Radiator recovery tanks

Woodie UK

Woodie UK

Member
Guys,
The newly rebuilt '37 motor in my '36 likes to empty its radiator header tank on long runs through the overflow pipe and apart from covering the front axle in rusty water, makes the engine run hot. I've had the rad rebuilt but am still running the '36 pumping heads.

Thinking of fitting a coolant recovery tank - do they really work and where's a good place to fit one?

Colin
 

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You need Skips 3 lb pressure valve and a new gasket on your radiator cap but first you need to check and make sure there is no compression leak. The water will NORMALY back out the over flow due to the restriction of the radiator and the engine will be at least 4 quarts low. This makes it run hotter. The valve along with a tight sealing cap allows you fill the water up into the neck. The valve keeps the water from backing out the over flow and FORCES the water through the radiator tubes. Pumps that pump more water then the stock Ford pumps cool better because there is more water cooled by the transfer of heat by the tubes and fins. YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE THERE IS NOT A COMPRESSION LEAK. You should also read the temperature of the heads on the hump behind the pumps with a laser pointed thermometer. Both side should be within about 5 degrees of each other. G.M.
 
Woodie UK - as GM mentioned get the coolant checked for a compression leak. Use the exhaust gas analyser. I went around with my cooling system, and had a compression leak, changed head gaskets, surfaced heads, etc. Still have 50-75 PPM of HC. My 49 did all the things you mentioned. Its in a woodie as well. Must be the wood!
wg
 
i had a set of aluminum heads that were porus in the compression chambers.....exhaust gasses under pressure into the collant....
 
Woody .There are many things that can cause your problem as mentioned above .Here is a picture of my35 over flow tank I put on 25 years ago .the 91lb cap is a little high but it works ok its of a Morris 1300 .The beauty of this is it sucks all the expelled water back in so it always full .,My 34 dumped water but after cleaning the Radiator so far its settled down.Any system that runs a un pressurised Radiator can dump water out the overflow because its relying on gravity to some extent ,if the pumps sucking does not make room for it will flow out the over flow .There are over flow tanks available in the form of a tube from the hot rod vendors like Drake . Macs .and of course Skips Valve ,make sure the header has a pressure cap 4to 5 1lb.
 

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You DO NOT need skip's 3 pound valve. I tried it and did not like it. You still lose water. Engine heats up above 3 pounds and out goes the water. Engine heats up another 3 pounds and out goes the water. I was told it's not the valve it's a compression leak or radiator plug or something else. Would never amit to the valve not working. Always had some other excuse why valve would not work. What I put on my 35 car works great. It's a overflow tank about 2" diameter and 12 inches long. I mounted on the passenger side fire wall. Just run a 1/4" hose to the over flow and you will never lose another drop and yes it works. When the engine gets warm the water goes to the overflow. When engine cools down water goes back to radiator. If they are not a good idea why are they on new cars.
 
ted ive got 1 of them on my52 merc,hard to find now they are brass what you forgot to say is the radiator cap needs to be a non pressurec cap the 1 on the o/flow tank needs the pressure cap i think ive got that right ???
 
Yes the cap needs to be on the brass tank .If you have nothing to catch the water with it will not suck back . Does Coup have a pressure cap ? is the tank high so it siphons back ?.
 
I highly recommend an overflow. My father and I installed a one gallon overflow on a stock 40. The side mount radiator cap and top mount overflow negates any chance of pressure cap with the stock radiator. The lack of pressure didn't matter, the addition of the overflow did. We had to fill the overflow jug four times to fill the radiator header tank since the fill cap is lower than the top of the radiator. We drove from San Antonio Tx to Dearborn in July to attend the 2003 Grand National V8 Club meet. We drove through 100 degree weather in Texas and the water just moved back and forth between the overflow and the radiator.
 
Yes they work. With my 48 Ford (302) I was always loosing water out of the overflow. I installed one of those aftermarket SS recovery tanks and never had a water problem again.

I had the same problem with a flathead (in a glass T). Same deal as above, constantly loosing coolant via the overflow. This time I made a coolant recovery system out of an old army canteen. Again, no loss after installation. Neither of these systems are closed, which i think is a waste based on my experience.
 
If you decide to put a catch tank on, a good choice that worked great for me is the tank from a Geo Metro (Chevrolet). It's a plastic tank that is only 5 inches long, 3 inches wide, and 5 inches tall, so it's easy to find a place to mount it in a tight engine compartment. Both the water inlet and outlet are in the snap-on cap. If you get one, be sure to get the unique mounting bracket, which is spot welded to the inner fender panel and will have to be cut out. Good luck!!
 
Woodie UK said:
Guys,
The newly rebuilt '37 motor in my '36 likes to empty its radiator header tank on long runs through the overflow pipe and apart from covering the front axle in rusty water, makes the engine run hot. I've had the rad rebuilt but am still running the '36 pumping heads.

Thinking of fitting a coolant recovery tank - do they really work and where's a good place to fit one?

Colin
Click to expand...
Your over filling your radator and you mount the recoverytankon overflowside of radaitorany conitanor will work cheapaddition.
 
When installing a closed recovery system you need to be mindful of a few things, to have it operate properly. The ENTIRE system, radiator, overflow/recovery lines, overflow container MUST be air tight. However, there must be provision for the air in the recovery tank to exit/enter when the excess coolant enters/recovers. If you're system is 0 pressure, the cap on the radiator must be air tight, but the cap on the overflow tank must NOT be, to allow the free flow of air in/out. If you're system is pressurized, the cap on the radiator must be air tight, but the cap on your overflow tank needs to be pressurized to whatever your system is rated at. On either system the inlet/recovery tube needs to be located at the very lowest point on the recovery tank to allow all the coolant to return to the radiator. The coolant overflow tank needs to be of large enough capacity to allow all of the overflow to stay in the tank... rather than too small and blowing the excess out of the cap. The tank on mine is a poly oil tank (1 1/2 qt capacity) from a motorcycle. The non pressurized cap allows the free flow of air into/out of the tank, as the excess coolant enters/recovers from it. The fitting for the tube is at the bottom of the tank. The hose is attached to the bottom of my radiator overflow tube and the fitting on the tank. It works like Factory...the key being that the entire system is air tight (except the recovery cap)...
 
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