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Coolant recovery tanks


Buick35

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As Jack mentions, Speedway has them, as well as many hod rod suppliers. Pick up a copy of Street Rodder magazine and there are several advertisers listed. I have them on both my cars and they work well. Mine are both aluminum but you can paint it black to disguise it.

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Greg,

On my '40 Buick, I used a pint can up under the right front fender (there is a little ledge there) with a small bungee cord holding it in place.

Hooked it up to the radiator over flow tube with clear plastic tubing with an "S" bend in it, and just drilled a 1/2" hole in the cap.

Cut the tube at 45 degrees and pushed it down to the bottom of the can.

It actually siphons back to the radiator on occasions, as she has a pressurized system.

 

On my '31 Chrysler, which is not pressurized, I slipped an old empty "Restore" can over the overflow tube at the bottom of the radiator, and painted it black.

It just catches the drips.

 

Mike in Colorado 

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Lots of vintage under the dash heaters from the thirties for sale on ebay and other sites. Remove the old heater core, and hide a container behind the heater housing. A fake oil filter housing on the side of the motor could be used as an overflow tank, and not look out of place. Lots of good car stuff can be used in a creative way.

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I wonder why you need one or think you need one.  In 59 years and 400,000 miles of daily driving, from 109 degrees to -54 degrees I have not had to add water between coolant  (2 to 3 years).

If your car did not come with one then the manufacturer did not think it needed one.  If your cooling system is working properly and not overfilled it should not never overflow.

 

Nice though that you want it to look good.

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The attachment shows a Radiator Overflow tank offered by The Filling Station.  They come in several lengths from 12 to 19 inches long.  

 

I considered adding one to my 1933 Chevrolet.  Always thought it would look better in Satin Black rather then the polished Stainless steel.

 

https://www.fillingstation.com/detail/10240/Chevrolet_RADIATOR_OVERFLOW_TANK_2_X_19_SS.html

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42 minutes ago, Tinindian said:

I wonder why you need one or think you need one.  In 59 years and 400,000 miles of daily driving, from 109 degrees to -54 degrees I have not had to add water between coolant  (2 to 3 years).

If your car did not come with one then the manufacturer did not think it needed one.  If your cooling system is working properly and not overfilled it should not never overflow.

 

Nice though that you want it to look good.

 

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There's a small factory tube on the passenger side of the radiator that goes about half way down from the top. I probably overcooked my radiator but after driving it water would come out and I thought I'd prevent making a mess on the garage floor again.Greg.

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The big question is Why do you need one if the manufacturer thought and designed it that way? Most of these old geezers  have an internal overflow tank. Fill the rad and run the engine hot and the rad will overflow and level itself. If you have an overheating problem you need to take cake of that by using different methods to clean the rust throughout the system.

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Your previous question was about finding a replacement radiator for your 35 Buick.

Apparently you are still using the bandaid approach to fixing your overheating problem.

Go to a U-Pull-It style auto salvage yard and take your pick of white plastic recovery tanks that are translucent allowing you to see how much water your engine pumps into it.  Pick one that you have room to mount behind your radiator.   If you continue to overflow the recovery tank, get a new radiator.

This is a cheap but temporary solution that will give you a gauge on the problem. 

Edited by Paul Dobbin (see edit history)
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It's good to have one, even if the car did not come with one. Antifreeze is a toxin. It should be captured. On an extra hot day maybe some will come out the tube. Capture it in a bottle, and it automatically gets sucked back in when the vehicle gets parked and it cools.

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I don't know who did pressure caps first, Pontiac did it on their eights in 1936, and I think that is pretty early. Just to clarify, I don't think a pressure cap is needed to make an overflow tank work. The radiator cap would have to seal. The only path to the atmosphere would have to be through the overflow tank, otherwise it would not siphon.

 

The water has to have some place to go when it expands, as others have noted. That space is typically the top tank of the radiator. Sometimes it is a "surge tank", as seen on some Packards and early 60s Fords. In that case the radiator stays completely full and the airspace is still under the radiator cap, but in the surge tank. Cars with an overflow tank are the only ones that get filled all the way up.

 

Edited by Bloo (see edit history)
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So when a non pressure rad overflows, into an over flow tank if( you install one ) it will definitely not suck back the liquid)  Because the cap is not designed for that. Most likely the over flow tube is inside the top tank of the rad.. You will have to drill a hole in the neck of the filler and solder an overflow pipe.in order to direct the water outside. Then you might want to find a pressure cap to fit the rad.  

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If steam is forming in the water jackets of the block or head due to restricted flow it will expand and push the water out. I would see if any drain cocks in the block have a bunch of crud behind them or knock out a couple of rear core plugs to investigate.

 

If it has been a long time since a brake job a dragging brake or two can cause minor overheating as well. Even an old brake hose that is pinched inside will do it.

 

There are a whole lot of deferred maintenance items to check before you go to Depends for the old girl.

 

Bernie

 

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When I rebuild/replace an engine, I always replace the freeze plugs and clean out the jacket but then I also take a long pipe cleaner and check the passages in a crank that has just been polished or ground. Is much easier on a stand or bench.

 

British bikes were notorious "leaky twins". Triumph even put a sponge under the case on some.

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