47-55.1 Coolant reservoir

[Matt_50]

I need a coolant reservoir and I was looking at universal ones and some looks a lot like the washer fluid bottle off my donor.

Can I use it? Does size matter? Or... What do you recommend?

I have a couple spots it'll fit.

And factory; was it a bottle shaped thing going along the radiator sides?

[jmlloar]

pretty much anything will work long as you make sure hose goes to the bottom so it can pick up coolant as it cools off.
I have used antifreeze jugs as a makeshift one in the past. make sure its not airtight and you will be fine.

any universal one will work.

[Matt_50]

The hose does go to bottom and it's just a pop on lid, so I guess I'm good.

Thanks!

[Fast Chevy]

I found one I liked at salvage yard, cheap and almost any size , shape u can think of. I paid less than $10, just had to look under a few hoods.
Jeff

[mr48chev]

That might function as one.
Originally they didn't have them at all and the hose just ran down below the bottom of the radiator and if it puked it puked on the ground. That is all kinds of wrong today for no more reason than you don't want to be poisoning an animal because your truck puked a puddle of antifreeze.

The main bad thing about that tank besides serious ugly is that the fitting for the hose is too small in comparison to the fitting on the radiator.

[Matt_50]

Lmao, yes seriously ugly! That does scrub off pretty good. I have seen some cylindrical types that I thought would look good.

Yea, the fittings are a little off but ID is the same.

[MiraclePieCo]

Originally Posted by mr48chev

The main bad thing about that tank besides serious ugly is that the fitting for the hose is too small in comparison to the fitting on the radiator.

I have a collection of plastic step-down adapters from NAPA for just such occasions.

[vintovka]

I found one that is narrow and fits to the side. Had to raise it up to nearly level of top rad tank for it to work properly btw. Now it works great with no issues. Will post a pic soon

[_Ogre]

i used a piece of 3" ss exhaust tube to make my tank

[Black_Sheep]

I found a decent catch can at a swap meet, it fits nicely on the core support between the radiator and fender. I epoxied a long piece of 3/8 steel line into the fitting on top to convert it to a coolant recovery system.

[Matt_50]

I couldn't find a decent spot for the tank I have so I started googling the cylinder types.

Some of what I'm finding have screw on lids. But are these tanks supposed to be airtight or does it matter?

[_Ogre]

you can't use air tight, it needs to vent to fill or drain back
my vent/overflow is a tube welded in the bottom that goes almost to the top inside
my tank holds roughly 65 oz

[Matt_50]

Is it vented on top? On other side in picture?

Ok so no screw on lids.

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

you can't use air tight, it needs to vent to fill or drain back
my vent/overflow is a tube welded in the bottom that goes almost to the top inside
my tank holds roughly 65 oz

vented on top would also spray coolant out of the top
as stated my vent tube comes out of the bottom and is bent to prevent coolant overflow from hitting the frame

[dsraven]

check dorman oe solutions. maybe something like this would work. lid properly labelled and cheap too.

https://www.amazon.com/Dorman-603-00...PAYSMRVJRVCGNK

[Russell Ashley]

The good thing about buying a factory overflow tank from the junk yard is that they have the fluid level marked and are transparent enough that you can see the level. They are also rugged enough to take the hot fluid with out melting. I got one for $5 at Pull-a-Part. Just look until you find the size and shape you want.

[MiraclePieCo]

In my continuing quest to simplify, I do it the 1960's way: no overflow tank, just the puke tube down the side of the radiator that vents onto the ground. It's never actually puked anything yet.

[gigamanx]

Anything works. I prefer emptying an alcohol bottle while doing other projects then using the empty for the truck

I just drilled a hole in the cork top and stuck a tube to the bottom. Welded up a bracket to hold the bottle.