Does any one know if the 1.6 16V  stock oil pump will handle a remote full size oil filter like a PH1 or a K&N, looking to up grade from the tiny stock filter.

I run a Wix I think it is 1516, The application is for a 1989 mercury sable with a 3.0 v6 , the filter is about three times the size and spins right on.

Thanks.. I checked the Fram web sight & the specs for the stock PH3614 filter for that engine has a 3/4 X 16 thread & gasket 2.47ID X 2.75OD so I know I can find a larger filter with the same specs, just wanted to relocate the filter so it's cleaner to chage & can later run a oil cooler

Curiosity question - what difference would it make to the pump if a remote mounted ot larger filter is used - once the filter & lines are filled with oil, shouldn't it circulate as normal?

It'll take more oil to bring the level on the dipstick up to the fill mark - but - other than that, I don't see why it should matter.

Or am I missing something?

make sure you run a cooler like from an rx7 that has a thermostat in it or you will do more harm than good.

The wix number for bigger filter that I have delt with is 51085 heep 6cyl.  51515 bigest 70's full size ford and 51516. Ranger 3.0 or 4.0

In answer to your question on what difference it would make, my experience with air cooled VW engines is that the longer the distance the oil has to travel... as in long oil lines, larger filter & a large oil cooler you tend to get a pressure drop with a standard oil pump as they only made to push the oil through the small channel's inside the block, when you go to larger size hoses, especially with thinner oils the pressure drops & can starve the engine at high RPMs  that's why we always installed a high capacity oil pump on all our engines.
Hope this answers your question

That answer brings another question to mind - where are you locating the oil cooler on that VW - are you running lines from the back to the front?  Hoses or hard lines?  I can see a problem resulting from excessively long hoses (the rubber expands), but with correctly sized hard lines, it shouldn't make that much difference.