Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[3xpendable]

I've been doing some analysis and am basically not happy with the 'head' of water there is above the top of my Honda 250 kart, we found that last year if it lost the tiniest amount of water it would aerate then overheat so for this year I want to fix that. If possible I want to avoid the hassle of a 2nd radiator so was thinking of a bigger header tank just to hold a but more water higher up compared the the amount in the pipework there now.

My quyestion is, is there a suitable item out there for this such as a small tank for a bike etc? it would need 22mm hose connections. If not i'll put a 2nd radiator on instead but just thought i'd ask.
_________________
2013 Dodge Durango R/T Hemi
1965 Ford Anglia 106e Estate (LHD)
1964 Ford Anglia 105E 1500 GT (Dad)
1980 Porsche 911 SC Targa (Uncle)
1971 MGB GT (V8 project) -SOLD 2016
2005 MINI Cooper S JCW - SOLD 2016

[Roger-hatchy]

Not sure if these can help.
Have a look through, I've used them for some time now.

http://www.cbsonline.co.uk/category/Header__Breather_and_Oil_Catch_Tanks,b.html

Roger

[Penman]

Hi
These have 1 1/4" fittings but it might be possible to get a copper reducing coupling.
http://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/p742/SWIRL-POT/HEADER-TANK-1:1/4-INLET/OUTLET/product_info.html

Would a water wetter (see the same catalogue) also help?
_________________
Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10

[Mog]

I remember being told that some of the cars of the 1930's had over heating problems. The way to fix the problem was to make the header tank larger.

[PAUL BEAUMONT]

Not sure how big you mwant nor if you are thinking new or S/h, but I'm sure I recall that my BMC 1100 had a small remote header thank.

Paul

[Jim.Walker]

[bob2]

when the pressure cap is on the radiator and the car only came with an overflow pipe which would throw the water out and on the street, where is the best place to place an expansion tank, below or above radiator level?
Thinking about my minis here!!

And sorry for the thread hijack !!

[Roger-hatchy]

Hi Bob
Before I had my radiator re-cored on the DLM I had the same problem.
Leaked out of the overflow, found this was a cap problem, now sorted with new seal.
till then I fitted an old one pint oil can down the side of the radiator as an expansion tank with the pipe just above the bottom of the bottle, on cooling the overflow syphoned back into the radiator.

Mine was, as said, at the side of the rad so the top was about half way up the water level.
In my opinion as long as it's not above the top of the radiator it will do it's job.

Someone on here will have a better technical explanation and theory

[Mog]

It will not matter as long as the over flow pipe is below the water level. What happens is that as the engine heats up the water expands and is pushed into the tank. When the engine cools down the water is sucked back into the radiator . As per most modern cars.

[Jim.Walker]

[Mog]

You should always check that the pipe from the radiator to the expansion tank is in good condition. Most modern cars have a pvc piece of pipe, if this cracks, you can end up over heating the engine quickly. It cost me $2,500 to fix the cracked head on my modern. This was due to a relay failing on the fans.

[bob2]

I've got one mini (the surf blue one) already fitted with such, its an old Dot3 hydraulic bottle fitted (actually just tied) to the bulkhead on the side of the radiator and it works fine, but I wanted to do something more appropriate on the green mini but have no space beside the radiator so was thinking of putting one on the bulkhead but by so doing the expansion bottle would be higher than the radiator and thought it wouldn't work!!
If you say it does I'll try it out then.
The pressure cap is fitted to the radiator and as Jim said, I fill the radiator to the top and put only a small amount in the expansion tank just the amount needed to cover the end of the overflow pipe!

Thanks gents!