Good morning all,

We have been running a "tuna can" the Weltmeister version for about a year now in my son's 914. I ruined the first screen with too much heat trying to adapt it. Have another screen coming, so...,

I am hoping someone that has done this already will share their experience. I am inspired by the pieces of broken ring in the 356 that were sitting on the screen when I went to investigate my the cause of a trail of oil based smoke. Pretty certain these would have been sucked into the 914-bad.

Two main choices seem to be:

Open up the bottom of the screen completely so that the p/u runs straight to the bottom of the can and the screen is trapped between the case and the can (would seem to be the best method, except the for leaks?)

or

Keep the bottom of the screen mostly intact (open the hole at the bottom slightly to take the can's "nut") and run it at the very bottom of the can held in place by a fairly tight fit (pretty sure the outer ring has to be trimmed).

I believe the upper opening that goes around the p/u has to be opened up slightly to accomodate the extension to the p/u in both methods but I believe that was pretty easy.

Or is there another way without ditching the tuna can.

Explanations, pictures, opinions all welcome.

Thanks in advance,

Jonathan

That's why I'm buying aluminum tunacans made by Jonesy in England.
They accomodate the strainer screen without modification.

...not to mention the questionable QC at Weltmeister.

Huh.... I've had Joney's "can" for almost a year now... I didn't know the strainer could be adapted, so I left it out. I'd be interested to see how it supposed to work.

It uses the stock bottom cover, right?
All you need is one extra gasket for the upper connection.

That is correct Chris. Its been awhile since I did it, but at the time it was not immediately clear to me how to make the strainer work with it though. I was pretty pressed for time and I didn't want to eff with it. But I can try again - I've got an oil change coming up this weekend.

-G

You probably have to open up the hole in the bottom plate of the strainer so the extended nut will fit thru it.

Thats probably what it was, but I didn't have a step drill bit handy at the time. I guess you all will get them soon enough and can educate me. All in all, a wonderful product at a great price.

[/quote]
That's why I'm buying aluminum tunacans made by Jonesy in England.
They accomodate the strainer screen without modification.

...not to mention the questionable QC at Weltmeister.
[/quote]

First Chris, thank you for the CV joints, they worked out great, replaced both on the driver's side and the wheel bearing. I've had more fun but I did manage to get it back together. Original (could be) CV broke the cage and upon close examination second CV had a crack in the cage, too.

With regard to the tuna can, unfortunately, I didn't stumble across the better version a year ago, if it was available then. Our's seems okay no cracks, no leaks (flat surface) but the other version is a better set up overall. Wish I had known.

Since this site moves so fast, same day and this post with several responses moved out to page two, I will give this one last attempt to catch the eye of someone who has done this on the Weltmeister version, I don't think it will be difficult but a I would like some "best practices" prior to inventing my own.

Thanks for reminding me how tidy the UK version is. I would, given my broken ring in one cylinder episode (nothing else damaged), definitely recommend installing the screen in either "tuna can" arrangement.

Jonathan

I spent a few minutes on this, this morning.

First, as you mentioned, the flange on the screen needs to be trimmed.
I don't think it has to fit snugly in the can though, as the pickup tube will hold it down.
The center hole also needs to be opened up for the extended nut.

Next, the aluminum pickup extension needs to be modified in two ways:
1) reduce the diameter by 60 thou so it fits into the screen.
2) reduce the length to account for the shaped bottom of the strainer. I haven't measured the proper amount but it looks to be more than 1/4" and maybe up to 3/8". The slots in the bottom will need to be re-cut or shorten it from the top and cut a new o-ring groove in the ID.

Thanks Chris for putting your time toward this, I appreciate it. Will likely bring down the OD of the extension as you suggest.

The part arrived Thursday and as I look at the screen now, I am wondering if I can take off the elevated portion at the bottom. Essentially cutting it off at the slots and folding any edges down/out. Leaving it to sit on the bottom. The platform seems to mostly function in stock setup to clear the height of the case and maybe allow for less mess suring an oil change?

This would avoid quite a bit of the work on the pickup extension and I wouldn't lose the oil sitting in that last 1/4 to 1/3 of an inch out of reach.

Would seem the 3 bumps around the bolt hold would need to be knocked down abit, I assume they are for strengthening the area.

I think that would work okay, only leaves me wondering about the screen moving around against the bottom of the can. Although I think it will be a tight fit, if it isn't I would worry about the potential for wear/grit from movement, although it is bathed in oil so maybe it wouldn't be an issue.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Besides the screen, I also put in a small round "refrigerator magnet" to pick up any tramp metal filings. Could epoxy one in place with the aluminum units.....

Are you using a tuna can with screen or stock set up?

A strong magnet on the outside can work really well to, those found in dead computers are usually very strong.

Thanks

Jonathan

Resurrecting this as I found myself first seeking one of the original Welt. steel Tuna can's (which are BTW NLA from my search) then after sourcing one, wondering how to go about using a the OE screen.
Pics would have been helpful in the prior discussion but what Im guessing is that the installation was intended "screen up" like stock.
Couldn't the screen be reversed in this application and rather than turning down the aluminum PU extension, simply open the hole in the plate to allow it to protrude down to the bottom of the screen/can? Has anyone BTDT?

I would worry that there wasn't enough area for the oil to flow back down to the bottom of the oil trap. Maybe if you put some more holes in that solid part.

You could also just get some metal screen and stretch it across the opening in the case. You're just trying to catch big chunks, after all--the oil filter will catch the fine stuff!

I talked to Jerry Woods, who actually designed this piece, quite a few years back. He opined that the screen was redundant, and was a leftover from the Type I motors without proper oil filters. That was why he didn't bother adapting it to the oil trap.

(Though I wouldn't be surprised if some of it also had to do with it being easier to design and make this way.... )

--DD