Oil filter bolt & cover modifications? and oil flow clarification.

JR wrote:

............ I just assumed the spring - not in pic - was to compensate for possible variation in filters.  


 

The spring and washer hold the filter against the thread bung at the top of the filter cavity.  Grommets on each end of the filter, seal the filter so oil will flow through the paper media.  If spring or washer are missing, this results in the filter not sealing properly and dirty oil can bypass it.
Bobf

 

Thank you all for the invaluable input.

I definitely have a solid repair plan in mind now.

And also, a huge thanks for clarifying the purpose of the lower spring.
With that confirmation, I can confidently say that this repaired intake/threaded port is definitely sitting in a "lower than stock" position.
In its current configuration, the oil filter is "hard" sandwiched between the crank-case and oil filter cover plate - hence the half-arsed attempt at turning down the oil filter facing side of the cover plate.

Thinking about it, having the filter raised via the spring is damn-near genius, and I will now be using this as a real-life example in which an engineer may have actually given thought to the manufacturing process (not to mention installing, repair, and aftermarket requirements).
As inconspicuous as that single spring may seem, it removes virtually all tolerance inconsistencies with the numerous parts involved (oil filter, crank-case casting, oil-pan, bolt, cover plate, etc).