Sovy Failure

[neal herridge]

I am looking at making some reservoirs from billet aluminium for 4.2 cars ( could also do 3.8 ) for myself.
Would they be of interest to any one , don't have a cost yet.
Neal.

[Gfhug]

Neal, one observation is that a plastic bottle allows you to see the fluid level and not just rely on the dash display. Even taking the cap off we should see some sort of level marker (a tab?) inside, without needing a torch to shine into it. Also, would they use the standard caps?

If the price is competitive then they could be a sensible alternative and it’s always good to see someone coming up with ways to help sort out a problem.

Geoff

[Jeremy]

I'd be interested to see what you can come up with Neal. Agree with Geoff that checking the level might be an issue, but I'd have thought a quick poke of the float pin ought to tell you if it needs a top up.

[johnetype]

I'm resurrecting this thread as my nearside (single) reservoir bottle (square design) has started leaking. Not from the spigot at the bottom, but oozing out from under the bracket, so the front surface of the bottle is wet:



This was new from SNG about 3 years ago. Julian indicated that he was going to look into the long-standing issues with these bottles, but I haven't seen if there have been any developments?

The bottle has spewed out about half its contents so far. Fortunately I'm using DOT5 silicone so the paintwork is all ok. Thank heaven I followed Angus's advice on that point.

Julian, if you read this, grateful for any update you can offer.

Jeremy, looking at the photos you've supplied it appears your bottle has failed due to some sort of interaction with the metal mounting bracket. I'd suggest you need to look at both items together as your problem may be a poorly made or overtightened bracket not a poorly made bottle.

[Jeremy]

Yes John, that did occur to me....bracket also supplied by SNGB. Hard to overtighten it, as it's one bolt either done up or loose. But the shape of the bracket itself may not be perfect as you say.

[Robbiee]

Hi
Just to hijack this topic
I have 3 original bottles for my March 62 OTS (850456)that I’ve cleaned/bleached as much as possible
They are in good shape..no cracks apparent after filling them with DOT5 and leaving for a week

The caps vary :
1. Clutch has German writing on top and is plastic and blac
2. Brakes also both plastic(no metal) one has lockheed and DBA, the other has only DBA, both have French script!

My question is about whether to replace the caps with new?
SNG B spear to have appropriate ones for my chassis number in plastic and metal

What do people think?

I’m inclined towards replacing the caps to look more correct and hopefully will have good functioning warning connections and floats??

Robbie

[Robbiee]

..sorry here are some photos

[neal herridge]

Geoff.
Yes they would use standard caps, I had thought about fluid level but all the XK's 120 etc use a plane steel bottle , Jeremy has a good point re the pin though.
Many thanks both for your feed back , as an engineer its something I keep wanting to do & the repeat of these bottle failures has made me want to do it.
It is of course going away from original.
Neal.

[Jeremy]

Is 3D printing a realistic option?

[JulianBarratt]

Hi All,
Just to say i am aware of this thread. As far as i can see, the resurrection of this is down to the bottle that has split in an unusual place - away from the seam and the pipe at the base from a purchase a few years back.
We made a new batch of these in 2019 and are generally supplying complete with hose already fitted as there was a suspicion that some bottles were being damaged during fitment. I am not aware of any failures or issues with the most recent batch produced.
With regards to 3D printing of these, i dont think you would get a good result from this visually and I am not sure of the compatability of the 3D printing materials with brake fluid.
Whoever wrote about the billet aluminium ones of these, i have also seen these in the past but i am not sure if they were any more than one-offs.
Generally, i think these bottles would benefit from a "bulletproof" version of these so i will ensure we take a look at this in the coming months.
As above, i am not aware of any issues with the current stocks/supply and we run these bottles on our own cars.
Thanks

[Jeremy]

Thanks a lot Julian - "bullet-proof" sounds like a great design spec. And while you're at it, if you can make sure the brackets aren't subjecting the bottles to unhelpful stress or compression, even better. Looking forward to hearing more.

[gtjoey]

You know As I was reading the quality issues that this might be interesting to read
Gtjoey1314