Water tank help

They are made from steel.

To me, it sounds like you are describing rust deterioration?

Those tanks need to reliably hold 15 psi of pressure. I would replace them now.

You want to do that at your convenience and not on an emergency basis. Where they are located does not make easy access to them without the appropriate equipment and facilities.

I would use the "stainless steel" tanks that are seemingly available from any of the Pantera vendors here in the US.

They can be lead soldered for repair by a local radiator shop as well but the location of one of those rust bubbles under the cap does not sound particularly promising of longevity?

http://hallpantera.com/cgi-bin...ntera-inc&item=20283

Hall also has re-manufactured stock tanks on an exchange basis for about the same price.

Concur with Doug that you really would prefer not to have to fix this on an emergency basis. If those are the stock tanks, they are probably in worse shape than you think.

Maybe somebody has already replaced them and soldered a US vs. the Euro neck on the tank. If you have drained the system it's certainly not a bad idea to pull tthe tank off for a detailed inspection.

Mine had a pinhole leak that over the years had caused rust in my passenger side upright.

Rocky

quote:

Originally posted by PanteraDoug:
They are made from steel.

To me, it sounds like you are describing rust deterioration?

Those tanks need to reliably hold 15 psi of pressure. I would replace them now.

You want to do that at your convenience and not on an emergency basis. Where they are located does not make easy access to them without the appropriate equipment and facilities.

I would use the "stainless steel" tanks that are seemingly available from any of the Pantera vendors here in the US.

They can be lead soldered for repair by a local radiator shop as well but the location of one of those rust bubbles under the cap does not sound particularly promising of longevity?

http://hallpantera.com/cgi-bin...ntera-inc&item=20283

Hall also has re-manufactured stock tanks on an exchange basis for about the same price.

Hope fully this pic is an ok size to see the bump towards the top of the seal surface its smooth and the plating is still perfect.

Replace the tank. The necks themselves have a well deserved reputation on not sealing properly and as a result not letting the system pressurize to 15 psi.

The simplest thing to do is to purchase or rent a cooling system pressure tester.

Hook it up. See if the cap will seal. See if the system holds pressure.

The amount of work necessary to remove that tank, repair it, then reinstall is twice the amount to just replace it with something that will last forever, like a stainless tank.

You asked for advice. That's mine. If you know better, go with it, otherwise stop asking for advice and ignoring it. Seems like a logical course of action? Best.

...a little Lump? The Metal looks in Good Condition, I would take a Dremel Tool and just Polish it Smooth!! It's Not Rocket Science!

...and if Marlin's suggestion doesn't work, just take the tank to a rad shop and have a new neck put on it.

Hate to say the obvious, but change your coolant and use only distilled water and a quality antifreeze and or water wetter. I have my original tank, the overflow tank was welded up 2 years ago, but you should check your oil and water levels every time before you drive.

Just to let you know I'm in Australia and with the time difference the conversation may seem delayed.
Thanks to Doug i Know the steel surface can not be exposed or it will quickly rust and prevent a good seal. i will check the internal condition of the tank and if its ok ill have the neck re-soldered. i don't have a ready supply of aftermarket parts for Panteras

Thanks Gary

It MAY seem like this is a simple issue BUT the lack of the ability of THAT tank to consistently seal to the cap creates problems to the cooling system.

It needs to hold 15 psi consistently and without question, otherwise you may be chasing overheating issues that are hard to find.

The tank originally had some kind of a cadium plating on it. That didn't hold them for long in many cases.

Often the cap gets blamed for lack of seal and certainly is the easier of the two to deal with. Most of the time it is the neck of the tank that has the issue though.

I do have my original tank still but it was removed and serviced/rebuilt long ago. It was lead soldered to repair some pin hole leaks and that still holds so far.

I had the tank chrome plated when it was out and also seems to help.

The neck on mine never needed the European cap but I have no idea if the tank was re-worked and a US neck soldered on by previous owners and in fact may have been?


Grinding out imperfections in the neck is ok BUT you need to do something to it to eliminate or reduce the possibility of corrosion. If it were stainless, it wouldn't be an issue.


I do pressure test this system regularly with a Stant pressure tester. It will hold 17 psi with no leak down but it is the construction of the cooling system that is at issue, not necessarily the design.

I find it is worth it's weight in gold. You can't believe how many cars have issues and it is just a bad cap.


When the time comes, a stainless replacement tank will be in order.

I always have the GPS activated on my smart phone so that I can be found eventually if I don't show up.

The last time was in June with my TT. It had blown off one of the induction hoses at 25 psi boost in the pouring rain.

There wasn't even a street sign to be found. The tower had to find me with the GPS. It's not a bad idea in my case to keep it on, just in case I'm unconscious or something along the roadside? The chance of me being tied up and gagged in a "nooky parlor" and not wanting the wife to find me there are extremely unlikely now. The uglier "you get", the more they charge you now. I just can't afford that now. Too ugly and would cost me a fortune.

Gazoz, the two tanks in our '72 L were nickel plated inside and out. The rough solder surface on the tank neck bottom is common. Adding a new neck in your part of the world may be an adventure, because along with the rough seal surface, we in the U.S have 0.040" shorter thermostats than Euro types. Not sure what you can get in OZ.

A short-body U.S thermostat reduces the pressure a given t-stat will hold- which is mainly why we re-neck our tanks, plus the rough tank surface means only a new very pliable t-stat seal will actually 'seal'. If you have access to Euro t-stats- marked '0.9 FIM' instead of 12 psi like ours, carefully polishing the lump down as Marlin Jack suggested, makes the most economic sense.

Note also that a few water leaks have come from cracked overflow pipe solder-jobs, not the actual tank neck.

turns out the neck is brass so polishing the solder lump flat was an easy task and without any risk of base metal rusting.

Doug, I appreciate how you make me laugh in sometimes bad issues with my Pantera. Makes the work more enjoyable.

I think you can't let the crap kill you. It sure is trying its hardest.

Problem is most of the time I wasn't trying to be funny. I suppose pathos is a big part of humor? Ah, screw it all ?

quote:

Originally posted by Bosswrench:
Gazoz, the two tanks in our '72 L were nickel plated inside and out. The rough solder surface on the tank neck bottom is common. Adding a new neck in your part of the world may be an adventure, because along with the rough seal surface, we in the U.S have 0.040" shorter thermostats than Euro types. Not sure what you can get in OZ.

A short-body U.S thermostat reduces the pressure a given t-stat will hold- which is mainly why we re-neck our tanks, plus the rough tank surface means only a new very pliable t-stat seal will actually 'seal'. If you have access to Euro t-stats- marked '0.9 FIM' instead of 12 psi like ours, carefully polishing the lump down as Marlin Jack suggested, makes the most economic sense.

Note also that a few water leaks have come from cracked overflow pipe solder-jobs, not the actual tank neck.

...Boss, Your Talking 'Thermostat', But, I Believe You were Describing the 'Radiator Cap' On the Tank.

Hello
hope I won't disturb this topic ...

Does any vendor sell a modified water tank kit (pressure tank + overflow tank, with bleeding mods)

thank you
regards
Philippe