Hey Gang,
I am pleased to report that Yellow is finally back from the paint shop,
hopefully for good this time. Six weeks ago I took him back because I found
a couple of little things I didn't like... a chip here, a sag there... It
took six weeks to get that stuff fixed! I think the shop was trying to make
a point... But I finally did get all the little problems straightened out.
So, anyway...
The last thing I did to Yellow before taking him back to the painter in
early February was to install a coolant recovery system. I bought the
"system" from Pep Boys for $6.49 and it (the "system") consisted of a small
(maybe 1.5 quarts, they also have much larger) translucent plastic tank, a
few feet of plastic tubing, two small spring clamps, and a metal mounting
bracket. I separately purchased a 7 pound Stant sealed system radiator cap
for $3.49. So, if you disregard the Governor's add-on, the whole system cost
less than $10.
Because the "system's" instructions recommended a high mount, I installed
the tank on the firewall next to the battery (the bracket was not up to the
task so I had to kluge up a mount). I routed the tubing from the radiator
overflow, along the left stay, to the overflow tank. I trimmed about 3 or 4
inches off the tubing.
Unfortunately, the next day when I drove down to the painter's shop the
ambient temp was downright Canadian! The engine never got up to operating
temp (maybe my thermostat is shot) so I could not assess how well the new
"system" worked, if at all.
But yesterday afternoon when I picked the car up the temp was real New
Mexican... maybe 75 degrees, clear and sunny. It was so nice I took a couple
of detours on the way home... ran by a buddy's shop so we could talk about
rear springs, and so forth.
Some 40 miles later, when I finally pulled into my garage and shut down the
engine I was rewarded with lots of under-bonnet gurgling sounds. I lifted
the bonnet to find the overflow tank full to just below the "full-hot" line.
And, even better, when I checked today I found the overflow tank empty to
just below the "full-cold" line. EUREKA! The "system" works!
Now if I can just score a better looking recovery tank...
Thanks again to all submitted suggestions on fitting a recovery tank. Your
help is much appreciated.
Cheers!
--Colin Cobb, Las Cruces, NM, USA
'66 Morgan Plus Four, '41 Chevrolet Coupe 350/350, '65 Sunbeam Tiger (FOR
SALE), '89 Alfa Romeo Spider (FOR SALE)
///
/// morgans@autox.team.net mailing list
///
|