coolant and washer fluid tanks

[mattiemjbb]

I’ve done some modifications on my jeep , which has resulted in me having to make a new shaped coolant tank and a new windscreen sprayer tank. I’ve made these out of 1mm mild steel and welded then all up minus the top of course. What should I put on the inside to prevent rust as I understand washer fluid and coolant strip paint. Any ideas welcomed as I only have 6 days to finish everything so sadly no time to get it chrome plated.

Cheers

 

[malcolm]

If you were starting from scratch then stainless is a good choice for coolant tanks. Some sort of plating is the norm for mild steel.

Though surely windscreen washer fluid won't strip paint - otherwise it would take the paint off your bonnet everytime you washed the windscreen. Paint for that one. For the coolant you'd probably not want thick paint in there in case it flaked off and went into the coolant system. Maybe a light coat of spray paint inside that one. Outside any old paint will be fine (It's not that corrosive).

 

[mattiemjbb]

Good thinking that man! Tbh pretty foolish to start with should have made it out of plastic but I didn’t think of that and started cutting and sticking and after hours of work I don’t want to start again!

 

[malcolm]

I've got an expansion bottle made from glass! It's from the mid 60s when the sealed cooling system was still a big thing (in fact this was the first car to have a modern cooling system).

 

[shenion]

Heh, the Jeeps used a crappy plastic bottle that gets brittle over time. Went to salvage yard and asked if he had one. He just laughed, "noone has those, they are gone in a day when Jeep comes in."

I found a tank from a Saturn that fit perfect and just needed adapters for the different hose sizes.

As for your tank, check a motorcycle shop. They have this goopy tank coating they coat insides of old rusted gas tanks with (after an acid treatment to remove rust.) Kreem is one brand. Should be able to withstand anything.

Hmm, a SS or aluminum tank for mine sounds like a fun project for my TIG

 

[rtbcomp]

Pressurised cooling systems were fitted to Rileys from about 1950, upto then they were non-pressurised running at 75 degC, expansion was taken care off by a brass tank built within the header tank. One of my cars had a police whistle fitted to the overflow to indicate boiling!

 

[mattiemjbb]

The goo looks just the ticket I’m going to order some tonight when I get home from work, I think it will be ok just bare metal for a week or so for the offloading trip I’m off on. Thanks for your help everyone

 

[andrewg1323]

Dumb question but would something like frosts petrol tank sealer not do it? this makes a coated barrier over meal doesn't it?

 

[littlestwoo]

I'd take a guess thats similar to the motorcycle stuff, which seems good if you get it right the first time. A friend of mine got it wrong and had to buy something else to desolve it, one of those nasty chemicals that want to kill you I think.

 

[drivewasher]

I don't see any problems with bare mild steel and antifreeze in system 50% or stronger, as antifreeze is a summer coolant and corrosion inhibitor.
Cast iron cylinder blocks dont have paint on inside of em where water is this is why you should always have antifreeze in system

 

[rtbcomp]

I don't see any problems with bare mild steel and antifreeze in system 50% or stronger, as antifreeze is a summer coolant and corrosion inhibitor.
Cast iron cylinder blocks dont have paint on inside of em where water is this is why you should always have antifreeze in system

I wondered about that, but antifreeze will only inhibit corrosion if the metal is submerged, as the level in the tank rises and falls it could be possible to get condensation on the bare metal which would cause rot.