Whats the secret to removing the oil filter?

[Merc Cruzer]

Originally Posted by RKS.PA

You've come a long way, Merc!!!

Thank you, before and after.



Flathead Noob,

Sorry for bogarting your post.

[aussie merc]

we've got to remember that oil filters were actualy accesories not standard if you do the sums all the oil will go thru the bypass stlye filter Me i glued a big magnet into the sump plug and left the rest alone works fine as had oil sample analised at 5000k results came back oil was as good as new and lets face it any filter hooked up correctly is better than the worlds best filter hooked up wrong . And on another subject with a full flow filter you must be careful not to go to fine[micron rating] as you can actualy restrict the oil flow yet with a bypass its not as critical. Most heavy mechanics will understand as you can have both filters the main [fullflow] will be say 40 micron yet the bypass will be as low as 7 micron

[RalphG]

Originally Posted by tubman

Looks like a stock setup to me. The "rounded" fitting that the oil pressure sender is screwed into is typical Mercury. Every Ford I have seen has a "blocky" fitting with square corners and sharp edges. The presence of this fitting is the first and easiest to see clue that an engine MIGHT be a Mercury.

This is the first time I have seen the oil pressure sending unit mounted up beside the filter on any flathead. My 52 Merc has the round sending unit down behind the head in the same place as any other flathead I have seen in the past 50 years.

[Merc Cruzer]

Originally Posted by RalphG

This is the first time I have seen the oil pressure sending unit mounted up beside the filter on any flathead. My 52 Merc has the round sending unit down behind the head in the same place as any other flathead I have seen in the past 50 years.

RalphG,

Is yours different than this?

[rotorwrench]

Ford of Canada did a lot of things differently. One poster mentioned priming the filter canister during service. I wanted to add that a bypass filter is not under a lot of pressure since it has the restrictor orifice and most of the oil will drain back into the pan after the engine is shut down. There is no need to prime it really. You can if you choose to but any extra will still drain back into the pan.

These canister types were certainly not designed to be a pressure flow type filter. If a person wants to modify for a pressure flow type filter then a spin on adapter or beehive type can be used but the block has to be set up for it. The engine block would need the out flow boss drilled since most don't have that feature. The flow back has to be blocked off from the pressure side so the engine will pressure flow as it should. The wartime engines made first for the Canadian and second for the Dearborn made universal carriers were the first Ford engines to have this feature so they could have pressure filtration and also an oil cooler in the line. Some big trucks used this system but I'm not sure when that was or if it was just a Canadian thing or not.

[51woodie]

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Rotor. You are correct about the oil draining back to the pan when "priming" this type of filter canister, but old habits die hard.

[tubman]

I bought my '51 Mercury engine out of a very nice 4 door sedan out of Montana. Some local idiots were going to remove the body and mount it on an '80's Continental rolling chassis. I was lucky enough to score the engine as soon as they pulled it. When I got it, it really looked original, with nice green paint, the original air cleaner and all. The best I can remember, the restrictor fitting and oil pressure sending gauge were mounted up on the filter, like the one in "Merc Cruzr"'s picture.

"RalphG" - do you remember if the oil fitting was "rounded" like the one in the picture, or "blocky" with square corners?

(The local idiots never did finish the car for obvious reasons. As far as I know, it's still laying on it's side out in the cow pasture where I first saw it.)

[JSeery]

Originally Posted by RalphG

This is the first time I have seen the oil pressure sending unit mounted up beside the filter on any flathead. My 52 Merc has the round sending unit down behind the head in the same place as any other flathead I have seen in the past 50 years.

Here are some oil system diagrams that show that arrangement. There is also an "L" fitting that is used (I think it is 51 Merc's photo).

[Merc Cruzer]

Flathead Noob,

Did you get the filter out?

[RalphG]

Originally Posted by Merc Cruzer

RalphG,

Is yours different than this?

Yes, quite different. Mine has a brass block at the filter where the line screws into. The pressure orifice is in there. That line goes down to just behind the left head and connects to the round sending unit. Works perfect but since my dad bought the car used in 1959 I can not say for sure if it is a factory original installation. The brass block looks a little "add on' to me. You can see it in this photo. I had just replaced both lines to the filter as the old rubber lines had rotted and one actually broke. Oil pumps out pretty fast when the line out of the filter breaks. Lucky it was idling in the shop when it happened.

[Merc Cruzer]

Originally Posted by RalphG

Yes, quite different. Mine has a brass block at the filter where the line screws into. The pressure orifice is in there. That line goes down to just behind the left head and connects to the round sending unit. Works perfect but since my dad bought the car used in 1959 I can not say for sure if it is a factory original installation. The brass block looks a little "add on' to me. You can see it in this photo. I had just replaced both lines to the filter as the old rubber lines had rotted and one actually broke. Oil pumps out pretty fast when the line out of the filter breaks. Lucky it was idling in the shop when it happened.

You might want to replace it with a metal line.

[RalphG]

Originally Posted by Merc Cruzer

You might want to replace it with a metal line.

I did. You can see one line in the picture above. I used steel brake line for both and it worked well for the past few years so I'm thinking it passed the test. The sending unit shows up in this photo. The blue paint is from 1980 when my brother rebuilt the engine and painted everything Ford blue.
Still not sure if that is factory equipment but sometimes we did things different here in Canada.

[Flathead Noob]

Originally Posted by Merc Cruzer

Flathead Noob,

Did you get the filter out?

Haven't tried again, yet. Waiting for a break in the weather.


I've learned a lot from your responses. So glad I cam across this forum!


Thanks!

[Flathead Noob]

Tubman,
Where in Montana did you get the Merc engine from the idiots?

Just curious.
I like to keep track of as many idiots as I can

[tubman]

"Noob" - I really have no idea exactly where. I was just told the car was "from Montana". I know it wasn't a local car, because it was so clean; absolutely no rust.

You don't have to worry about these "idiots" however, as they were from Minnesota. There may have been a corresponding set in Montana that sold it to them, though. The reason they were idiots is that they were trying to use a unibody car to do a frame swap.

Also, I'm sorry I sorta participated in hijacking your thread, but I am trying to prove a theory I have about the rounded oil fitting being indicative of a Mercury engine. If it's so, it would give an immediate indication of a Mercury.

[flatheadmurre]

There are some pretty different people around...like the guy that sold me the pickup last year...and showed up 3 days late with a totally different vehicle then i bought telling me this was in better shape so he brought it instead...
Not to mention i had to go tow both his broken down pickup and trailer back to our yard...what an adventure...

[Flathead Noob]

I got the filter out. I'll start a new post with another question about the oil system.


Thanks again!