header tank

[agnoraan]

Does anyone know where I can get a header tank like the one attached to the bulkhead on this car? Thanks in advance



cheers...Nige

[Roger King]

I don't think that's a header tank, Nige, it looks more like an expansion tank. There's a header tank at the front of the engine bay.

Stick 'aluminium radiator expansion tank' into google and you'll find loads of off-the-shelf and custom options. I had a nice one made up for the Mustang a few years back by a local race tank shop.

[Migge]

Looks like a washer bottle for the wipers to me. Not the one with the breather. The one in the middle.

[Roger King]

Not sure about that idea, it has a pressure cap! And why would you have the extra weight of a large aluminium tank in a race car replica?

When the engine runs hot, the coolant expands. The extra coolant is expelled into the base of the expansion tank, not visible in this pic. As it cools, the contracting coolant is sucked back into the engine, so no coolant is lost. The tank needs to vent to atmosphere, hence the vent and cap at the top. This doesn't need to be pressurised, likewise the tank doesn't need to be so high up - they're usually hidden away below and beneath somewhere as gravity feed is not necessary. It's always possible that for some reason this car has two header tanks, but I can't think why you'd want to carry extra weight. It's also a long way from the radiator, which is odd for a header tank.

[catsx11]

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[Roger King]

I can see a clear plastic tube coming from the possible 'pressure-cap' neck with what looks like blue tinted liquid and some air gaps at the top and a bubble at the bottom.
I'll go the 'washer-bottle' theory as I think the owner just wanted a it to be i'in-keeping' with the engine bay.

That'll be coolant from the overflow.
What right-minded individual would have a great big metal tank taking up space under his race car bonnet, positioned as prominently as that, for his washer bottle? Any racing car I've ever seen either doesn't bother with washers or has a tiny plastic bottle hidden away somewhere insignificant with a minimal amount of water in it! Er - where's the pump?

[catsx11]

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[agnoraan]

Thanks for the replies so far, here's a photo of the header tank at the front of that car




From the angle of the picture, I can't tell if it's higher than the hoses going to it or not, though it does look lower than the highest "water point" of the engine. The reason I'm asking is that I'm looking to redo my cooling system, as the header tank on mine is very small and is waaaay below the level of the top hose. I can't fit one in front like you guys do as the engine in the Viper sits higher than a Hawk, so the tank would still be below the level of the top hose. At the moment the top hose has a bleed screw in the top of it and after boiling over getting in to Cranleigh and subsequently boiling over on the way home, it became obvious that the engine doesn't have enough coolant in it. It took three flagons of water to fill it up through the bleed hole, yet looking in the header tank prior to filling it, it still had the same amount of coolant in there as it always has.

This car has never boiled over and can sit in traffic at 90 deg for what seems like an eternity, but on the weekend it decided to puke its guts up everywhere at a temperature approaching 140 deg . After filling it up through the bleed hole the car ran at 70 deg as per normal when moving. I got about 1.5 miles from the Severn bridge (jnct 21)and there were traffic queues from there all the way to the Newport tunnels, (junct25) I was in stop start traffic for 2.5 hrs crawling along in first gear all the way and the temp stayed on 90 deg, as per normal, making me assume that the coolant must have been low in it before I got to Cranleigh. With the header tank as it is I can't tell how much coolant is in the engine, hence looking to put a new tank above the engine/top hose.

Sorry for rambling
Nige

[agnoraan]

Duplicate sorry

[agnoraan]

Duplicate post, stupid fingers