8BA oil filter disconnected; trouble?

[Wick Humble]

The '51 Crestliner (an '80s restoration with a very new -- 2019 -- engine) came to me with the oil filter line disabled (oops!) and the previous owner said via phone call that 'the filter leaked.' Well, shame on me...! But I also have what seems to be a noisy valve that might be worsening. I drove 8BA's in highschool/jr. college in the early 'sixties, and thought I knew something about them! I realize that the cannister filter perched over the left-hand head is only a partial-flow thing (have Oddo's book, also) but is it's being out of the pressure loop likely to cause engine lubrication problems? I'm re-enabling the oil supply to it to get back my pressure sensor also.
A.) I never heard of a FoMoCo filter leaking; not common?
B.) Is running this thing (around town, occasionally) actually causing damage internally without that oil supply?
C.) How dumb was I to miss this glitch, at my advanced age; 78?
Thanks for any expert input!! Any friends in far N CA??
Wick Humble

[38 coupe]

The bypass oil filters return the filtered oil to the oil pan, it does not go to lubricating the engine. Disconnecting the stock oil filter will not starve anything of oil. This should have caused no damage.


The only time I personally have seen a stock V8 canister filter leak was when either 1 - the old gasket in the lid wasn't removed before installing a new gasket (two stacked gaskets where there should only be one), or 2 - the lid wasn't tightened after an oil change. Anything is possible with 70+ year old parts, but a leaking canister filter isn't common.


Noisy valves may be adjustable lifters that have the adjusters work loose. It isn't that hard to pull the intake and check. If you are careful you don't have to buy any gaskets to do this.

[69a]

Make sure you are 100% sure it is a bypass filtering system. I don't know why you would lose your pressure sensor when you disconnected it.
Bypass filters will leak if there is no restrictor on the engine side of the filter.
If it is a partial full flow filter using the original canister on the engine, disconnecting it will stop oil getting to 80% of the motor.

[38 coupe]

Originally Posted by 69a

I don't know why you would lose your pressure sensor when you disconnected it.

Starting in 1951 Ford put the oil pressure sending unit on a brass fitting next to the filter canister. The sending unit is before the 0.060 restrictor hole in the fitting. It is a great improvement over having the oil sending unit down on the back of the block where it is hard to get to.

[69a]

Originally Posted by 38 coupe

Starting in 1951 Ford put the oil pressure sending unit on a brass fitting next to the filter canister. The sending unit is before the 0.060 restrictor hole in the fitting. It is a great improvement over having the oil sending unit down on the back of the block where it is hard to get to.

That makes sense. I've had 8BA's but not in Shoeboxes. I've always put the restrictor in the block, when using a bypass filter.

[Don T]

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With all due respect to 69A's experience; not ALL 8BA's had the restrictor up-steam of the filter. I have 2 unmolested CDN 8BA's (50 car & 51 truck) where the ONLY restrictor is a hole on the standpipe in the filter canister which is on the down stream side of the filter. This exposes the canister to full oil pressure. This system has been previously confirmed by others in this and other flathead forums. With the filter removed it would not hurt the engine other than the fact there is no filtration. My experience with both relatively low mile engines is that the stand-pipe hole was plugged with crud. I do not know why they were plugged, only guess it was sloppy filter change, a failed filter or ran without a filter.

[vincent]

The french flathead filter system is the same as Don tells. I always thought it is better to have free unrestricted flow into the filter and reduce the outlet diameter with a restrictor as it is clean oil that has to pass it so no blocking possible. The hole on the standpipe is very high up in the pipe so the filter canister is always full right up to the hole. Thus the oilpressure is shooting up when just cranking and no fear of low pressure at starting.

[RalphG]

My 52 Merc flathead has the little brass restrictor block mounted right to the filter cannister. I'm assuming that is original. Never had a problem with any leaks there except the time the lower return hose broke off. Luckily it happened while idling in the shop. Surprising how fast the oil comes out of that broken hose even at idle speed.