[rheavn]

Let me start this with I hate plastic parts!

I was routing around by the radiator fan in response to a phone call from Bill Johnson. He had found two hoses that were badly chafed. The two hoses from the transmission cooler to the transmission cross under the radiator shroud and hose chafing occurs where they cross. I would suggest that you check these hoses because if they blow you will be stuck on the side of the road. The chafing on my hoses were not as bad as Bill's, but I wanted to shroud the two hoses from continuing to rub--future project will be to replace & reroute the hoses to avoid this problem. As I was installing the shroud I suddenly was getting a coolant bath. You guessed it I got into the coolant tank & it broke. I hate plastic parts!

Having a background in auto racing there is no excuse for a part breaking twice. Therefore I began looking for an alternative that would not break in similar circumstances. I found a tank manufacturer in Kansas--http://www.aluminumgastanks.net/options.html I spoke with the owner who stated he could make an 8" round aluminum tank, 16" tall with two 1/4" NPT bungs welded in the bottom for $174. He stated polishing it was $225 more. I ordered the tank on Monday and received the tank on Friday via free shipping UPS. Tank was as ordered--rough aluminum with tank clamps and a nice vented cap.

I had picked this size tank because I wanted to use the Arize tank's clamping system with the rubber mounting. The new tank fit in the same spot. You'll notice that the tank is polished--that is the result of ten hours of sanding & polishing.

[Fulltiming]

Very nice Steve. It shined up nicely. No wonder they wanted more for the polishing than for the tank itself. That was a lot of effort on your part!!

[HoosierDaddy]

I like it!!!

[encantotom]

pretty awesome.

tom

[qcj]

Steve, that is great looking. Chester's plastic tank was leaking when he arrived at the Ark. rally. He ordered one from Newell and replace it while he was there. I think it cost twice that much. Steve if you had it to do over would you had him polish it?

[bikestuff]

Holy crap! That looks fantastic! My tank broke a while back while Newell was working on it. (they replaced at their expense) Yay Newell! But I agree with Steve's thoughts. A plastic tank just a foot or so away from a turbo is asking waay to much of the plastic tank. I want one! Is the Arize mounting system the same as the grey plastic tank that many of us already have? Or is it some other magic that you have discovered?

[encantotom]

arize is the manufacturer of the gray tank that we all have.

tom

[Ozarkguy]

Steve I like the way you fix problems!

[Chester Stone]

Good job Steve. I wish I had your stainless instead of the new plastic one I purchased.

[rheavn]

Bill,
I wanted to use the same clamping system that held the plastic tank, which is the Arize. I liked that the plastic tank was rubber mounted. The new tank came with clamps that would work, but not rubber mounted. They even offered chrome clamps. I was concerned with the long term effects of vibration if not rubber mounted.

Chappell,
My fingers are still raw from the sanding. I had never done a polish from raw aluminum before so I wanted to try it. If I had it to do again---I would because my self satisfaction is much higher from doing it myself rather than just buying it. Hard & tedious work but very satisfying.

Thanks to all for your positive comments! It really adds to the DD chrome package.