Coolant overflow cap restore- 8/77 (1 Viewer)

[powthief19]

In putting my 8/77 FJ40 back together, i realized the coolant overflow cap would not fit tightly enough to the bottle to stay put so I ended up ordering a replacement which turns out the one i purchased was from a 9/77 and on replacement. Off by a month!

While pondering it over today, i get to thinking... why can't i just make the original one work??

Well, looks like I was able to, and here's what i did:

1. Disassembly- pull the plastic tube off. It's tough, be careful but it will come.

Step 2:
remove the inner plastic piece and the two pieces of rubber. my large rubber gasket was still good, but the smaller one was trashed.

Step 3:
Get out the heat gun and warm the cap up enough to it just barely gets 'clear', then with your fingers, gently squeeze the edges of the cap back towards the center. I held mine via an old firing pin stuck in a vise. Do a very little at a time... it is 40 years old!:

Once you heat and squeeze it a bit, take it to your overflow bottle and see how it fits. If there's resistance to going on, you've probably done enough. If one side 'clicks' but the other side doesn't, melt and squeeze the other side in a bit more.

 

[powthief19]

Step 4: Reassemble

1. Stuff the used rubber gasket back into the cap
2. Slide the inner plastic piece over the rubber gasket
3. Slide a new 'O' ring over the male end of the cap to hold the 'inner plastic piece' in place
4. Slide the plastic tube in
5. Smile because you saved a 40 year old part and a few bucks + a few more bucks on getting a new cap shipped to your door!

 

[powthief19]

Feel the nice 'click' when you snap it back on!

Only a 1 job here folks!

Hope it helps...

 

[Coolerman]

Well done!
I have heard of folks using a heat gun to make old plastic look better (supposedly makes it clearer) but I had no luck on a washer bottle I tried it on. Never thought of making a part fit snugger by "molding it" with a heat gun... Again good knowledge!

 

[alabamatacomaguy]

Nice work. I know those caps are not cheap. I was hoping to reuse my old one on my 78 but it wouldn’t snap on the new tank so I had to go back and order it.