OA 331 Oil Filter

[Barrman]

The sun came out and it finally stopped raining this afternoon. This gave me a chance to try and get my old Gasser to start. I was told by the previous owner that the engine had been rebuilt but never turned over before it was left to sit in 1981. I pulled the plugs on Friday and squirted oil in each cylinder and put the plugs back in.

Today, I verified by pulling the oil drain plug that there was none in it. 9 quarts later it was indicating full on the dipstick. I removed the electric oil psi sender and put a mechanical gauge right there on the block. I pulled the plugs back out again and turned the engine over a few times by pulling on the cooling fan. I then hooked up some batteries to just the starter. (I don't trust any of the other wires and don't want to mess with that fire hazard just yet.) I had my 8 year old son, Colton, watch the oil psi gauge while I mashed on the floor mounted starter pedal. It turned over great. I would let it go until a count of 8 and then let it sit for 5-10 seconds and try again. When we still had no pressure indicated on the 5th try, I asked him to look underneath for any oil spilling out. No drips. The next try had him yelling at me about a "huge jet of oil coming out!" I thought it was my hand tight oil psi gauge and tried it again. Same response. I walked around to look and found the problem.

The remote oil filter was not hooked up. I had noticed that but figured since I couldn't find any fittings on the block, that the lines where ever they went were blocked off somewhere. Nope, the previous owner had removed the plate that the lines go to and holds the pressure regulator. He had covered the oil passages with duct tape and painted over it. I had no idea they were hiding there until the oil pushed the tape out of the way.

I don't have the proper plate and couldn't find it anywhere in the truck. I am sure my other truck with the same engine probably has one on it. So, I will have one hopefully in a few weeks once I get that truck home. But, isn't one of the recommended upgrades to a gasser dealing with this plate?

This plate if I understand it right is what makes the oil filter a bypass type compared to a full flow filter type. Right? I figure I might as well go ahead and make it so the engine will last while it is apart and I am searching for parts. Are there ready made parts that let me put a spin on type oil filter on this engine and make it a full time filter? It sure looks like it would be easy to make one up if I had the original plate to start with and a remote screw on filter housing that I could cobble together.

Thanks for the help.

 

[JasonS]

The later civvy REO/ Whites had a full flow filter and oil cooler. I bought one off of a junk engine but the filter elements are very hard to obtain. All that you need to do to convert to a spin on full flow setup is a universal aftermarket remote spin on filter adapter and a homemade plate that bolts to the side of the engine. I'll take some pics tomorrow, email them to you, and try to post them here.

 

[Barrman]

That would be great. Thanks.

 

[JasonS]

There are three ports on the side of the engine block. One from the oil pump on the opposite side of the engine; one to the oil galley, and one which dumps into the pan. The adapter plate has openings to the oil pump and oil galley. I used an aftermarket spin-on adapter kit for a SBF; using only the hoses and spin-on adapter. Make sure that you use a filter with both a bypass valve and an antidrainback valve. Don't use a chevy style filter. Chevy has the bypass valve in the block. I think that the two quart NAPA filter is 1773.

 

[Barrman]

Perfect. Thank you very much.

Did you machine a groove for O-rings on your plate? Or just make a gasket and kept it simple?

 

[JasonS]

I was in a hurry so I did the first two with gaskets. The outlet port is drilled all the way through for 1/2" NPT and is pretty close to the bottom so there isn't much gasket. But, so far no leaks. I do plan to do a few more improved with O-rings. The lower two bolts of the air compressor mount worked well for me as a place to mount the spini-on adapter. Here are some pics of the original full flow filter/ oil cooler and some other modifications to my truck.