Expansion Tank vs. Swirl Pot

[Nick M]

I'm currently building a 1.6 16v Vauxhall engine and part of the installation is going to involve a general tidying up of the engine bay (I'm converting from a x-flow).

 

Ideally I'd like to do away with the existing expansion tank near the scuttle and replace it with something neater, possibly an alloy swirl pot / expansion tank. The plan is to tuck it away under the nose somewhere.

 

How is the 2.0 VX plumbed in and how have other people approached this matter ?

 

Any suggestions gratefully received.

 

Nick

[Swiss_Tony]

Nick

The expansion tank on my 2.0 vx (carbs) is sited under the nosecone. The bottle is from a Rover 214 etc. It is mounted on two metal brackets which are part of the chassis.

Places like Demon Tweeks sell the alloy expansion tanks.

If you want any more info let me know.

It may be worth talking to SBD as they do quite a few mods for the 1.6

 

James

 

 

 

Edited by - James on 5 Mar 2001 22:10:49

[Roger King]

The expansion tank that comes with a standard Crossflow car is simply a bottle for expanded water to find it's way into. It is NOT part of a sealed system and usually does not get sucked back in when it cools.

 

A proper header tank system has the expansion (header) tank as part of the pressurized, sealed system. This is what is fitted to the Vauxhall cars, but to work properly the header tank needs to mounted as high as possible so that it can collect air that builds up in the system. The best place for this is up on the scuttle and not level with the head at the front of the chasssis.

 

This system is by far the best to use (when plumbed correctly). The old swirl pots were used on Clubmans cars (as one example) and are not nearly so reliable as the sealed header tank system. Many years ago, we fitted our high performance customers (Crossflow) with header tank kits and the incidence of cooling problems dropped by 95%!

[gee_fin]

Hi Nick,

 

I've posted some photos showing the location of the swirl pot on my 2.0 Vx. Grab them at

 

Front shot

Side shot

Side shot (fuzzy)

Close up showing hoses into swirl pot

Overview shot, showing cleaner scuttle

 

Plays-Kool did the build so they may be a good starting point. The swirl pot has given me no trouble whatsoever, temparature remains solid and no leaks. It also cleans up the scuttle area greatly. It could be a pain putting it right underneath the nose-cone as this would mean having to remove the nose-cone everytime you want to check your water level.

 

Cheers,

Graeme.

_______________________________

www.fluke-motorsport.co.uk

[Nick M]

Thx all.

 

Graeme, I'll pick up any replies to my e-mail last night re exhausts when I get home.