Stainless Steel Overflow Tank
 

The Mrs. and I attended our local Habitat for Humanity dinner and auction last evening. One of the silent auction items was a stainless steel radiator overflow tank. It's 15" long and about 2" in diameter. I thought it would look good along side of my new aluminum radiator in the '66. When I got to looking at it this morning, I discovered that there are no instructions with it. It might be a no brainer but there are two tubes protruding from the bottom of the tank (one is longer than the other). What is the proceedure here? does only one tube connect to the overflow tube and the longer one for overflow for the overflow tank? Do I need a special radiator cap to make this work? I can see that excessive pressure in the radiator will force coolant into the overflow tank but how does it get back into the radiator unless there is a vacuum valve built into the radiator cap? These seem to be common but how do I hook it up so that it works instead of just looking good? Thanks, Steve

Our trucks didn't come with nor need overflow tanks. IMHO

I have not run one in over 40 years of truck driving.



John :-X06

You might check with one of the street rod suppliers......Speedway, Yogi's, etc., they all sell em, don't know who makes em though......good luck T/M

The cap on our rads is designed to open at high pressures(12-13lbs or something like that) then close. Current production vehicles have a overflow that allows for the coolant to be pulled back into the system as it cools. I'm not sure our caps would allow this. I might be wrong. If rigged up it will basically be a catch can to keep the engine bay clean. Saw a rat rod, in a mag, that used a glass bottle with rubber stopper and hose rigged up. Another one had a colt 45 can.

On your original question, use your air hose and apply pressure to one side and see what happens. You could also fill it with water and apply pressure and see if one side is an overflow, overflow, lol.

Yes John, I know they did not come with them. I've had my '65 F250 for 32 years and I too have never had an overflow tank. So it's not because I need one but because I want one. I didn't need an aluminum radiator either but it sure looks cool and this overflow tank really compliments it. Besides that fact that they retail for about $90 and I got this one for $30. I thought for sure that I would be outbid but I guess there weren't very many gearheads at the fundraiser. That's a great idea about using air/water and was my next step but I thought someone would have the difinitive answer about the radiator cap. I looked pretty hard on the web for an answer but haven't found the info that I need. Up to now, I have been using a clear plastic drink bottle with the label removed to contain any spillage. This tank will really clean that up. Thanks for all of your replys. Steve

Ford did offer a coolant recovery system, but it was only available at the parts counter as a dealer (or customer) installed accessory.

DOAZ8522A .. Coolant Recovery Reservoir Kit / Consisted of clear plastic reservoir, 13 lb. radiator cap, plastic tubing, mounting hardware and instruction sheet / Obsolete.

The 13 lb. radiator cap that came with the kit had a round metal label attached that said in RED block letters: "Closed System."

A similar coolant recovery kit was also sold by NAPA, except it didn't have the Ford script embossed on the reservoir.
I've had my 1965 F100 for 44 years...since March 1965. :)

One of the tubes in the bottom gets connected to the overflow on the rad neck (typically this is the center tube.) This tube will only be flush with the bottom of the tank or rise into it a little ways. The other, as you surmised, is the overflow for the tank itself, and typically protrudes further than the other. This tube will rise almost to the top of the tank.

You do not need a special rad cap. There are 2 seals on rad caps - the large diameter one that seals at the top of the neck, and the smaller one which seals down on the seat of the neck. This is the seal that gets pushed off of the seat to allow the coolant to leave the radiator when a specified pressure is reached. The pressure at which it is released is determined by the spring. There is a vacuum valve built into the cap - it is the small "button" on the bottom. It allows air (or water from a catch can) back into the rad when things are cooling down. If the cap didn't have a vacuum valve, the radiator would collapse itself by being under vacuum.

Your overflow tank will work fine, just make sure that you have the overflow hose connected to the correct barb on the tank. It will allow coolant to flow back into the rad when it cools down.

Make sure that the vacuum button is not broken - it should be up snug against the seal and snap back when you pry it out a little bit. If it is just dangling there, it is broken. If it is broken, the rad won't reach any pressure and the cap won't work the way it should. With the huge rads on our trucks, we seldom notice that the cap isn't working because the truck won't boil over.

Hope this makes sense. If not, ask me and I can clarify some more.

59INA40


Good buy on the overflow tank!

I really like running the overflow tank on any truck or car, beside the normal uses, if you
own PETS I think that it is a real responsible thing to do! Also who wants all the spray,
spatter and puke around the rad and core support,I think that where the overflow hose
sprays out helps RUST these core support even more!


P.S. When Drag racing you don't get though TECH check with out one, and if they see
a car/ truck and there rad is puking all over the track they stop you and make you get OFF
the track! Wet surface can kill some one!

Wally Womack

Great info Wally regarding pets and coolant aka anti-freeze.

If a pet (dog, cat, bird...whatever) drinks only a small dab of anti-freeze, chances are...it will die!

Bill thanks! , We have a rescue australian cattle dog for 3 years and before SPOT,
we had a rescue part husky part chow 10 years! ( RIP Iceburg ).



Wally Womack

We have 5 rescued senior Basset Hounds...I'd have more, but...She, who must be obeyed" says...that's enuff!

There are 146 Basset Hounds at Daphneyland aka BARNI (Basset Rescue Network, Inc.) located in Acton, CA.

This is a no kill facility (with A/C and heat, located on a multiple acre site), so the hounds are safe there till they find their "forever" new homes.

Since the wife says no more, we help to sponsor the senior Bassets I cannot bring home.

OK, I thought I was on the right track but I was not thinking "closed system". It all makes sense. If I go down to NAPA tomorrow, chances are that they will have a cap that will my rad and make it a closed system. Wow, thanks for all of the great info. I'm glad that you guy's dogs are doing OK too. Woof Woof. Steve

i installed the recovery tank from the 76 i used as a donor on my 66 when i did the retro. it fit on the fenderwell perfectly, used the cap from the 76 on my 390 and it works very well. at least i have not had to add antifreeze for about 2 years now. Dutch

I intend to fit a recovery bottle to my truck when I get a chance. Though these trucks with their big top tank rads don't really need them, it's good to keep the air in the system to a minimum and so help prevent corrosion and improve heat transfer. I drove a couple of weeks back in 46c (114F) and the gauge only went to half. I was mighty impressed. (Freak weather for where I am). A little came out of the overflow when I switched off but not much. I notice the handbook says don't fill over 1" below filler neck. As long as the cap is a good seal around the outside of the neck it will pull liquid back in rather than air.

The radiators used with the FEs are large by todays standard. I believe is close to 5 gallons of coolant in the system.

Our systems require swell space because they don't have recovery tanks. You can not run them full, it will puke some out of the top until it's happy.

Leave a couple inches in the top for expansion and you shouldn't have any issues.

Sometimes my truck sits a month at a time, I usually check the oil and fluid before firing it up, and never have to add any fluid.

As long as you can see coolant in the top don't add any more, only add if you can't see any.



John :-X06