Technical Radiator Overflow from Fire Extinguisher Now Finished

I bought this old brass fire extinguisher at a swap meet and want to make a radiator overflow bottle out of it. Has anyone used this type of extinguisher to do this? If so how did you get it apart to remove the pump inside. I plan to run the lines through the fill plug. If you made one please post it up and give me some pointers on what you did. Thanks Brian.

 

Looks like it may be soldered together.

 

It looks so much more complicated than an old beer can....

 

Here's my radiator overflow story about my Dad who was a 40 year Midget car owner. Drivers never look at the gauges, myself included unless the yellow comes out, all the engines were water cooled, mud stops airflow, gets hot, pumps water out, hurts the motor. He ran a very small dia. line T'd off the line to the overflow tank aimed at the drivers foot, a Very effective way to get drivers attention, worked, sometimes made a driver unhappy. I was smarter as a driver, in my cars I put idiot lights for high temp and low oil pressure, no hot foot for me. Remember a driver bitchin about this and Dad's reply, what's the problem, you're a hot shoe aren't you ? We all drank some beer, all was good, that driver drove Dad's car many times.

 

Use a propane torch to unsolder the top from the case.

 

You look at the gauges when you step on the throttle and it's down in power.

 

My dad cleaned one out (that Carbontech is nasty shit) and gave it to me for a squirt gun. It was a super soaker before such a thing ever existed.

 

Here’s what I did . Left the pump inside , sealed the top , and the bottom …. As you can see ran lines outside . Maybe there’s a better idea , but this works ….

 

Yup.....I did one. Unsoldered the top, gutted it to the point that I could keep that "T" handle on it, and re-soldered the top back on. Drilled a small breather hole in the fill plug, and drilled & tapped the discharge nozzle for an 1/8" pipe fitting with a 5/16" barbed hose fitting on it. Mounted it with the barbed fitting facing down. That way, it filled from the bottom, and drew out the bottom, just like a modern recovery tank.

Roger

 

You're right about the Carbontet being nasty stuff, but it sure does clean greasy parts fast.

 

Thanks for the replies, looks like I will have to unsolder the top. If anyone else has done this please chime in.

 

Fasten it down somehow, maybe a vise with soft jaw inserts. Take a propane torch and heat it evenly around the top seam. With a gloved hand, pull up and twist on the handle. It should come right off.

 

Well I took everyone's advice and un soldered the top, The first picture is the inside of the extinguisher body with the exhaust tube sticking up.
The next picture shows the handle and the guts of the extinguisher.

I cut the handle off so it fit just under the top cap and soldered it to the top cap so it would not turn or be removed.





Next I bent up some copper tube and drilled out the bottom of the extinguisher so the tube fit into the hole. Then soldered it. I drilled a hole in the fill cap and soldered a bent piece of copper tube into the cap for a vent. Last I soldered a couple of copper tabs on the sides of the body so I could mount it in the car. Last picture is it finished and mounted in the car.

 

Great job, Brian! It wasn't as hard as you thought, was it?

 

No not at all, just wanted to see what other people had done so I didn't wreck it taking it apart.

 

@BJR -Thanks for the photos, I wondered what the innards looked like in one of those...

 

I have one of those and have been thinking about adapting it for an overflow tank. Thank you for this timely thread.