Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2013 20:15:14 -0700
Reply-To: Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Coolant reservoir bottle the 85 gl 2wd type
In-Reply-To: <51F86074.4060708@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
The OEM tanks are well made, but after 20 to 30 years you can expect
failure.
How rich are you? That's a $250 showpiece tank, and as an installer who
would really hate to lose a $10,000 Subaru engine conversion due to a
coolant leak I understand why they make it. No doubt it's happened.
But for $27 each buy two plastic ones can carry a spare (or just one if
yours is still good).
The quality of the tank is not just the quality of the mold, but most
importantly the quality of the raw material used, and top quality plastic is
expensive. Kinda like synthetic oil--more of the pure ingredients, not
ground up recycled stuff. "Virgin" plastic is the term used to describe the
best. Most items are made from a mix of virgin and recycled plastic.
Virgin high purity base stocks polymerize into long molecular chains that
have great stability. Like that UHMW tape, "ultra-high molecular weight,"
which just means really long polymer chains of whatever the base stock
is--ethylene, propylene, vinyl, polycarbonate, etc., two to six million
carbons long for polyethylene:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-molecular-weight_polyethylene
A UHMW tank would cost more than the aluminum one does though! At $27, the
RMW tank from Turkey is likely to not last as long as the German OEM
original. But what I really like about the aluminum tank is the standard
Stant 16 psi radiator cap! The aftermarket plastic cap quality is
problematic too . . .
Stuart
Former chemist
-----Original Message-----
From: Rocket J Squirrel [mailto:camping.elliott@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2013 5:55 PM
To: Stuart MacMillan
Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Coolant reservoir bottle the 85 gl 2wd type
Yeah, what Stuart said: Rocky Mountain Westy says, "Our new aluminum coolant
tank is just what is needed for replacing the troublesome plastic stock
tanks in your Vanagon."
Are the "plastic stock tanks" in our Vanagons troublesome?
And would an aluminum coolant tank be just what I am needing?
--
Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
1984 Westfalia, auto trans,
Bend, Ore.
On 07/30/2013 09:13 AM, Stuart MacMillan wrote:
> RMW also has the ultimate solution:
> http://www.rockymountainwesty.com/Vanagon_Aluminum_Expansion_Tank_p/02
> 512140 3-al.htm Get the impression these bottles are problematic?!
>
> Stuart
>
