Now that I have my engine here, once I have the other parts in hand (water pump, lower hose, oil filter) I plan on doing some mock up and documentation of the fit with the engine on the stand. I have one of the "grenades" and a 1986 filter adapter. I can get pictures of everything with it in the open.

 

As promised, pictures of the 1986 oil filter adapter and the 1990-97 oil cooler setup and some ideas. Here is the 1986 (probably same 1983-1987) oil filter adapter with a Gates lower hose in place.



Here is the 1990-97 oil cooler and adapter with the same FL1A filter.




You can see the filter sits closer to horizontal.

Now some other pictures of it with and without the actual cooler on.




Aligning lug to keep everything in the correct position.





Looking up from underneath. There is not much clearance.





From the front, same thing, that passage has almost no clearance on the corner of the engine.





With the cooler off the adapter.

Now a couple of pictures of the adapter.




Oil goes from the pump, through the filter, then to the cooler. The three pipe plugs are 3/8 NPT but are a 5/16" square so I have no way to remove them unless I drill them out.





Bypass valve is nothing but a large steel ball with a fairly weak spring.

From what I found, if the leg going to toward the engine were cut and plugged and the other leg plugged the unit can probably be rotated down enough to clear the older lower hose. Removing the ball and spring from the bypass valve would insure free flow. The rear alignment tab might have to be cut off also. I used a Gates lower hose for a 1986 F-350 7.5L and a NAPA NBH 902 reducer to take the 2" water pump end down to fit a 1.75" water pump (a 1994-97 pump).