Well people I couldn't stand the look of the white plastic coolant bottle against all that shiny polished aluminum any longer so I decided to paint it instead. It was a fun and easy project that only cost me $10 to do. (One can of semi-flat black spray paint and one can of semi-gloss clear coating).
I woke up this morning and decided that instead of spending $175 on the polished bottle I would first try to paint the original one just to see how it would turn out. Here are the finished pics of this morning's project.
To keep the fluid in the bottle from pouring all over the ground when I disconnected the lower coolant hose I used 1/2" clear tubing to create a siphon to remove it. I stuck one end into the coolant bottle until it hit the bottom and then sucked on the other end until I could see the fluid going through the tubing. I had a small container ready on the ground next to the car and just before the fluid reached the end of the tubing I stuck the end into the container and watched as all the fluid drained out. This procedure removed 99% of all the coolant from the bottle and I was able to reuse it after I reinstalled the painted coolant tank.
I used Tide laundry detergent and a green Scotch-Brite pad to remove any oils that may have been on the tank prior to painting it. After the paint and clearcoating had dried I scraped away the paint on the Min/Max fluid level indicators to create a window so that I could still read the coolant level inside the bottle without having to remove the cap.(unlike the billet aluminum bottles)
After, of course, polishing the coolant bottle cap and the bracket which holds the breather lines to the left side of the tank I reinstalled the tank, connected all the lines, and filled the bottle with the coolant that I had previously drained prior to the removal of the bottle.
Someday I may still get the polished bottle but for now I'm having too much fun doing things the inexpensive way.
I woke up this morning and decided that instead of spending $175 on the polished bottle I would first try to paint the original one just to see how it would turn out. Here are the finished pics of this morning's project.
To keep the fluid in the bottle from pouring all over the ground when I disconnected the lower coolant hose I used 1/2" clear tubing to create a siphon to remove it. I stuck one end into the coolant bottle until it hit the bottom and then sucked on the other end until I could see the fluid going through the tubing. I had a small container ready on the ground next to the car and just before the fluid reached the end of the tubing I stuck the end into the container and watched as all the fluid drained out. This procedure removed 99% of all the coolant from the bottle and I was able to reuse it after I reinstalled the painted coolant tank.
I used Tide laundry detergent and a green Scotch-Brite pad to remove any oils that may have been on the tank prior to painting it. After the paint and clearcoating had dried I scraped away the paint on the Min/Max fluid level indicators to create a window so that I could still read the coolant level inside the bottle without having to remove the cap.(unlike the billet aluminum bottles)
After, of course, polishing the coolant bottle cap and the bracket which holds the breather lines to the left side of the tank I reinstalled the tank, connected all the lines, and filled the bottle with the coolant that I had previously drained prior to the removal of the bottle.
Someday I may still get the polished bottle but for now I'm having too much fun doing things the inexpensive way.
