Running a 59AB flathead in my model A. 1935 Ford radiator modified with a fill off the back of the top tank to run with a '32 shell. Original overflow tube sealed off. 4 lb. radiator cap. Currently just running a tube down to the ground to puke the excess coolant when it warms up. My question is if I put some kind of puke tank on the car will the puked coolant run back into the radiator if there is only one hose going into it as it cools off or is the tank merely there to catch the excess coolant as the engine warms up? Thanks, Andy
It should just suck the excess back into the radiator when it cools. It's not really a "puke" tank, it's an expansion recovery tank.
You have to use a radiator cap for a recovery system and the hose going into the recovery/puke tank has to extend to the bottom or go directly into the bottom. Sent from my Moto G Play using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I am using a by-pass oil filter as a coolant overflow tank, my dad's idea. The plan was for it just to be a puke tank, but it ended up working as a recovery tank.
I use an old NOS octane booster bottle that holds 12 oz. It works fine. I think you could use up to a qt. or what ever you have around that looks cool. Be creative! You might want to use a higher pressure cap, maybe 7-10 lbs. or so.
Lots of creative overflow tanks, aluminum water or bicycle bottle is common, can be polished, brushed, or painted depending on how much attention you want to draw to it.
I just zip tied a gallon jug to the core support. My friends all laughed real hard. I'd do something nicer, on a nicer car.
I’ve used a pre made aluminum tube style. It holds 2.5 quarts. I find that I still have to top off the radiator twords the end of the driving season, but has made a definite improvement in drivability of my car. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
think that for recovery system to work need at least a 15LB cap - know that this has been covered at least once before here
The neck on the radiator has to be built for recovery. Car companies started using them in the early 70's. Recovery caps will have a gasket at the outside ring that seals to the radiator neck. The overflow tube will be located on the filler neck between the seat for the pressure plate and the top flange where the cap gasket seals. That way as the coolant expands and pushed past the pressure plate it has to go to the tank. As the engine cools and the coolant shrinks it makes a vacuum in the radiator and pulls coolant back into the radiator. Without the top gasket it would just pull air. Only reason I can see to have a high pressure cap is to limit the amount of coolant that gets pushed into the overflow tank.
Nope, if it has a 4PSI cap on it, it will just puke more into the recovery tank than if it had a 15PSI cap, all due to the higher pressure cap raising the boiling point of the coolant. And with a 1935 radiator, I'd be careful about running too much pressure unless it's been re-cored. On a recovery type radiator cap, there is a check valve at the bottom of the cap that allows pressure to build in the system, but opens when there is a slight vacuum in the system when it cools off, which draws the coolant from the recovery tank back into the radiator.
Thanks for all the replies. Sounds like my system is set right for a recovery tank. Now to find a suitable container for the ride. -Andy
I didn't get a pic, but I will. My local motor shop has a 4 banger roadster open wheel hot rod and he is using a old round metal Marvel Mystery oil can on his. Very cool looking, I already ordered on off Fleabay.
one side note on your recovery system. make sure it isn't sealed air tight. you should have a hose leading out of it towards the top as an overflow just like your radiator as a puke hose/vent.
Or you could just buy and install an aftermarket unit. I go by the thought that if my roadster was built in the '50 or the '60s somebody would have updated some things. Really it just blends into the other chrome. I have not anybody notice it even at the T Bucket Nationals and scrutinized by the T Bucket Plans guy.
I need to find the pic, but I remember seeing a guy's hot rod that had a fifth of jack for his overflow tank
the company that I bought my radiator from said to fill it up and once it puked the first time to leave it and that is what I did, of course it is checked regularly
My '24 Dodge Brothers Hot Rod Roadster with a 318 still has an original radiator so I put a 5 gallon spun aluminum tank up front between the rails below the radiator. I ran a hose from the stock over flow tube to the bottom fitting on the aluminum tank, which has a vented cap. The radiator has a stock '24 cap, threaded on, no pressure, with good gasket which seals it to the neck. Pulling my 4x8 TrailorBoat camper and pulling hills in the middle of August going to Bonneville at 70 mph tends to raise the temp and antifreeze pushes into the tank a little. As soon as I go over the hilltop and start down it cools and pulls the antifreeze right back into the radiator. Never looses a drop! I could just slow down a bit, but hey! Of course this would still work just fine with a small tank too. Dave
Are You OK? steel rebel....I have not see any recent posts from you lately... Please advise and thanks.... Terry Kieffer
I would suggest some sort of tank about 1 qtr or a little more if you have room. I made mine froma Stainless Steel water bottle with a screw on cap. The trick is to have the overflow come in from the bottom of the tank and then a second long tube that extended to near the top was welded in to release fluid IF NECASSARY . See my sketch. I have had 2 made like this for my '40 in my AVATAR and a '40 pickup they work great.
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