From looking at pictures of the filter orientation on diesel Vanagons, it
appears that changing the oil filter would be a real pain, and very messy,
due to the angle of the filter, and the hoses in the way.
I assume this would be similar for any I4 conversion using the diesel
mounts. So is it really a pain, or am I imagining it to be worse than it really
is?

I am thinking a remote oil cooler along with remote filter mount would
solve this problem. I assume that provided the attachment to go on the oil
filter flange has a bypass valve with the appropriate pressure, (ie:
designed for VW engines, 30psi?) it should work well. Is anyone using
such a setup?

Shawn Wright
http://zuiko.sls.bc.ca/~swright
'85 Jetta TD
'88 Westy 2.1L