VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Mechanical - Engine, Trans, etc 216 oil filter

i have oil filter on my 50-216 from reading my past notes the oil filter does not really filter a lot of oil.you are actually better off without it and just change the oil at regular intervals. my question is am putting a 56-235 in( babbitt is slowly dying) being a full oiler will the 235 have more oil pressure to the filter than the 216 had. so would it be better to keep the filter

I don't think so.

Best,

Charlie

BTW: Stand by. I'm going to ask a question about what the term "full pressure: means as we use in it in Chevrolet lingo.

The bypass oil filters actually work really well. Because the oil is fed through them really slowly, they filter at a very thorough level. Much better filtration than full flow filters. Full flow filters all the oil flow but in order to do this, the filtration is sacrificed and it only catches really large particles and small particles go right through. A full flow filter is more like a pasta strainer and a bypass filter is like a coffee filter.

I use bypass filters on my modern daily driver cars - just on the automatic transmissions as modern engines are not so tough on oil. Many tractor trailers use bypass filters on the engine oil to give them long oil change intervals and it protects their engine well.

On a rarely driven summer vehicle, I agree with not installing a filter at all. It's so easy and cheap just to change the oil and you are not putting a lot of miles on it. Less chance of leaks or worse losing all your oil from an old oil hose. The flow through the filter should be similar in either engine but maybe a bit stronger in the full flow engine as it's made to move more oil. The correct filter for that engine might have a restrictor to slow the flow back down to improve the filtration.

I agree completely with what canadiantim says above.
I will add this...
All 216's except those in the large trucks, and even the earlier 235's have wide open breather slots in the valve covers. The breather system is designed to pull unfiltered air straight into the engine while you are driving. In other words, unless you are driving in pristine conditions, you are continuously pulling fine dust into your engine.
Wouldn't you want to be continuously filtering it out too? I certainly do.
Just inspect the lines and fittings when you change oil and don't let the hoses get too old and brittle.
Have a great day.

Great point on the rockers vents! Not sure how much air volume a road draft tube pulls from the engine but there will be something dirty drawn into those rockers vents.

I have a "valve silencing pad" to install in my rocker cover mainly because it will provide some filtration for these vents. If I did not have this pad, I would be finding some other means of crude filtration for these vents as they really bug me. Even though these engines ran a long time back in the day, on dirt roads, with poor oil and no filter at all...these vents still concern me...

Unlike we enjoy paved roads down here. None of those old dirt and dusty roads for us anymore. Hard to find one anywhere.

Folks from are always telling me that they know when kinfolks are a-coming for dinner by sighting the dust as it climbs just over the nearest mountaintop. Do too! (See "Snuffy Smith")

I never heard of oil going through the filter too fast. I'll have to give that some serious thought next time I'm all alone breezing down one of our backroads. Yes. even rabbit paths are paved down here. If you snowbirds would ever venture off the road bar enough behyond the nearest Burger King, et al, or Loves Gas Station you would see civilization just about everywhere except West "By God" Virginia.

No filter on the old 216 for me. Waste of time down here. Is too!

You'all come now, ya heah?

Best,

Charlie

My uncle always lightly stuffed felt into the vents and I do the same. They can occasionally be pulled out and fresh ones put in as a regular part of maintenance.
I've also thought of getting a valve cover from a 2 ton as I think they fit exactly the same but have no openings. Instead they have an oil soaked wire mesh breather/filler cap.

The 1955 cars and trucks had no vents in the valve cover and used the oil filler cap with the (oiled mesh).
That cap can be used on any valve cover that has an oil cap on top.

The low pressure or high pressure engines force about the same amount of oil through the filter as it is metered.

Back in the day when only about 25% of the Chevrolets had an oil filter (low or high pressure engines) I never saw any difference in general wear with engines with or without oil filters. Nothing beats changing oil and according to the type of driving that you do.

The 216 in my 51 truck has the oil filler cap on he valve cover. I sealed the slit vents and installed an oil cap with the mesh,