Coolant overflow bottles

Don't know if it's a tradition. I'm just happy with anything that helps me keep my engine cooler. If I use a post 60's motor, I try to use the radiator and stuff that came out of the doner car.
Craig

 

i'm SERIOUSLY thinkin about guttin an oil canister now for this!..what are they,a couple bux at the swapmeet?why'd you decide to hardline it?i was just curious if you think that's something that'd have to be done or if you think just a black rubber hose'd do it.thanx for the ideas,yall!
creepy

 

I plan to use an old CONE TOP BEER CAN

 

Plastic clorox bottle in the pusher.

I've used one of everything at one time or another. small gas cans, squartz ( ya remember those?) soda bottles, beer cans (tall ones).

I got a teeny tiney beer keg 5 litres( 1.3 gal?) in the shop that hasn't found a home yet. Its some kind of a coors super bow extra large ( XL) commemorative thing. I also have an old stainless thermos that I've had for about 30 years that I'm planning on useing someday when the right car comes along.

 

Dude! A zip tie?! You could at least wire that old glass Coke bottle in there!

49Lincoln

 

Amen to that...

Maybe I am missing something...

I was wondering how the water is going to return with a spring loaded cap. If you look at a mid sixties Volvo for example, the cap on the radiator or open, but the pressure cap on on the overflow bottle. Also, the overflow bottle is at top water level on the radiator, allowing for water to return once it cools...

So...does anyone have a good source for an open radiator cap? I guess I could just remove the spring part?

I wouldn't mind duplicating the Volvo system...

 

The radiator cap needs to be closed to pressureize the system. You raise the boiling point about 2 deg for every pound of pressure. ie a 15 lb cap gives you about 30 extra deg before the water will boil.
The caps that are made to be used for overflow, have a tiny hole on the flat shim behind the rubber flapper. As the water cools down, it creates a vacuum whicn pulls the rubber flap away from the shim. This allows the water to return to the radiator.
I'm not sure why your Volvo was set up that way, but putting the pressure cap on the overflow tank means the tank, hoses, etc, are all under pressure, and I'm not sure you want to do that.
It might start to look like your avitar

Craig

 

i see....so how well do you think this setup would work with some rubber lines then?
creepy

 

yeah I check my coolant level daily, it never changes. Why daily? because when it does change, it's usually a "where the fuck did all my coolant go!?" situation.

I don't think it's dumb though, its one of the few times in where you can use something so totally wierd as hell as, well technically an engine part. This and getting creative with vacuum cans is about it for be able to use vintage oil cans, canteens, beer bottles etc...

Someone start a new thread asking to see photos of vacuum cans, I really wanna see that too.. I just don't want to be the one to start it.

 

Oh, and get to work on making a 14" spacer for your fan so it's at least in the same zipcode as your radiator.

 

They also didn't start putting seat belts on cars until the 60's, should we avoid those as well?

 

If you are pi**ing coolant, you would be better off making a coolant recovery unit - you could even make it out of the coke bottle. You need to drill two holes in the bottom. If it is pi**ing because the radiator gets hot, you should get that fan closer to the radiator and put on a shroud. It looks like you may have about 50 % (wild guess) efficency on the fan because it it so far away from the radiator.

 

Mines a Dos Equis bottle.

 

I installed seat belts in the back for the kids, but that's it.

 

Mmmm, Ok, I will check tomorrow, that would certainly work for me...

 

I stole mine out of my can collection

 

I like all the cans, but not too cool on the glass shit. All my cars viberate (sp) enough to break them. But do what ya like.....OLDBEET

 

Here's a couple of pics of the Moon 1 qt overflow tank on my 32.
It's a nice way to go, but no particular cleverness is required.
Moon has made trad stuff from day one, I like it and that's all that counts.

2nd pic shows the aluminum stand-off washers required to clear the beads in the firewall.


The overflow tank in the 31 on 32 rails project will be home-made.

Restaurant supply stores carry deep drawn stainless pots that are for steam tables.
Some of them are similar in size to the Moon tank and have a similar flange.
A sheet of 18 gage stainless for a base, some welding, hole saw the filler hole, weld in a stainless filler and you'd have a very nice overflow tank.

A clever guy who doesn't weld could use JB Weld to assemble it.

The filler cap could be a threaded aluminum piece with a small oil filter gasket swiped from a small oil or fuel screw-on filter if you use the filler's flat surface as a gasket surface.

Barring that, I've made fillers that seal well by cutting a groove for an O-ring above or below the threads on the cap depending on what's wanted.
Obviously the fillers ID will have to be machined to match, but if you have access to a lathe no big deal.


The restaurant supply stores have lots of interesting stainless and aluminum pieces that could be easily turned into hubcaps, air cleaners or whatever.

Check one out and you'll see....

 

When Chaz was doing a can on his Ply coupe he had an old beer can, I was at work and saw one of those Von Dutch energy drink cans in the recycle bin, He now uses that, Kind of a poke at all the clothing geeks that don't know better

 

Saw a guy use a Jack Daniels bottle once. That was pretty unique.

 

Yes and no, what we always called catch cans have been in use since the early days of drag racing, so they are very traditional,their sole purpose in life is to catch the coolant before it hits the race track. it never was intended to be part of the cooling system. The newer stuff, coolant recovery tank (the one with the preasure cap on the tank), pretty much came about when low slopey hoods A. reduced radiator capacities and B. made the radiator loewer than the block so that air couldn't bubble out at the top tank, those are an intergral and necesary part of the cooling system but really shouldn't be needed in an early car with a big tall radiator if everything else is working properly. As far as glass goes never was and still isn't allowed at the strip, last thing you want is glass and coolant all over the track, or your blacktop driveway for that matter.

 

Honey brown, paint can top holder, and gas welding rod retainer

 

I have some old al. paint gun bottles thing of a little polish and mount, the wifes 68 mustang has a plain old plastic oil container with no class needs and upgrade. Ed

 

.
Would there be a diference between a line out the bottom and a hose thru the top going to the bottom of the jar/can which is kept covered in coolant?

 

I wouldn't call coolant recovery systems traditional.

Catch cans are very traditional.

Two different animals but you know that.

I've personally never had to put a coolant recovery system on a hot rod.

A surplus WW II canteen mounted upside down was as traditional as it got back in the 50s. You didn't have to remove it to empty it. Just unscrew the cap, now on the bottom, when you got back to the pits. Screw it back on and you were ready to race again. The handy dandy chain on the cap keeps idiots like me from losing it. The first guy to do it was brilliant. All of the rest of us losers are just trying, unsucessfully, to out do that stroke of brilliance.

 

No difference - either will work fine.

Another cool idea is spun aluminum drink bottles. Sigg brand from Sweden do some nice ones in different translucent colours, or you can go for the bare aluminum to match your Moon tank.

Check your local outdoors store.

Click on the link for some pics ..

http://www.sailgb.com/p/sigg_aluminium_drinking_bottles/

 

Either one works fine. Just be sure to keep the liquid level above the bottom of the hose.

Craig