I picked up an old aluminum tank at a swap meet. I'm planning on using it for a coolant recovery system. It accepts a standard radiator cap. My first question is about the cap. Coolant recovery systems have just a plastic snap on type cap. Is there a problem with using a pressure cap on the radiator and the recovery tank? I don't see a problem but maybe someone else does. My second question is, the ones I've seen have a syphon tube that runs from the cap down into the tank. I want to run just a hose from the bottom of the tank to the top of the radiator. Any problem with that? And finally, the third question is about location. Most I've seen are mounted up as high as the radiator fill cap. I would like to mount mine about 12" lower than the cap. Will that keep the coolant from drawing back into the radiator? Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
Arno

A pressure cap on the recovery tank means that as the radiator pukes (which it needs to do) it will have to overcome any pressure build up in the tank (from previous pukes)....that's bad. You want it to flow easily into the tank.
Its a cool looking tank, I would use a regular rad cap on it, but disable the seal so that it can't build pressure

That makes sense. It could also keep the rad from sucking the coolant back because the cap would keep air from entering the tank, thus creating a vacuum on the tank side.

no, do not pressure overflow the plastic cap usually has a small hole to not build pressure

That's a remote fill for a radiator, it's not designed as recovery system.

With a vented lid I guess you could use it for that?It must be vented real well.

A recovery tank is nothing more than a tank with the over flow hose stuck in the bottom. Tank has to vent freely. Coolant will go in and out as the radiator heats and cools down. It's suck right back into the radiator right through the cap.

arno, the radiator overflo hose has to pick up the excess fliud from the bottom of the tank to work. in other words, you can have it enter from the top or side, but internally, it has to run to the bottom[or close] to be able to siphon back to the radiator when it cools. also, as has been said, the cap needs to be vented to atmosphere. that is a cool tank you got !

Thanks everyone for the info. Venting the top should be easy and I'm running the pickup from the bottom, just outside the tank through the AN fitting you can see in the pic, instead of internally. The only thing left is, does the tank need to be near the top of the radiator or can it be down low.
Thanks
Arno

since the factory setup places the can at, or slightly below the upper radiator tank level, and the siphon tube is below the fluid level of the upper tank[or core], i would guess it doesn't matter much