Remote Oil Filter, early Billancourt Engines

[Piet]

On the early -800 series Billancourt engines like mine (prior to about 1969/70 or thereabouts) there was no oil filter or provision for one. The equivalent Billancourt -670 engines for Dauphines apparantly had a couple of tapped holes capped off with setscrews that could be removed and an aftermarket oil filter mount added, this came in around 1960 and those kits are still available. From what I can see on my engine the lug positions are there but the oil pressure tapping is used for one and I can't really see if the other has been drilled, tapped and filled. There is another setscrew around there below the fuel pump not in the same place, but I'm not sure of it's purpose.

Does anyone know if there was a similar available set-up for the R4? I'm keen on fitting something next time I pull the engine out. Or does anyone have good pictures of the LHS of an early engine? If there are existing tappings I can use that would be ideal (fat chance I know).

Cheers

Pieter

 

[angel]

The Dauphine oil filter was a factory option:


I'm pretty sure that even if you drilled and tapped the other hole, there wouldn't be enough space to fit the oil filter.

 

[Piet]

Thanks very much for the pics Angel. Yes, you are right, it's bad enough just getting my hand in to feel what is going on! I would have to do hoses to a remote filter, if I decide to do it. There are remote spin-on filter bases available if I go down that route.
The two latter ones (16.41/16.70) are the kind that you can buy from some French suppliers as a repro kit for the later dauphines: not of any immediate use to R4 people but since Angel has posted his pics I thought I should add them for completeness.

 

[Andy McGhee]

Hi Piet
You've probably already got these, but they might be useful:
1970 manual:

1963 manual:

 

[angel]

Interesting. So, the lower tapping is there even on R4 blocks.

 

[Piet]

Definitely interesting. I will go for another fondle tomorrow. Since found the pics in MR 61.

 

[Piet]

Well,
I got my hands nice and dirty. I can feel (and just see) the bottom flat hex head at the base of the distributor/oil pump drive tower. I assume that the top fitting (normally occupied by the oil pressure switch on the older engines) is the high pressure fitting going into the oil filter body and the lower fitting (normally filled by the hex screw) is a return from the oil filter centre outlet into the sump.

Also, am I right in saying it is a bypass filter and not a full inline filter? I can't see how it would work otherwise but I could be wrong. Can anyone confirm or deny?

Thanks

Pieter

 

[angel]

Right it is a bypass filter. Had it been a full flow filter, there would have been a pipe connecting the two threaded holes when no filter was fitted.

 

[Piet]

Thanks for that Angel. That makes sense. The other thing that points to it I think is the small restrictors on the outlet side. Based on that, there shouldn't be any issues siting it remotely.