Holes in my Float-O

I don't think there was an answer to the subject of the thread "holes in my float-O". I examined mine and there are no holes. Maybe someone wanted the pick up not to float? I don't have that problem since mine leaks at a solder joint and is full of oil.

I don't think there is any filter in the float-O except for the standard screen, it is just a floating oil pick up. After looking at the device I agree with Pat Leahy's suggestion to put an O-ring on the input tube and fix it at the lowest position. I think the oil level would normally be above the input tube but if the oil level dropped below the input, the pump could suck air and lose pressure. I am going to add it to mine.

I have the uneasy feeling that two different type of filtration are being discussed here. A BY-PASS unit filters some of the oil on every pass. The filter element is often mounted on the firewall, but can be concealed. Installation is relatively non-invasive. That sounds like what Tom P. is doing. A FULL-FLOW unit filters all the oil continuously. It is usually mounted directly to the engine, and requires some surgery. That's what Bill Richardson designed, and what Pat and Tom G are using. (Ethan Turner offers a version too.)

Many cars of the 1930s thru 1950s offered no stock oil filter, with a firewall-mounted by-pass filter an option. Some (like Cord) offered no option. Lots of aftermarket units were available too. (Believe it or not, the small-block Chevy V8 introduced in 1955 came with no oil filter at all. A by-pass filter was an option.) A few early cars had full-flow filters; the Auburn 12 was one of them.

Filtration is a complex issue. Do not assume that because all modern cars use a full-flow filter that it is that much better for our older cars than a by-pass unit. There is a full chapter on filtration for old cars in my book "How To Keep Your Collector Car Alive". You can get it from Amazon for the cost of a pizza. I've been paid for it, so I feel no shame pushing it. Before you tear into your engine be sure you understand all the possibilities.

Until then, change your oil every 500 miles. (Which oil? That's another chapter.)

Tom provided the following insght:

"I had Gail Shaw do mine several years ago. I watched him do it and have the following comments.

First he had to cut off a small part of the support web located underneath where the existing oil gauge sending line is attached. He then attached a jig to align his drill for drilling the new hole in the block. He then tapped this hole. He had the 3/8- npt- adapter which I purchased from him along with an oil filter setup. When I installed the 1/2-13 Allen socket set screw I covered it with loc-tight and after it was in place I buggered the threads below it so it definitely couldn't back out.

I talked to Bill Richardson recently and he said that he still had the jig which his father had used to drill the hole. He has no problem with the info on adding a full flow oil filter to a Cord block being passed around."

Click here for the detailed instructions: www.justinkerns.com/ACD/Oil_Bypass_Detail.pdf

Justin

Tom,

If you email the pdf file to me at <a href="mailto:[email protected]][email protected][/url] I will post it up here for people to download. Will save you some effort.

Justin

We couldn't figure how to put it on the web site. I asked Bill Richardson if it would be okay to share his father's info and he said by all means. If you send me your email address I'll send it to you in a pdf. My email is "[email protected]"

Tom

I'd like a copy too. Thanks a lot.

Mario

Tom,
I'd like a copy too.
Thanks
Frank

Thanks very much.

I have an information sheet by Lee Richardson that shows how to do it. I'll have to have my wife scan it in for you. It will be in the next day or so.

Could someone tell me how to add an oil filter to my engine?

Hi Mike,

I haven't fabbed up an oil filter arrangement for the Cord yet, but I have installed external oil filters on the 37 Roadmonster and the 40 LaSalle since GM didn't bother to provide them in East-of-the-Mississippi cars.

For the LaSalle I bought a same-year Cadillac filter and bracket since the cars share the same block and mounting bracket. For the Buick I bought a Ford Tractor 9N oil filter housing (Inlet fitting on the side, outlet fitting through the center of the bottom) on Ebay for $4.00, cleaned it up nice, and mounted it on the firewall. Readily available brass brake line fittings work great for handling the oil lines. I put one fitting into an existing tapped and plugged hole in an oil galley in the block for the pressurized oil feed to the filter, and I silver-soldered the other fitting into the oil filler tube to send filtered oil back into the sump. (The filler tubes have to be removed and degreased, then the fittings are silver-soldered, then the tube is primed and repainted.)

I used standard brake line for the oil lines on the LaSalle since the filter bracket is mounted to the block and the filtering assembly moves with the block. For the Buick, on which the filter does not move with the engine, I bit the bullet and had two flexible braided stainless brake lines made for the oil lines. It was a small bullet--they're not all that expensive.

Both filters take a readily-available Fram C5 cartridge oil filter.

Hope this helps.

--Tom

Pat:

I would like information on the oil filter conversion.

Mike Bishop

Hi Philipp--thank you for the illustration.

When the Old lady's engine was rebuilt I was pushing 6 years old. That was in 1955. Although I remember a few details about my father and brother rebuilding the engine, the oil pick-up is not one of them. I do recall threading larger-on-one-end studs on the South Bend lathe to go into the drilled-out and rethreaded holes in the block where the head bolt threads had been stripped. My duty at the lathe at that age was to lift the threading engagement lever when told to do so. I recall my father boring out the cylinders and ordering new pistons, replacing the timing chain with a new one, making a ring compressing tool to install the pistons in a slippery slurry of Lubriplate 105 (dunno WHY I remember that product name, but I do...), re-assembling the transmission, and learning that safety wire through the bearing cap bolt heads had to be installed in the correct clock-direction in a figure-of-8 fashion.

These are details I had not thought of for a long time. Thank you for awakening the memories!

Since the oil pan has been on the block ever since the 1955 rebuild, I have not seen the oil pick-up since way back when, if I ever saw it at all. Knowing my father and brother's attention to detail, I am sure that the pick-up is there as it is supposed to be.

As for a filter, I do plan to install an external unit using a replaceable cartridge filter. I have one in the '37 Roadmonster now, with lines tapped into an oil galley and draining back to the filler tube. Works fine.

--Tom

You asked about the torque to turn the engine over. I can't address a Cord directly but a small block chevy with the pistons only should take 35 to 40 ft lbs with neopreme seals and 15 to 25 ft lbs more with a rope seal. Since you have cam valves and springs it would take appreciably more torque.
CORDially Mike

@Tom, it's mounted to the oil-pickup of the oilpump in the oilpan , it's difficult for me to find better words to describe the location, but this might help <!-- s:wink: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt="" title="Wink" /><!-- s:wink: -->

Hmmm--

There's an oil filter in the Old Lady?? Never seen or heard of it. Got any references, location, etc?

--Tom

I would suggest a full flow oil filter conversion. I have done this on 4 of my 6 engines (2-in full service). It is very easy, especially when the engine is out of the car. I can provide the information if you need it. I use an o-ring on the intake tube from the float to the pump and eliminate the movement and leakage. My Custom Beverly runs with 60# oil pressure at most RPM's.

I am rebuilding the engine in my 37 Beverly and have a couple of questions.
1. The Float-O poor excuse for an oil filter in my engine has two small holes in the top of the float and one hole in the side. They look like they were punched in with a six penny nail. Do these serve a purpose, or should they be filled in?
2. I have reassembled the internal parts of the engine with new valve springs and new piston rings. The block is bare, no heads, flywheel or pulleys yet, and the timing chain is on. How many foot pounds of torque should it take to turn the crankshaft, or rather, how much is too much?
Thanks for any information you can provide.