Changing the plastic pressurized coolant jug

[Shane]

I seen on BLHTAZ build thread he said that he got rid of the plastic jug. I hear that there is a metal replacement jug with a regular radiator cap on it, what is involved in changing to that. Also what all is involved in chaging gauge cluster from the idiot light to the actual gauges? Thanks Shane

[Eagle]

There are actually two routes to go with the metal replacement. I used a Moroso racing surge tank. It's a universal part made for racing applications, and it's available (for less money than I paid at my "friendly" local speed shop) from Summit Racing. To use the Moroso, you have to buy a few standard copper pipe fittings at a plumbing supply house and know how to sweat copper pipe joints.

 

More recently, some enterprising company has come up with an all-metal replacement for the XJ/MJ tank that is flat, fits in the OEM location, and has all the fittings built in. The initial cost of this one is higher than for the Moroso, but by the time you factor in the extra parts needed for the Moroso and the extra labor to sweat the fittings and make a mount -- the newer one is probably the preferable option.

 

There were photos of it on here awhile back. I don't have a link to them but you should be able to find them.

[BLHTAZ]

I took a couple minutes on Google and found this. I don't know where the thread is on here about it, but I know there is a good one somewhere on here...

click on the pic to get more info...

 

 

[Eagle]

That's the one!

[jeepman09]

There is another option that i used. What i did was instead of putting my money into a different resivor was to switch my radiator to a 92 and newer xj open system rad. The only other thing i did was change the vacume valve to the newer type also! The radiator i got on flea bay for $60. Its that easy and i never had an issue since... there are lots or write ups on this but its as simple as i listed above !!! good luck

 

:Canadaflag:

[BLHTAZ]

There is another option that i used. What i did was instead of putting my money into a different resivor was to switch my radiator to a 92 and newer xj open system rad. The only other thing i did was change the vacume valve to the newer type also! The radiator i got on flea bay for $60. Its that easy and i never had an issue since... there are lots or write ups on this but its as simple as i listed above !!! good luck

 

:Canadaflag:

That is what I did too, but it's not worth it. It is a huge pain in the @$$ and not worth the effort. Changing the tank is much easier and makes a lot more sense as well as being much cheaper. I would never trust a $60 radiator either... ;) :shake:

[jeepman09]

the rad i got from flea bay was worth much more than i paid i just got lucky on bidding! and i totaly disagree i do think the change over was well worth it! just my opinion! either way if it fixes your problem and your happy thats all that counts..

[JeepcoMJ]

I can do a closed to open swap in under two hours, and it gets me a new t-stat and likely water pump at the same time. personally, I LOVE the open system. it's easier to deal with and has less crap to deal with when it comes to hoses. when it fails, it's likely not catastrophic. when a closed system fails, you're pretty much screwed.

[BLHTAZ]

I am not saying the change is not worth it...it is well worth it in my opinion too. I think the radiator change is the wrong way to go about it. I did the radiator change before I found out about the metal tank idea. The tank would be a 20 minute job and for MUCH less money than the radiator change. We have spent a lot of time around here trying to educate people on the fact that changing the radiator is the wrong way, and hard way to convert to open.

 

 

Here is a page in a build thread here showing the install of the metal tank... viewtopic.php?f=7&t=8051&p=139170#p139170