rcrac3r

So I'm all for keeping an old car as original as possible. Hunting for the correct parts & making sure everything looks factory. But some budgets aren't as big as others & in some cases people have to become inventive. My 72' Cutlass didn't come with a coolant reservoir so it would drip every now then out the overflow tube onto the ground. As the "car budget" has been spent for the year I decided to use a large Crown Royal bottle with a custom made bracket as an overflow. As the budget rebuilds I do intend on getting the proper overflow reservoir. But I thought it might interesting to see what else people have used for a coolant or washer reservoir.

oldcutlass

FYI, the glass bottle found in most old GM's was for washer fluid refill storage. Radiator overflow tanks were all plastic. If your radiator overflows the thermal shock will shatter that bottle.

In addition you want the overflow tank to be able to allow water that escapes the radiator hot, to also return when it cools.

Koda

So the Jack Daniels bottle overflow I saw on the "I dun fixd it" photo collections is a bad idea?

rcrac3r

This seems to work ok. The fluid rises and falls as the engine runs/cools off. There is an extra vent hole in the cap to allow for breathing. I'm pretty sure this will work fine for the interim.

m371961

I like it.

tru-blue 442

We used to use Prestone jugs with
the tube going down to about 2" from the bottom.
Worked well. Make sure to drill a hole in the top
next to the tube hole for a steam vent if they did
overheat.

MDchanic

Now I'm getting thirsty.

- Eric

rcrac3r

Yep mentioned that earlier.

bigrig12

Right on...I have a Corona bottle in my '71! I got the idea from a rod I saw last year...it had a J.D. bottle in there. Seems to work fine to catch the dribbles. PS- I saw your Crown jewel in there @ Rocket Round-Up in July, I thought it was similar to mine and very cool!

hookem horns

Must be a Canadian built car

Finn5033

Here is a link to some coolant overflow setups at Autozone. I ordered the kit for $28.99 just yesterday so I haven't gotten it yet but it looks like a good deal. Or you can just buy the reservoir $13.99. These are just universal ones. I wanted to get the correct one from The Parts Place but $200 wasn't in the budget right now.

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc...mString=search

rcrac3r

Ah ok. I was helping to park cars that day. Yeah I like that the gold on the bottle matches the engine.

rcrac3r

Nope Fremont, California. Just has a Canadian touch to it

rcrac3r

That's it exactly for me to. Eventually we will get the right one.

bccan

I always used Cutlass washer reservoirs & mounted them to the R/F fender Liner. I preferred the black ones (68 or 69?) for subtlety.

pogo69

An oldsmobile deserves a top shelf black label bottle...

rcrac3r

In this case it has a "king's Crown".

frankr442

If you want to keep it looking original, the washer reservoir on the RH liner looks very correct. Most people who look at mine think that it's factory. I personally like the translucent jar so I can monitor the level.

Bluevista

The car shouldn't need a bottle if the cooling system is up to snuff. Something else is wrong if they spit out coolant. Good to have one just in case for environmental reasons. You don't want some tree hugger calling the fire department haz-mat team when they see coolant on the ground under your car, no joke nowadays. The EPA fine and bill the fire department sends you after the clean up would probably be way more than what most of these cars are worth.

MDchanic

Surely you're joking.

Can you point to a single instance of such a fine?

- Eric

nsnarsk65cutlass

I don't think Blue vista is joking,out here Ca those types are around i haven't heard of any fines tho.

MDchanic

Ha.

I just replaced the coolant in my son's new Jeep, which had been sitting for years, yesterday.
Pulled off the lower hose, let the antifreeze out, flushed through with the hose, refilled with "cooling system cleaner" and water, left the hose running in the driveway to rinse to old coolant down the driveway and into the lawn.

- Eric

Allan R

John, if I had thought about it before coming to the RR in July, I have 2 of those Dorman plastic overflows. Should have brought you one. They're not expensive - around 14.00 I think.

jag1886

I'm no tree hugger but that's just wrong. You can take anti freeze to a lot of places and recycle it. You also won't end up killing your neighbors dog or your own, it also can't be good for your lawn.

oldcutlass

You should have never said this in mixed company.

pogo69

I would call that irresponsible moron behavior...especially if it glycol

1970-W30

"Moron behavior"? that's a bit over the top in my opinion, ethynol glycols' ONLY danger is if it is ingested by pets or humans. If it's diluted enough and soaks into a lawn, no harm is done to the environment, pets or humans.

MDchanic

The LD50 of ethylene glycol, the toxic component of antifreeze is 4,700 mg/kg.
That means that if you weigh 220 pounds (100kg), you would need to drink 470g of it. Since it has a density of 1.11 g/cc, that means that it would occupy 423cc, which is about 14 ounces.
BUT, since antifreeze is mixed 50:50 in the cooling system, that's actually 28 ounces.

So, 50% of 220lb people would die if they drank about a quart of antifreeze.
Scale it down for animals.
A 22lb dog would have to drink nearly 3 ounces.
Pretty hard to suck that out of the dirt, especially when it's been washed through with about 50 gallons of water.

The lawn looks fine.



I'm a straight shooter. If something is bad, I don't do it, but dropping a couple of gallons of coolant into the lawn is not going to hurt anybody.

This is one of those things that has attained the status of urban myth, and it's a load of horse flop.

- Eric

Koda

Pretty much this. Same with oil on a gravel driveway. People went from being sensible on it to full retard on environmentalism. Asphalt is a petroleum product, and no one complains about that. But, oil on your gravel drive will magically soak into the aquifer, and it's usually people with NO background education in the subject telling you this.

pogo69

Wow...here comes justify train, 125.00 min fine here for realeasing antifreeze 50/50, 3 ppm or whatever scientific explanation you want to try telling them...unbelievable

MDchanic

What's the fine here?

- Eric

edit: Wait, I think I found it.

The only reference I could find is here:
No penalties. They just suggest that it might be bad for your septic system to pour it down the toilet, and that you shouldn't pour it down the sewer.

Care to preach any further?

pogo69

Preach?? Well i should of known....maine..ha!!

pogo69

I think i will preach some more...why dont you sit down and pour yourself 3 or 4 .shots of antifreeze and drink it ...it wont cause no harm mr tough guy straight shooter

Lady72nRob71

Let's calm down; no more preaching.
The coolant is in the ground where it can no longer be consumed, except maybe by bugs, which we seem to use other chemicals to kill them anyways....

pogo69

Sorry rob but that is a riduculous comment...no harm except for the bugs???? What rhe hell is wrong with you people? If were 16 years old and stupid i might drain antifreeze out of car on the ground, but fortunatly I respect my environment i am out of this nuthouse

1970-W30

Pogo, how was Rob supposed to know that you have a soft spot for bugs??

pogo69

The idiot comments just keep coming....the people that dont seem to give a **** are just like sheep ....you can dump all the antifreeze and oil or whatever from your flea market cars for all i care

jag1886

Good Grief!! You must be kidding!

1970-W30

Calling people irresponsible morons, idiots, "sheep with flea market cars" and such without actually putting out any type of factual rebuttal is not going to sway anybodys' mind. Give us some real facts about the "dangers" of antifreeze other then the fact it has a sweet taste and poisonous if ingested. According to Wikipedia it breaks down in the soil in a few weeks and is also commonly used at airports for "deicing".

pogo69

You want a fact? Go spread some antifreeze on your lawn,have any small kids,dogs or cats? Tell em to ingest some and see how their kidneys make out...another fact ...birds here in ct were ingesting antifreeze a farm with about 6 cats were poisened after getting into the birds or antifreeze...go tell your 10 year old kid ohhh sorry we had to put your pets down....and again i will say stupid,moron and irresposible and sheep whatever!!