I finally got up the courage to tackle the installation of the Amsoil Oil Bypass Filter kit. For the life of me, with all the fleet Econolines out there I cannot believe there isn't enough demand for a van-specific kit. I digress...
Started with a new, 3rd party fill cap. Didn't want to drill the OEM cap in case I screwed up. I then took the nipple from the Sinister Diesel cap, which wasn't to be used as the threads were completely wrong, and stuck it through the hole in the new cap; used 11/16" drill bit. It fit just tight enough but I siliconed it in anyway. Also bought a 9' custom piece of braided line from a local auto supply. $99 for 9'! Note to others, you only need 8'.
I had also purchased an extra filter cap for the same reason; didn't want to screw up the one I had....just in case. Anyway, I used a 1/8" NPT tap after drilling with the recommended 21/32" bit. The hex hole in the aluminum cap acts as a helpful guide for the drill bit. The nipple threaded in nicely with a few layers of pipe tape.
It took awhile but I finally located a reasonable location for the bypass filter; on the front side of a cross member about 3" toward the driver's side of the front drive shaft. I cut a roughly 3-1/2" square bracket from 3/16" steel. In the uppermost right of the picture you can see the plug that I screwed into the unused "In" port of the filter head. I didn't see it in the directions, but the plug that comes installed in the SD filter cap fits perfectly. Took me a bit to figure out to try the filter cap plug as I didn't see it anywhere in the directions. But it makes sense given that the plug was to be removed anyway if the SD filter cap was used (in the case of our vans, it won't be).
A wider shot of the final filter setup.
I'm optimistic this setup will work. I can already see I need to tighten the filter cap nipple a little tighter as there is a small drip on the bottom side of the nipple end of the cap.
Would love to hear from others that have installed the oil bypass kit. Similarities and differences from my method. Anyone see any reason for concern? The oil lines are over-zealously zipped tied to the frame rail, which I didn't capture in any of these shots.