I bought a couple cheap SS overflow tanks off ebay and mounted them both on drivers fenderwell.  One is radiator overflow and other is windsheild washer fluid
This is not the best pic of the tanks but you get the idea

Depends on if you want overflow or if you want recovery/recirculating.  Summit offers plastic for $16, with a sight gauge for a little more, stainless for $56 and aluminum for $59.  According to their specs, these are overflow only and not for recovery.  For recovery, there are several options but Mr. Gasket has one at $66 that looks pretty good. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mrg-9135/overview/  .  For a recovery system, you need to have the correct radiator filler neck and cap to allow the sytem to suck back the overflow when it cools which is how most modern systems operate.  I think there were roughly 142 tanks offered on the Summit site for coolant overflow/recovery so there are a lot of options.

Your radiator is not the deciding factor.  It is the radiator cap.  Any cap that has the double seal will do the job.  The bottom cap seal contacts the sealing surface and the bottom of the cap neck.  The top cap seal mates with the upper rim of the cap neck.  Your overflow port is on the cap neck between these two seals.  When radiator pressure unseats the bottom cap seal, it lets cooland exit into your container.  The top seal keeps any coolant from exiting to atmosphere.  Conversely, the top cap seal holds the vacuum when everything cools down while the bottom seal lifts allowing coolant to be sucked back into the radiator.

I have a '65 289 that was always blowing coolant at the end of parades. I got a 3 x 10" stainless tube off of ebay.  I made an aluminum bracket so I could mount the tube, on the left side of the radiator using the existing shroud bolt holes.  I bent the bracket so that the cylinder fit nicely between the side of the radiator and the voltage regulator.  

The tube I got was sufficient to do the job but except for the fact that I have factory AC, I would have gotten a taller tube.  I had to stay under my condesor line that goes back out thru the radiator core support, right above where I wanted to mount my tube.






 

Gotta say.........."those are some nice jugs"!
I did a home-made deal also. I got and Alum. drinking water bottle(the kind joggers/walkers and health-nuts use)...they come in colors too. Mine is just the spun Alum. Modified the top and drilled two holes ..installed one long tube and one short tube. Used some scrap steel braid hose to route from the small tube  to under the car.  Make a bracket from some Alum. tubing I beat flat with a hammer and formed into a ring that let the bottole sit up right and mounted bracket to radiator support.
Works OK......better than steam spewing out overflow pipe!
6sal6
Guess I need to get the special cap.......no wonder mine wasn't doing right!!

6sally6 wrote:

Gotta say.........."those are some nice jugs"!
I did a home-made deal also. I got and Alum. drinking water bottle(the kind joggers/walkers and health-nuts use)...they come in colors too. Mine is just the spun Alum. Modified the top and drilled two holes ..installed one long tube and one short tube. Used some scrap steel braid hose to route from the small tube  to under the car.  Make a bracket from some Alum. tubing I beat flat with a hammer and formed into a ring that let the bottole sit up right and mounted bracket to radiator support.
Works OK......better than steam spewing out overflow pipe!
6sal6
Guess I need to get the special cap.......no wonder mine wasn't doing right!!

I Like the way you think! Thanks for the tank ideas and the cap explanation on how stuff works Boomyal.This is the best Ford Forum out there. Was gonna say Best "Forum", but there are some that have more entertaining pics than others

my overflow is from a later model i think 69 mustang.. dirty from the inside cause my cooling system used to be dirty. I have cleaned it all. just remanents on the plastic body.. but a 20 dollar thing with self tap screws on the body and a hose. 

I never could figure out why my car spit out antifreeze after I drove it.  I have not had overheating issues since changing to the aluminum radiator but it would still spit out a bit of fluid after running it!  therefore i put in the overflow.  IT was better than it shooting all over the under side of the car if it decided to.

Last edited by terry (3/11/2014 7:26 PM)

MustangSteve wrote:

....I can honestly say I have never understood the need for an overflow tank on a SBF. ~~~~~  I will even forego ANY PROFIT at all since I really believe they are a waste of time.

Not sure how you can make such statements as this forum and others are full of posts about stock early V8's running warm/hot.  Mine in particular is a dead stock 289 2bbl with a stock dimension upgraded 3 row radiator running a shrouded 7 blade flex fan.  Running at parade speeds, in 60ish° weather, it would always run warmish then puke coolant once I shut it down.  This is all on a low mileage factory long block with no possibility of compromised coolant passages.

Once I installed the 3 x 10" tubular recovery system, it no longer blew out coolant on shut down.
 

boomyal wrote:

MustangSteve wrote:

....I can honestly say I have never understood the need for an overflow tank on a SBF. ~~~~~  I will even forego ANY PROFIT at all since I really believe they are a waste of time.

Not sure how you can make such statements as this forum and others are full of posts about stock early V8's running warm/hot.  Mine in particular is a dead stock 289 2bbl with a stock dimension upgraded 3 row radiator running a shrouded 7 blade flex fan.  Running at parade speeds, in 60ish° weather, it would always run warmish then puke coolant once I shut it down.  This is all on a low mileage factory long block with no possibility of compromised coolant passages.

Once I installed the 3 x 10" tubular recovery system, it no longer blew out coolant on shut down.
 

My stock rad setup with a flex fan (no shroud) spit up coolant in traffic during summer time in Houston.  I moved to a four core all aluminum radiator with a home made shroud and it hasn't been an issue since.  I already had the recovery bottle though.

That is a real cut above, Rudi.  What is that clamped to?

Typically the radiators that puke out coolant are overfilled.  Correct level is 1" BELOW the bottom of the filler neck.  Any more than that and it will self-correct until it reaches that level, the it will stop.  The tank does not add to the cooling effect that takes place in the finned tubes.  It just needs to have enough water in it to reach all the tubes.

You can say I am wrong if you want, but they did not have overflow tanks from the factory.  I'm not saying I am not for improvements whenever possible.  Just saying that I have never had one overflow when filled to the proper level, no matter what the temperature was outside or how long I idled in traffic.  A 13 # cap like was originally installed is a must for proper water retention. 

If it makes you feel more secure to have an overflow tank, by all means install one.  But an overflow tank will not keep an engine with an overheating problem from overheating.

And, if you run in sanctioned drag racing, I believe one is an absolute requirement according to their rules.

MustangSteve wrote:

Typically the radiators that puke out coolant are overfilled.  Correct level is 1" BELOW the bottom of the filler neck.  Any more than that and it will self-correct until it reaches that level, the it will stop.  The tank does not add to the cooling effect that takes place in the finned tubes.  It just needs to have enough water in it to reach all the tubes.

You can say I am wrong if you want, but they did not have overflow tanks from the factory.  I'm not saying I am not for improvements whenever possible.  Just saying that I have never had one overflow when filled to the proper level, no matter what the temperature was outside or how long I idled in traffic.  A 13 # cap like was originally installed is a must for proper water retention. 

If it makes you feel more secure to have an overflow tank, by all means install one.  But an overflow tank will not keep an engine with an overheating problem from overheating.

And, if you run in sanctioned drag racing, I believe one is an absolute requirement according to their rules.

I have to Agree with MS on this one. I have one because of Drag Racing and Autocross requirements. ALso, the old Mustangs never had a Closed Coolant system. People did put an overflow tank on them, such as a used can and such. Once you hook up one that lets the coolant get sucked back into the radiator, you are now using a Closed system and not just a Puke Can.... $.02