I think where the oil condenses needs to be inside the block to allow it to fall back to the sump, otherwise it would start collecting in the pipe and block it.
Swirl pot feeds from valve cover and another from top of the oil cooler housing, on the bottom is a return to the sump (below the oil level) then one feed into the catch tank with a vapour exit on top to rear of car. There is another feed capped off on the catch tank. This had to be used as we had very high crank case pressure, which resulted in over the old catch tank (plastic Ltr bottle) filling and over flowing!! Now even after a couple of races theres very little to empty in the tank, and it's mainly a watery/oily / fuely liquid...vapour i suppose lol
So whatever collects in the swirl pot eventually drains back to the sump and any thing that blows through ends up in the catch tank? Sorry if that's a daft question, just not 100% sure how the swirl pot works
Maybe. Would mounting it above the hole in the block help - so any condensed oil dribbles back down the pipe?
Correct, just be careful of just running a pipe as oil tends to not dribble back to sump but always seems to get blown along which as stated starts to block things up
I started work on the catch tank, I'm learning to TIG weld at the same time, this is my first project. The welds are not pretty but are water tight! I have decided to add a bent pipe, with small holes drilled along it into the catch tank, in an effort to help direct oil mist away from the outlet pipe and help to condense the oil as it passes through the holes.
Have you got an auto welding mask? Makes a big difference to the positioning of my welds. Looks like they're flowing well enough, but not 100% consistent in placement yet.
I have a pretty decent mask, all my test pieces are nice and neat, however, my hands are low down and im all stable. I think when doing the tank it is quite high so I'm a bit wobbly as my hands are up in the air! Also was in a rush tonight... I think the welds look better in the flesh but will only improve with practice.
You have made me all conscientious about the aesthetics now Mike, and as I like to put my name (TAC) on my work (and therefore manifesto of design) I'm going to have to do something about it. Practicing at work today has seen some good welds in tricky places on another project, again not really pretty but strong welds and good penetration! Anyway, I'm smoothing the edges off...
Cheers. Last night reevaluated my welding techniques/routine by watching some you tube vids and reading some guides again. There was a combination of things that all added to my messy beads, steady hands, clean parts and contaminated tungsten tips! So, I have found the time at work today to go back and practice some more. I used a G-clamp on the work bench as a pivot for my arm when welding tall things, ment I was much more stable, I really cleaned the parts after tacking together with a stainless brush and finally and most importantly I ensured I cleaned the tungsten as soon as I made any contact with the Ali. To clean it I would snap it off in situ with some pliers and arc onto a scrap bit of ali to form the ball, 30s job which is very much worth it! Here are some pics, nearly finished it, just have the mounting brackets to fab. I have added a clear top ATM so that I can look in and see if it works as I would like! Might change that once I'm happy with the performance. And here are a few other joints I was welding today, I had much more control over the puddle by insuring tungsten was clean.
Yep, I used the front screen wash bottle for years, but am experiencing blow back into the inlet, there is no baffle system in place to condense the air, hense why I'm making the new catch tank with one fitted. Glass in a car! If that does break its going all over the road/track.
You'd think that glass is a bit iffy. The catch tank in my 914-6 is a mineral water bottle... not even a posh brand of mineral water It's surprising the first time you see it, but a lot of older cars I've worked on have glass windscreen washer bottles - old jags and so on. I'd guess that the glass is a bit tougher than a mayo jar though - it's certainly thicker. Champagne bottles are pretty tough, and fit in with a motorsport theme
I didn't deploy it for long; first couple of months all it caught was a few tablespoons of mucky water. So it got deleted again. Does anyone make a centrifugal/vortex-type bolt-on separator? That would be neat.
