Breather box construction?

[super vw]

Hey guys, im looking at making myself a breather box. not sure if i will need it but it wouldent be bad to have so i want to make a custom box for my firewall (i dont want to use the dinky little crap ones they sell for 20 bucks in the mags)

So the questions are:

-What materials (have a MIG welder only, so mild steel, but that thickness is best?)
-How much volume would be best?
-Do i need to incoperate baffles to seperate oil/air?, would plates with holes in them be sufficent?
-Should i use barb fittings or would a reusable fitting be best? (more expensive with a aircraft style fitting, but worth it?)
-Finish? do i need to coat the inside as i would have to use mild steel to prevent rust? but with what?

Thanks!
Jonathan

[boygenius]

Originally Posted by super vw

Hey guys, im looking at making myself a breather box. not sure if i will need it but it wouldent be bad to have so i want to make a custom box for my firewall (i dont want to use the dinky little crap ones they sell for 20 bucks in the mags)

So the questions are:

-What materials (have a MIG welder only, so mild steel, but that thickness is best?)
-How much volume would be best?
-Do i need to incoperate baffles to seperate oil/air?, would plates with holes in them be sufficent?
-Should i use barb fittings or would a reusable fitting be best? (more expensive with a aircraft style fitting, but worth it?)
-Finish? do i need to coat the inside as i would have to use mild steel to prevent rust? but with what?

Thanks!
Jonathan

I have a bugpack breather and it's made from aluminum, but steel sheetmetal should work fine. They used a block of foam to help keep the oil from going everywhere. Since you have a welder just weld in some little pieces of pipe onto your valve covers and breather box in the correct size for your breather hose. You should paint the outside so it looks nice but the inside "shouldn't" rust since there will oil mist in there when the car is running. But it could rust if the car isn't run for a while and water vapor collects in there. I made a catch can for my friends car out of a section of exhaust pipe and it looked pretty good. You could flatten a section of 3" exhaust tubing into a oval and weld a top and bottom onto it. Then drill holes and weld your inlet pipes and drain pipe pipes. Just an idea.

[super vw]

Thanks. I thought about that pipe idea, but i want a square box, to me it looks nicer.

Any others have an opinion or advice?

Thanks,
Jonathan

[boygenius]

Originally Posted by super vw

Thanks. I thought about that pipe idea, but i want a square box, to me it looks nicer.

Any others have an opinion or advice?

Thanks,
Jonathan

I just thought the flattened pipe idea would be easier but your right, the "box" just looks better. Oh yea, the breater box has about the volume of a coffe cup.

[super vw]

Yeah, a friend of mine was forced to use two of the type you have, becuase you need at least a quart in volume i guess. but i wanted to make a larger one, just not sure how big is to big..ect

[Steve C]

Hi

You can make a good breather tank from the either oil or vacuum tank found under the semi auto beetles rear guards, they even come with a nice bracket to bolt them onto the bumper bracket.

1302Steve