Catch can... the making of

[goinloco1]

Well, after searching for a breather type catch can to route my valve cover and pcv to, and finding them up there in price to say the least, ingenuity took over.

I searched for something that was a thick metal to no avail. Wanting to keep it cheap anyways I found a stainless steel water bottle at shopko on sale for 3 bucks.
Then it was off to the parts store. Being the bottle was pretty thin, brass fittings were not gonna work without alot of effort.
then while looking around it hit me (not literally) on what I could use.

Parts list is as follows...

ss water bottle 3.00
tranny plug kit 3.00
2 ford pcv elbows 3.00 each
2 pcv 1/2" id grommets 2.50 each
1 3/8" brass straight nipple 2.50

Make sure the top on the water bottle is fairly flat. mine was with a finger loop which was cut off. drill and tap for the brass nipple, snug it in and that parts done.
Now turn the bottle itself over and drill a small pilot hole dead center, then drill the size needed for the tranny drain plug kit. Now your gonna say hth! am I supposed to get that together? rather simply. pull the small plug out of the kit piece and insert a rod, then install and run the rod through the top of the bottle (you bought one with a wide mouth didn't you?) simply drop the washer then the nut and use a socket with an extension. stuff some paper towel in the socket so it will still grip the nut but allow compression to allow screwing the two pieces together.
Now installing the grommets can be a bit tricky. drill a fairly large hole (actually as large as you can) and finish off with a dremel. the hole must be small enough you have to use a screwdriver to help the grommet in. Do this for both sides.
Now lube the grommet (i had simple green handy) and work the elbows in. if the grommet center hole looked round it will go in trust me. It may take some finessing but they will go (mine took alot of finnessing).

The result, and I must say I impressed myself, was better than the cheap ebay crap.
As a bonus, I found a bottle that was similar to sonic blue. For a mount, mine will be attached to the lower frame rail on the drivers side. bolting a piece of flat stock with a clamp, then simply clamping the bottle to it.

front


back


inside


bottom


top


various

[PBZX3]

Looks good. I might have to try something like that.

[iminhell]

I missed my chance at a 2nd cheap bottle. But looking at them in the store the other day I came to a conclusion, why do I want to spend money when I have plenty of things to 'reuse' at home? Namely old carb cleaner, brake cleaner and PB Blaster cans. So I'm thinking I'm going to go all hack ('cus it's my style) and use one of them. Maybe I can even get the spray end to work as an oil drain, be kinda neato .

[Louis Zerr]

Cool, I have about 3 aluminum bottles like this that I could use (they were not properly lined and they taste like aluminum when you drink from them).

Looks good!

[Steve@Tasca]

That's like the exact water bottle I have on my bike and my sons.

[iminhell]

Well I got to this today.

Can't use a Seafoam can. SOB crushed on my test run of 1 mile . Sitting and idling it was fine. Hopefully a water bottle will hold up to 14" of vacuum. If not I'll have to make something, yay.

[Louis Zerr]

Menards had a 2 pack of stainless steel bottles like this for $5 recently.

[Steve@Tasca]

Menards had a 2 pack of stainless steel bottles like this for $5 recently.

They were actually cheaper individually when I was there, I had that two pack in my cart and walked around the corner and they had the individual bottle for like $2.00 each but that was a limited time deal.

[Louis Zerr]

Menards had a 2 pack of stainless steel bottles like this for $5 recently.

They were actually cheaper individually when I was there, I had that two pack in my cart and walked around the corner and they had the individual bottle for like $2.00 each but that was a limited time deal.

HA! What a way to make $.50!

[goinloco1]

Well I got to this today.

Can't use a Seafoam can. SOB crushed on my test run of 1 mile . Sitting and idling it was fine. Hopefully a water bottle will hold up to 14" of vacuum. If not I'll have to make something, yay.

you are using a filter on the top so it can breathe aren't you? if not, thats the problem...lol
valve cover and crankcase have to be able to breathe. ever notice the guys with oil leaks and such always have plugged pcv's and such? pressure has to go somewhere

[iminhell]

No, I'm not running a filter. I have one line in (from PCV) and one line out (to intake manifold). The port on the VC is blocked off. I've been running this way for a couple years now and exploring other options in the process, belt driven pumps, electric pumps, etc. All to create and hold crank case vacuum. Just capping the VC breather is the easiest/cheapest way for a N/A Focus and shouldn't harm anything. You will always be sucking more air in the intake than the CC, if not you have massive blow-by and a hole in 3 pistons


Little video:

http://s34.photobucket.com/albums/d120/ ... o-0003.flv


I make about 10"Hg just tootling down the road warm. Cold it can get up to 14"Hg, and there is a noticeable power difference from 10". My goal is to make and hold 14-16". I know how I can do it, I just haven't felt like it yet (flip cam seals around).

I've been trying fruitlessly to get someone else to try my method for years now. No one has. Kinda sucks because it's free HP and I'd love a second experienced opinion (to assure me I'm not crazy).


Anyways, the water bottle is holding up fine.

OH, and thanks to Steve for the mounting idea (ya, bicycle water bottle holder).

[goinloco1]

now thats an idea for a holder. simple, cheap, and effective.
my cars down for a bit while I change the cam belt and related crap. my tensioner started rattling and bouncing, so may as well replace everything while I'm there. found a place to get the kit for 62 bucks and ten shipping...

[iminhell]

Flipped the cam seals around.
No change. Actually it's a bit slower to build vacuum. I just need to find a tighter exhaust cam seal. It's the one I can hear air leaking past. When I pulled the cams it's easy to spot why, more lip to the ex. seal than the intake on the SVT ... so zetec would be doubly as bad leaking being both cam seals are the same as the SVT ex. seal.

Fun fun. Back to digging for seals. Had done a ton of digging before looking for SVT size double lip seals. Found out they are made, but far too costly, about $40 each.