[DeTomaso] Pressure cap question

Curt Hall cuvee at sbcglobal.net
Sun Aug 21 14:10:02 EDT 2011


Out of curiosity? Why not just go to a Euro parts house and get a Euro Cap? 

--- On Sun, 8/21/11, JDeRyke at aol.com <JDeRyke at aol.com> wrote:


From: JDeRyke at aol.com <JDeRyke at aol.com>
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Pressure cap question
To: bluebugman2 at sbcglobal.net, detomaso at realbig.com
Date: Sunday, August 21, 2011, 10:17 AM


There are two possibilities: boiling or pressure leaks. One reason for such 
troubles is, if you have a completely stock Pantera surge tank, a 16 lb cap 
will let go at around 10-12 psi because the tank neck is 1/8" too deep. 
It's sized for a European cap which is made longer than U.S   caps, so the 
spring pressure is less with a 'local' cap. In addition, on OEM tanks, the 
bottom of the neck is often very rough, so only a brand-new cap with a very soft 
rubber seal will work. A year down the road, the rubber hardens from heat & 
age and you get leaks. As a final note, leaks   around the cap invariably 
run down the tank, down the inner fender and right into the oval hole in the 
right frame tube.... where it does what water does best: it rusts the inside 
of your frame rail!
The fix is not to shop around for off-sized caps; take the tank to a 
radiator shop and have them desolder the OEM neck and attach a U.S. made neck. 
This used to cost $15 or so. You're correct that a 22 lb cap is too much. That 
much pressure in a stock radiator may balloon or even rupture the 40-yr-old 
tubes, further reducing the cooling you get. Some all-welded aftermarket 
radiators will withstand such NASCAR pressures, but some won't and it's a bit 
expensive to experiment. Good luck, Mike- J DeRyke
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