chamber means no oil in the rear chambers also.

If you have already run the engine without oil to the bearings for 10 min you should probably look at the inserts for damage before you run the engine more,10 min is a long time to expect old assembly lube to lube a bearing alone, splash won't get in there, if the very thin babbitt layer has been damaged enough that the crank can touch steel it will get worse quick.

The good thing about inserts is if you have a little damage or wear you can just slip in a new insert.
The bad thing about inserts is if you have a little oiling problem and spin the insert you not only damage the insert you most times damage the crank and the block at the same time.

Take the plugs out, take off the filter and see if oil pumps out the filter fitting ---

[pat in Santa Cruz]

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Hi Marshall
good to hear from you. If you really plumbed it to the #1 main tube, that's the problem. The intake pipe goes into the oil outlet tube that runs from the drive gear housing along the inside of the valve chamber by the lower cover and opens into the front oil chamber, just to the left of the new oil filter. They can be a b**ch to install on some cars, and a snap on others.

[Marshall V. Daut]

Problem solved!!! It was a combination of three things: (1) slightly ambiguous wording in the instructions; (2) the critical part of the schematic that shows WHERE the tube goes was cut off during xeroxing; (3) and Humble Self doing stupid things. I had only installed one of these conversions prior to yesterday and that was when Clinton was President. I misread the instructions to mean the tube was to be placed in the main BEARING feed hole, not the main oil feed hole, both of which are located on the valve chamber floor and are an inch apart by the first oil dam. The front main BEARING hole was prominent, while the main oil hole faced forward and I missed it. I had run the engine a couple times before installing this oil filtration conversion, so the bearings were good and oily. My wife tells me I ran the engine after the filtration installation for only a couple minutes, not the 10 minutes that I had thought. So, I think the front main bearing should still be o.k., although I wouldn't want to try this again. I thought it seemed strange that the filter's tube would go into the front main bearing feed hole, but that's the way I was reading the instructions. A close-up drawing on the instruction sheet would have been helpful. Hmmmm...
Thanks again for everybody's input. Boy, do I feel stupid!
Marshall