Very nice install. I'll have to look into this.

 

Great thinking and job on the install .

 

BB's.. I thought I had seen it all. Excellent, I leaned something!

 

What year car is that Steve?

 

1970 :thumbsup:

 

Yankee engineering at it's best! I'm gonna do it too.

 

I noticed that this has no vent tube. Does the pressure build up in the overflow container?

 

sglide, there are two vent holes between the threads where the cap screws on the tank.

 

Ralph, I depends on the style.. the pop-on caps typically just seal enough to keep the fluid from going everywhere, they are not meant to hold pressure, only act as a recovery container.

"Some" of the newer style with a screw on caps do hold pressure. (For example my 01 Yukon 5.3) I don't think this would be best for our older applications.

 

Nice job!
Are you using it strictly as an "overflow" tank, or actually as a recovery system like on a newer vehicle?

I wonder if it should have a different cap, like off of a newer car made for coolant recovery, or if they are the same?

 

The system should raise and lower as the engine heats and cools, but that hasn't happened. Originally I filled the radiator to the top and the tank to the "cold level line" expecting that it would return to that level after the engine cooled. What has happened is that the radiator pushed coolant out to the "hot level line" but didn't pull coolant back into the radiator when the engine cooled. Not sure why that happened. I have a fairly new cap. Maybe I need to go to one with high pressure.

 

You must use a rad cap designed for coolant recovery. and your overflow tank will need the corresponding cap.

If you use your tank as an overflow, once the rad reaches it's happy level, you need to drain the overflow and it should remain empty.

 

Makes sense that I need a different cap. I couldn't see how the coolant could get past the cap and the seal below the overflow hole. Can anyone recommend a cap that will allow the coolant to return to the radiator?

 

Try a cap from any post 1975? GM with a coolant recovery tank and the cap on the rad. IIRC they are stamped with "Coolant Recovery or Closed System" or something similar.

 

Thanks Levon, picked up a new cap for an 85 El Camino and it worked like a charm even though it looked exactly like the cap I had.

 

:thumbsup:
Good deal! And your setup looks 100X better than those generic, cheap looking versions sold in any parts stores...