Recreating our Elva’s missing header tank from scratch

Update by Tim Suddard to the Elva Mk VI project car
Dec 31, 2024 | Elva, Restoration, Elva Mk VI

Photography by Tim Suddard

Our Elva was missing its header tank. The old photos that we found told us the story.

While we already created the brackets for the cooling system’s header tank, our Elva Mk VI sports racer still needed the tank itself.

A reader in Switzerland was nice enough to send us the measurements of his original tank. We then used those to accurately recreate the tank.

We have seen these tanks in both steel and aluminum. We decided to build ours in aluminum as it would be lighter and, frankly, look better as it sits rather prominently on the right side of the Elva’s engine compartment.

Actually building the tank wasn’t that difficult. First, we ordered a weld-on billet aluminum filler neck (part No. SUM-380162) from Summit Racing.

Next, we found a source for the rest of the necessary aluminum from OnlineMetals.com. A piece of 4" OD x 0.065" wall aluminum round tube made from 6061-T6-drawn aluminum would become the tank’s body. We also ordered a 6-foot piece of 1.25" OD x 0.065" wall aluminum round tube. We only needed a few inches of this tube, but the rest would be used elsewhere.

To make the ends, we ordered a 12x24-sheet sheet of 0.063 aluminum sheet.

This order set us back about $300, but much of that cost was for the 6-foot-long section of the 1.25-inch pipe that runs coolant the length of the car. We will be talking more about this later in another update.

With our materials in hand, we measured and cut the 4-inch main tube into an 18-inch section. We then used the end of this tube to mark the cuts necessary for turning the sheet into ends for the tank. We used an air saw to cut the pieces.

We then cut the inlet and the outlet pipes and then drilled holes for these pipes at each end. We then drilled a hole to mount the cap.

After cutting everything, we brought in an expert to weld together this thin aluminum. Our friend Johnny Chichowski at Nine Lives Racing did us a favor and welded the tank up. He is a master welder and did a great job.