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When building an engine you plan to use long-term, there are two factors to consider. The first is making maintenance as headache-free as possible. As for Project Mighty Mouse, this means adapting our 327 small-block Chevy to run a spin-on type of oil filter instead of the messy canister-style oil filter it drove off the showroom floor with back in 1962. The other factor for a long, healthy relationship with your engine is keeping the oil cool. More than just a canister to spin-on filter conversion, we will also be upgrading our engine’s oiling system to include an external oil cooler.
This small-block 327 engine came from the factory with a canister-style oil filter system. There isn’t anything inherently wrong with these systems, the issue is they don’t make for mess-free oil changes. These systems are messy because the filter is housed in a large canister, which holds quite a bit of oil, with a bolt going up through the center of the canister. As soon as the bolt is broken free, the canister will start dumping oil. Overall, it’s a bulky canister that makes oil changes messy and awkward, more so than a modern, spin-on-style oil filter.
Despite being taped off at the time, we got some overspray mist into the oil galley for the filter. Removing it just took some paint thinner.
This is one of those jobs that is truly easy to install, the slow part is the research. There are a few things to consider when adding an oil filter adapter to convert from a canister to a spin-on style of oil filter. These adapters can also be run on a later-style small-block Chevy engine to change oil filter thread size, so this information isn’t pertinent to just early blocks. The most important consideration is what oil filter you’ll be running because the adapters are available from multiple brands and with different oil filter thread sizes.
Bypass Vs. Non-Bypass
A major consideration when converting from canister to spin-on style oil filters is when to run either a bypass or non-bypass-style oil filter adapter. The rule of thumb is that bypass adapters are for street builds that aren’t getting oil changes after every run, and non-bypass are for drag cars that get oil changes regularly and often. The reasoning behind this is that a bypass oil filter adapter allows a passage for oil to skip the oil filter and continue its flow back into the engine to ensure oil is always moving and doing its job. The downside is that not all of the oil is getting filtered, but the positive is that it’s keeping your engine lubricated in case of an oil filter failure.
On the other end of the spectrum, you have non-bypass adapters. A setup like this means that if your oil filter gets clogged and fails, your engine will not continue to get lubricated. This is why they are only recommended for engines that are getting their oil and filter changed very regularly. Street engines running a non-bypass oil filter adapter could end up with more carbon buildup if the filter isn’t changed as often as it’s supposed to be.
Although Project Mighty Mouse is a street engine, AMSOIL agreed that a non-bypass oil filter was a better choice for the break-in period of the engine. During the break-in period, there will be some tiny metal pieces moved around by the oil that we want to have stay in the filter and not have the opportunity to circulate back into the engine. After the break-in period, when are are putting street miles on it, we will be swapping this filter out for a bypass filter.
The Perma-Cool 1134 adapter is installed with one gasket, one O-Ring, and two bolts. It’s straightforward and hard to mess up.
With our spin-on style filter adapter installed, we did some research to find an oil-cooler adapter that keeps the same thread size and allows us to connect hoses to our engine oil cooler. We narrowed the results down to Derale Performance’s Thermostatic Sandwich Adapter Kit.
Notice how the barb fittings are pointed towards the front of the engine and not to the side. This will keep the hoses as far away from the headers as possible.
Before we dive into the conversation we had with Derale and the specifics of the product, we have to clarify something. In these next few paragraphs, we will be talking about the term “bypass” again. However, when referencing a bypass with the Derale thermostatic sandwich adapter, we will be referring to bypassing the oil cooler and not the oil filter. It sounds confusing, but let’s look into the details and add some clarification.
Derale informed us that this unit has a weep hole, known as a bypass, that allows a small amount of oil to flow to your oil cooler. The built-in springs bypass the bulk of oil from going to the cooler until the oil temperature increases, which then allows the system to fully open at around 180 degrees F. The reason for this bypass is that you don’t want to be cooling your oil at full capacity until it is up to operating temperature; if done prematurely, your oil is less effective at doing its job since it isn’t warming up.
Our 15720 sandwich adapter has a built-in spring with a bypass weep hole, this allows a small amount of oil to bypass. Why send 100% of the fluid to the cooler if the component isn’t at operating temperature? – Tom Longo, Vice President
Breaking down what Tom said, the bypass weep hole in the sandwich adapter is not as effective at preventing an over-cooling situation as something like the Fluid Control Thermostat from Derale. The thermostat prevents oil from flowing to the cooling system until it reaches 180°F. Once at this temperature, its built-in thermostatic valve automatically redirects all oil through the cooler while keeping system pressure steady. This design helps your engine or transmission warm up to optimal operating temperature faster and more efficiently before cooling begins.
There’s a lot of varied information out there on the interwebs about engine oil and engine oiling systems. Different forums and people will all have different opinions. If you find yourself questioning an opinion, product, or any information, calling your engine builder or the company that makes the product in question should be at the top of your to-do list. For Project Mighty Mouse, Perma-Cool, Derale, and AMSOIL all gave us the information we needed to know so we could find the right pieces to our engine oiling puzzle.
Be sure to stay tuned for the next part of the journey. The next step is to dig back into the bottom-end to add a windage tray to free up some horsepower. After that, we’ll finally be ready to move up to the top-end to discuss our high-revving, high-horsepower combination.
