water overflow tank ? size?

[ricci32]

Hey need a little advice i have picked up a gasoline powered dragster for 1/8 mile nostalgia racing. It has a mild small block on gas  intake has a fill neck and the block heads and intake are full of water no water pump or radiator , filler neck has a 22lb radiator cap with overflow to a 1 quart vented catch tank. it was run like this for years water drains on sides of the block . is one quart enough, is vented ok.

[GlennLever]

Hey need a little advice i have picked up a gasoline powered dragster for 1/8 mile nostalgia racing. It has a mild small block on gas  intake has a fill neck and the block heads and intake are full of water no water pump or radiator , filler neck has a 22lb radiator cap with overflow to a 1 quart vented catch tank. it was run like this for years water drains on sides of the block . is one quart enough, is vented ok.

Seems small to me for gas (gets hot). You might be ok if you check it after each run.

[PSweeney]

I can't see that it's actually doing a lot either.  I think the risk of  either being shutdown for a leak or getting water under the slicks is greater than any negative affect of running the block dry.

If you want to run coolant and lap the car, put a pump, radiator and fan on it and get the full benefit of running coolant.  I also found running gas, locked out timing helped enormously in controlling heat into the coolant. 

[ricci32]

Where is Bruce when we need him. LOL

[masracingtd1167]

I don't think that a quart bottle would be too small as long as you don't get it super hot . I mounted my overflow tank in the back of my car with an overflow line that is attached to my wheelie bar . If it dose overflow it won't get under your tires

[dreracecar]

Seriously, how hot is it going to get in 60 sec from start-burnout-stage-run? If you are staging at 250* you need to go back and figure things out. If the tank does overflow, it will usually be after the turn-out  on the return road and will be helpful by keeping the dust down for the guy behind you. 1qt is plenty, unless you forget to drain it and then its your own stupid falt.

[Cajuninjector]

Pull the water plugs on each side of the block and go race.

[ricci32]

Thanks guys  as always.

[GlennLever]

Just remember he is running gas.

[Dolmetsch]

I have had trouble in the past when I first started running the rail and last year a pal had trouble on his BBFord altered beside me. Running gas I would put the biggest practical on as you never know how long you will get stuck at the line. A lot of starters and track ofic's don't realize you are carrying minimums in both cooling and fuel and cannot sit on the line staged while they holler at their friends. I now make my own from capped abs pipe with a drain in the bottom and a vented cap on the top. That has so far 8 years eliminated the problem for me.
Too little will get you in trouble. Too much will never bite you.
don

[Curly1]

I got a very small Honda radiator off of EBay. It only cost about $65 with fan and it has the transmission cooling on it to. You can get them with out transmission cooler even cheaper. That thing does not hold much water at all but cools very good. I welded AN fittings on it and removed the cap and welded it over.
In my opinion I would get that small radiator and a small electric water pump. Run it anytime the motor is running.  It will not add much weight at all and will help keep car cool and consistent. If I remember right I saved about 35 Lbs over my other radiator that was fairly small and this one cools much better. I think the radiator only holds about 1/2 gallon of water when full then if you use -10 radiator hoses it will not have much water (weight) in there.  I see no reason not to run one.