In the above picture, you will see there is a black canister that looks like an oil filter mounted on the Right side fender wall. That canister has two lines--1 that goes to a small 90 elbow tapped into the back of the valve cover, and the other end runs down to the oil pressure sensor. The oil pressure sensor isn't screwed into the engine block directly anymore--there is a T-fitting that accepts the second hose between the OPS and the block.

What is strange to me is that the stock filter is still there, so what is this secondary oil system for? Please help!

MJ

Is it there to supply oil to the rockers? Take oil from the pressure fitting, filter it and send it to a manifold inside the valve cover to drip oil on roller rockers.

Mj , I cant quite see the pic properly at the moment as I have morning sun glaring of my computer. But what you describe is a secondary bypass filter setup , the oil is tapped from the oil pressure sender fitting, filtered and returned in this case to the valve cover.
Dont be surprised if its an actual toilet paper roll inside the housing. These "toilet roll" filters were popular with the taxi operators back in the day. My car had one fitted the only difference in the setup was that the oil was returned to the tappet gallery.

These guys still produce them http://www.wefilterit.com/products.htm

Now wheres my prize!

If it's plumbed into the rocker shaft I would suspect a turned cam bearing.

_________________
Official Cookie and Mater Tormentor.

yeah that was what SlantSixDan said as well. So its time to pull the head?

MJ

Well, first tell us about the plumbing setup. Does it just dump into the top end via a hole in the valve cover, or is it physically plumbed to the rocker shaft? I can't see any of your photos; the one you've posted above doesn't show up for me, and the link you sent me says "No such file on this server".

If it is a toilet paper filter (Frantz or the like) get it off of there and LEAVE it off.

yeah my webserver crashed, and I can't find any other pictures of the filter. I no longer have the setup anyway--the firewall mounted filter thing didn't come with the engine. So I now have the tap and the T fitting.

Here's what I have left of the system:





No filter...toilet paper or otherwise. =)

What's on the inside of the valve cover? That fitting just dump into the inside, or is it connected to anything in there?

Dan, I take it you dont think much of the toilet roll filters. What sort of issues have you run into with them?

Oh, the puns that come to mind ...
Must ... Not ... Go ... There ...

just dumps in, didn't see anything of note on the inside of the cover. I'll take a real close look tonight. Also, all of the rockers were uniformly black and icky

MJ

Then I'm casting my vote with Cranky265: It's the remains of a bypass oil filter system. Remove and discard the pieces, and use your "doesn't have a hole in it" original valve cover to replace the punctured one.

As for your gunky rocker arms, that's an easy cleanup: Find a machine shop that has what is called a "hot tank". This is a big tank (gee...) filled with a caustic solution. Parts go in dirty and come out clean. No aluminum or other light metal you ever want to see again—iron, steel, copper, brass and bronze only! Just remove your 225's rocker shaft, get a piece of steel wire (I've used an unbent wire coathanger) and string all the rockers and spacers onto the wire, then twist the wire closed so you have a loop. Take that and the shaft itself (as well as perhaps your valve cover and other stuff you want really clean) in for hot tanking. You can direct the machine shop to remove the end plugs from the rocker shaft and then replace them with new plugs once the shaft is internally clean.

Once you get the cleaned parts back, remove each rocker arm's adjusting screw, taking note of how easy/hard it is—any that are easy to turn will need to be reworked so they're difficult—and chase the rockers' internal passages with spray carb cleaner and a suitably-sized wire.

Which means I should definitely pull the head for the cleaning and check the cam bearings below it to make sure this system wasn't installed to make up for a lack of oil coming from there?

Want me to scan-in some pictures of what happens to the inside of an engine when the toilet paper shreds and gets distributed through the oil passages? It's ugly—make you lose your lunch and experience sharp shooting pains in your wallet.

The claims made for these toilet paper filters have always been just as hokey and contrived as the claims made for Amazing Doctor Mojo's Motor Cream with Flex Fluoride and Teflon and Provitamin E (Slick-50 etc.). Toilet paper is for wiping your bum. Oil filters are for filtering your oil. For best results, use each only for its intended purpose.

I wouldn't worry too much about it. Bypass filter systems are generally installed out of the mistaken belief that the stock full-flow filtration system is somehow inadequate, which it is not. They were advertised in the back of Popular Mechanics and such as the golden key to automotive immortality. There are still a few crazies (Ralph Woods on Usenet, e.g.) running around hawking these things.

Besides, pulling the head won't expose the cam bearings -- for that you have to look from below. If you want a quick 'n' messy check of the top-end oiling, remove the rocker shaft, bolt the engine back onto the transmission and torque converter back onto the flexplate, remove the spark plugs, fill the crankcase full enough that the oil pickup will be covered even at the engine's laid-over angle, throw a starter on it and apply power. If after a brief amount of cranking you get oil spurting out of the rearmost rocker shaft bolt hole, you're all set. If not, further inspection is warranted.