In the 1960s, cars were cool! Before the 1973 oil crisis, automobile manufacturers concentrated on making products that looked sexy and were fun to drive. Before the first yellow Datsun 510 or orange Toyota Celica ever hit the American shores, cars were all about power. Pure, unadulterated American muscle... and they looked damn good doing it. Of course, Ford was no exception to the rule. Before they were forced to build the Pinto for fuel economy (and look where that got them), they built muscle cars, and when you looked under the hood, you would see an actual work of art.
Part of that beautiful artwork on Fords of the early 60s (dating back to 1958) was the coolant expansion tank made of brass. Big, powerful engines required a lot of cooling, so in order to increase the cooling capacity, Ford installed expansion tanks to handle the extra load. More importantly, they installed them proudly on top of the engine (see the pictures below). It wasn't until they began the conversion to lightweight, cheap and ugly plastic tanks that they began to hide them inside the fenders.
We build six different models of brass expansion tanks right here in New York and, unless requested by the customer, we don't paint them so that you can proudly display your shiny brass underhood art in your garage and at shows! These are built to precise manufacturer's specifications. Once it's assembled, we test each unit for leaks and test-fit it to a manifold to assure that your unit will bolt up precisely as it should right out of the box! Please call us at 516-293-2175 with your year, model, and engine so that we can build your unit. We keep these parts in stock so that we can assemble it for you within a few days of ordering!
Ford Brass Tanks, Made in America
Here are the cars that our expansion tanks fit:
- 1960-1964 Galaxie big block
- 1960-1966 Thunderbird
- 1958-1966 Mercury
- 1958-1966 Lincoln
- AC Cobra
- Ford Cobra
- Cobra kit cars
MADE IN THE USA. Because your classic Ford wasn't made in China (although your Cobra may have been made in the UK).
We also build brand new radiators for Galaxies from 1960 to 1964. Learn more about them here.
As with all of our products, Classic Radiator & Heaters believes in building and selling only top-quality products that fit properly, look great and last for a long time!