I have seen a few posts from people asking/commenting on expansion tanks & if there are any aftermarket tanks available that are a straight fit, as obviously the originals aren't available any more & good, clean used ones are now getting rare as.

someone correct me if I'm wrong - as far as I'm aware there are no new 'off the shelf' expansion tanks available at all that are a straight fit ? There are some on eBay that claim to fit - but they don't fit at all! e.g:

eBay tank

For the relatively low cost I thought I'd get one & mess with it, initially I wrote it off as I thought it would sit too high & foul on the bonnet, even if it could be made to fit, however I got stuck into it & eventually it was a success!





As you can see I have had to use M6 threaded nylon spacers to get it to fit onto the original mounting points. Also the outlet is in a slightly different position & the original hose cannot be used, as it stretched too much, however a simple piece of silicone hose solves this problem.

Regarding clearance - yes it does almost certainly sit higher than the original, & I think the cap does actually press into the bonnet liner a bit when closed - but I cannot tell any difference when closing the bonnet & it certainly doesn't press the tank down in any way.

I did change the crappy cap that was supplied with it for a proper Fiat one - and modern Fiat caps fit

It's been on around 8 months now with no problems, so I am considering this project a success

Well done for persevering. I did the same as you a couple of years ago, bought one to see if it would fit, but decided to return it for a refund. Here are some pics comparing the original and aftermarket items...

I wonder about the capacity difference between the two. Is that maybe going to cause an issue with a high fluid temperature having insufficient airspace and dumping some of the fluid, leaving it low when it cools? Any observation on that, JLow75?

Otherwise, it seems a tidy installation; I like.

Neil