Alternatives to OEM coolant recovery tank
 

I just can't bring myself to pay ~$200 for the OEM plastic recovery tank, but I can't find any aftermarket units that look like they can be tucked into the original location at the front of the passenger wheel well without getting scraped (the original engineers eking out the last few cubic millimeters of space with that triangular shape).

I'm curious if anyone has a creative solution for a coolant recovery system, either in the original location or an alternative location, aftermarket, homegrown, jury-rigged, etc.

$200? Is that Ray Crowe's price? Sounds too high to be from him but things could have changed... I bought one a few years ago for under $100 iirc.

Even if it's $200, that's not a bad price considering it's a 30 year old car and we are lucky they even make them. Look at what that kind of stuff costs on other collectible cars. We are lucky.

I just bought one a couple months ago. IIRC it was around $160 shipped. But it wasn’t from Ray. I think it was from Quirk Parts on EBay who Ive dealt with before. Probably should’ve called Ray but I was at work where I can’t make voice calls and wanted to get it ordered. The neck was sketchy on my tank from years of heat but apparently you can’t buy just the neck.

OP…you probably need to buck up and go only OEM here. As you’ve described, the tank is formed to mount and fit behind the wheel liner. It’s a tight space and you’ll just be fighting anything else…and risking coolant loss.

The good thing is you buy it, it immediately fits right, and that tank will likely outlast the car.

Yeah, big time email Ray and get a better price, it should be $100-ish.

Crowe.ray@aol.com

Dale

I use one of these, mounted under my hood, because I eliminated both factory tanks for brake ducts:

https://www.jazproducts.com/store/1-quart-recovery

I've been using a ghetto-looking water bottle ziptied near the brake booster, because I wanted to see the coolant level easily. It's less pretty than the stock setup, but it's functional and less messy than monkeying with the OEM plastic dipstick.

If you still have the original but it's simply too dirty to feel like it belongs back in the car, the inside can be cleaned up pretty well using the 'rice and dishwasher detergent' method. I didn't get as fancy as this guy with his bleach, but it's interesting to see the lengths some people go to.

^ I had to bleach my Euro washer tank, it was all black and nasty when I first got it but the bleach cleaned everything out and the tank was nice and white after.

My tank had crumbled to pieces. There was no saving it. I'll check with Ray on a price for OEM, that's always a good bet.

> Even if it's $200, that's not a bad price considering it's a 30 year old car and we are lucky they even make them

Yeah, I've actually been thinking about this a lot and it's got me into a generational mindset, fixing things for the long haul, which is what bothers me about replacing plastic with plastic. I don't know how folks with rare cars from the 70s deal with it (and I really want one!) Maybe I should buy two and bury one of them underground...

Wow, way different experience here. The only part deteriorating on mine was the neck portion where it was exposed to the under hood heat. It was discolored and the plastic was checked. The tank was fine.
And I never felt there’s anything “messy” about the dipstick. Hell, at my age it’s one of the few things I can see without getting my reading glasses out.
OP…you could also consider looking for a good used one from someone like tomsn16. He represents his stuff accurately and it’s priced fairly. I don’t see one listed but he’s got a ‘part-out going on now…

https://www.rx7club.com/market/1161710

The folks with 70’s cars have the advantage of numbers which justify reproduction. And there’s still a lot of NOS out there.

this

https://www.racetronix.biz/p/catch-t...k/tank-ct1l8gb


plus this for an air separation tank instead

https://www.racetronix.biz/p/adapter...25/adf-r20rc32

.

Price from Ray is $167 + 18. It's official, inflation's hitting everywhere. Now it's a race between a used one showing up and me coming to terms with the price of the part...

@TeamRX8 got a good spot to mount that racetronix? Doesn't look like it'll fit in the stock location without modification.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...62f7cc91d1.jpg
Hmmm, maybe I can mount a cylindrical style can to the cross member. Sometimes you just need to stare at something real hard for real long before it reveals itself.

At $167 for new, it's a terrible idea to buy used unless you get lucky the used one is actually not very old and is dirt cheap. Last one I bought was $139 in early 2021 from Ray.

Now if it had gone from $100 to $400, I would understand the concern.

they make round ones too and call them catch cans, but that’s all it is; a coolant overflow catch can

the smaller ones on page 2 might be easier to fit, I believe they offer mounting brackets too:

https://www.racetronix.biz/c/tanks-c...atch-cans/c584
.

To put a pin in this, I ended up with a Chase Bays recovery tank. The bracket fit perfectly into two M6 holes in the cross-member. I've never had an airbox so I'm not sure what used to be there but it seems like a good use of space and I'm glad to now be running aluminum.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...c040b9dc3f.jpg

You’re new to the forum and so I’m assuming new to the car. So I’m reluctant to be critical of this, but packaging under the hood is almost always an issue. You’ve saved some money and got an aftermarket overflow tank, OK. And an overflow is definitely needed. But you’re still missing a duct for that IC and I can’t tell for certain from the pic if the tank will interfere with one. It does look like it’s going to prevent any intake box or even a shielded intake. And open intakes aren’t really ideal. Both the duct and the intake design would be equally important to me.

The input is appreciated. IC duct was not on my radar. If it forces another move then I'll be sure to document.

The car was in an accident many years ago, so a lot of non-essential parts are missing from the wheels forward (undertray, fender liners, oil cooler ducts, etc). It's an education, learning what's missing, and then sourcing replacements.

…I’d argue those are essential if you want to keep the car healthy especially the undertray.

Yes, right now your IC is just getting what little hot air that has just passed thru the radiator. And the radiator’s air supply is compromised because most of that air just follows the path of least resistance and flows under the car without the undertray/belly pan.
It might help to think of good IC and radiator performance in terms of air pressure. You want the pressure as high as possible on the face of both, but that won’t happen without the duct and undertray in place. Same is true for the oil cooler(s). So they ARE essential.

Path of least resistance makes a lot of sense. Air is a fluid. Undertray + duct work together.

I'll keep my eye open for a used duct. From reading, I see a lot of folks making their own, sometimes temporarily out of cardboard.

[​​​​​QUOTE=Sgtblue;12563810]Yes, right now your IC is just getting what little hot air that has just passed thru the radiator. And the radiator’s air supply is compromised because most of that air just follows the path of least resistance and flows under the car without the undertray/belly pan.
It might help to think of good IC and radiator performance in terms of air pressure. You want the pressure as high as possible on the face of both, but that won’t happen without the duct and undertray in place. So both ARE essential.[/QUOTE]

I seriously recommend you not continue to seek out cheap alternatives like cardboard undertrays and just find a decent used OEM tray. Same with the duct work for the IC and oil coolers. It’s your call, but being that frugal with this car will come back to bite you where you sit.

Chuckle, I wasn't implying carboard undertray. I was referencing how many folks mock up their IC ducts from cardboard and end up using them for much longer than expected while they're procrastinating on sheet metal fabrication.

I'm not really trying to cheap-out. I just prefer metal over plastic given equivalent cost. Plus I live on two miles of gravel road so everything under the car takes a beating. LRB undertray is on the radar. OEM IC duct.

Good to know. FWIW don’t discount the OEM undertray just because it’s plastic. It’s pretty robust. No first-hand experience with the FD off of a hard surface, but I grew up on a long stretch of crushed rock road. The OEM version MIGHT even have an advantage by be more forgiving. Almost certain a lot quieter.
The OEM duct will fit your stock IC but will require minor modification. In stock form it also fed air to the stock intake and has a opening for that purpose. Easy to cap with a few rivets and washers.

I have a Coolant overflow tank from an FD with about 46k miles with a little overspray on it I’ll sell cheap if you’re interested. That way you can get a stock air box back in there. I think I may have one of those too in my parts stash.