Milwaukee Midget

[wisdonm]

That's an offer I can't pass up. Had a McBob's corned beef and Gilles custard at Hart park during the Wedn. Irish Music concert of Irish Fest week. We left for Grattan Thurs. morn, so I didn't get to Fest this year. 65 cars started the V-8 Challenge race on a 2 1/2 mile roller coaster track.

[Milwaukee Midget]

Riddle me this –

The Midget currently uses a Wix WL7098 filter, which has the same threads and gasket size as a Wix 51515.  The 7098 is about half the capacity, but the block flange prevents me from running a larger style filter –



BUT – seeing as I’m losing the alternator, and the bolt holes are centered with the oil passage in the block, can anyone see any reason why I can’t flip the adapter, build a longer hose and run the bigger filter?

[Peter Jack]

If the oil is entering the block from the filter I'd think you'd have to be very careful about building oil pressure before firing the engine as the filter would probably empty after shut down. Would it be practical to build a plate with fittings on it and run a remote filter? It's been too long and I can't really remember how things are laid out but it seems to me that that would be the simple way to accomplish what you want and you could use just about any filter you wanted. The remote brackets for common large filters are readily available.

Pete

[DND]

How about making a spacer with longer bolts and use the adapter you have.

Don

[salt27]

I have seen engines with the oil filter mounted upside down like Chris proposed.

Isn't there a valve of sorts to keep the oil in the filter?

  Don

[Milwaukee Midget]

PJ - are you thinking there might be some cavitation in the filter?

The gallery is visible across the side of the block - the pump output sits even higher.  I'm thinking worst case scenario, if the filter does drain down, it will still be 3/4 full, barring any siphoning on the supply side.

Spacer = another gasket, but that would be workable.

[Peter Jack]

No. Just thinking that the filter might drain down when the engine is stopped. When it's restarted you'd have air until the filter refilled. The bearings, I've heard, are allergic to air. I like the idea of a remote filter as opposed to an inverted filter for a several reasons, such as you can run a larger, higher flow filter which never hurts, you can run one of the higher quality hydraulic filters which returns cleaner oil to the engine and a filter that's right side up can be changed, even in a hurry with much less mess. We all know that if you're going to change the filter it won't drain until you unscrew it, but if you're just going to leave it it will drain and allow air in the system. (Murphy's Law) The extra capacity of a larger filter never hurts either.

Pete

[Rob]

My first thought was "Boy what a mess when you swap filters".

If you do use it upside down I'd consider adding a drain somewhere in the adaptor that would allow pre-draining before removal.

[wisdonm]

Just an observation, I assume their filters cost about $1,000 each, but don't a lot of Ferraris have two filters pointing skyward?

[Buickguy3]

   Having run Buicks for years, this comes up frequently. On the older cars, it was common to have filters that would interchange. Example, you could run a Buick filter on an Olds engine with no problem. You could NOT run an Olds filter on a Buick. All the oil would drain out. The Buick filters have an anti drainback valve in them and the Olds filters did not. If you look in the top through the holes and see a rubber gasket/valve covering the holes from the inside, you can run it in any position. If there isn't one, you can only run it in the verticle position. Many filters today have that valve. You should be able to find one that has it. I know on the Buick straight 8 we use an adapter that takes a K&N HP3001 which is a Ford filter I believe and it has the valve in it. Unless your adapter has some sort of "Whitworth" threads, you should be able to find one that will work on that adapter in any position.
  Doug  

[Milwaukee Midget]

Well, Rob, as an owner of an MGB, I can attest to the mess – I have the system on the left.  From the Moss Motors Catalog -



Never had an oiling issue with the B.

Doug, I see two filters listed, despite being the same size.  I’ll pay close attention to that.

Don, I know Fordboy has worked on a couple of Ferraris, and he’s convinced that EVERYTHING is upside down - which simply makes Jaguars look pedestrian.

I haven’t sealed the gasket to the block yet, but I’ll do a little bit more investigation.

Thanks, guys.

Chris

[fordboy628]

OIL FILTERS

Midget,

Buickguy3 is right on the money about this!!  Filters (regular or high performance) WITH the anti-drain valve (flapper) can be run in any position.  Filters WITHOUT the valve must be mounted in the normal position to prevent draining out the oil.

The bottom line is that you do not want your race engine to run without any oil pressure (while filling the filter/lines/system/etc.) for the first few seconds on startup.  Nothing good ever comes from no/low oil pressure.........
 
Fordboy

[fordboy628]

Midget,

Sorry I'm still a bit behind the blog curve here.  This post is slightly out of sequence.  Some photos of the block assembly from my last foray above the Cheddar Curtain:

A couple of photos of the modified main saddles, notice that the bearing oil feed holes no longer have a mismatch.......




Closeup view of the #3 main saddle with the bearing installed and no mismatch between bearing oil feed hole & block oil feed passage. This is normal on #3 (because of the larger diameter oil feed passage in the block) and why the block was modified to obtain the same result for #1 & #2 ........


And finally, the completed block/crank/bearings/thrust washer assembly, ready for battle.......


For anybody who is following along:  The bearing housing bore sizes were checked using a calibrated dial bore gauge & a calibrated micrometer.  They were at the specification.   The bearing clearances were calculated by measuring the crank with a micrometer and then using an inside micrometer to measure the assembled & torqued main bearings/caps/block.  By adjusting the inside mike to the ID of the clamped bearings & then measuring the inside mike with the same mike used to check the crank, any errors or calibration problems between 2 micrometers can be avoided.  Measuring the clearances can be done using a machinist's "snap gauge" and an outside micrometer, but I feel that method is more difficult, less accurate AND more subjective.  Not saying it can't be done, just not my choice.

So the net result of the evening was:  POSITIVE PROGRESS!!!!   As opposed to negative progress...........
 
Son of Frankenstein/Palladin

[Peter Jack]

While I have absolutely no desire to ever get involved with another BMC engine ever again I'm finding this build both interesting and entertaining. Keep up the great work guys and the best of luck when it hits the track again. 


Pete

[Milwaukee Midget]

While I have absolutely no desire to ever get involved with another BMC engine ever again I'm finding this build both interesting and entertaining. Keep up the great work guys and the best of luck when it hits the track again. 
Pete

Losing our sense of adventure, Pete?  Never say never. 

You're vicarious company down this primrose path has been equally enjoyable.

Here's my thought - With help, if I can eventually make this one go, it will make anything else I ever do appear easy.