WH Catch Can Mod

[briteway]

Hi all,

Just got an idea to write up how I installed my catch can and the fabrication of a sturdy bracket without ANY drilling into the car body.

I have a WH with a 5.7 HEMI but I'm sure it would suit other WH's too.

Well, first, after cleaning out the throttle body and seeing how messy it gets, I though I'll install a catch can to prevent this from constantly happening. So I bought a nice black catch can from eBay for around $20 (Hong Kong) with a little see-through tube that indicates the oil level. I checked again on eBay recently and they didn't have the same types available any more (see photos of it below).

Next step was to install it so it's sturdy but I didn't want to drill any holes into the body of the WH. After a long look around the engine bay, with many different options in mind, I saw a perfect spot. On the side of the coolant reservoir and between the engine, there's an 8mm bolt holding the reservoir down and just above it there's a slotted space left out on the wall of the reservoir. See pic below.

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/6900/catchcanlocation.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/208/catchcanlocation.jpg/)

I could already imagine the catch can sitting in there. So I took the bolt out and it was fairly long, perfect for the bracket in mind.

Next thing, I found some galvanised purlins left over from a building site stacked in my yard. See the pic below, the U-shaped one, with a hole in it. That shot was after I chopped a piece of it.

http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/3032/bracketmaterial.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/521/bracketmaterial.jpg/)

So I chopped of a piece 75mm wide, the width needed to slide in the slot on the wall of the reservoir. Then I chopped off one of the corners, leaving the height of 135mm. That includes the catch can height of 130mm plus the drainage bolt on the bottom of the can which sits next to the reservoir bolt as the can sits on the bolt. So all up 135mm as I didn't want any sharp edges sticking out. See below:

http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/3003/bracketcutting1.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/94/bracketcutting1.jpg/)

The line just next to the shadow was a slight bend, made by hammer and cold chisel. It was meant to follow the angle of the slot that extends down to the reservoir bolt but later I realised that the can wouldn't sit up straight so I flattened it back and made the bracket go down straight.

More to come...

[briteway]

Then I measured back 35mm from the bolt side and at that point went in 18mm from both sides. On the reservoir wall side of the bracket I measured from the top to the point where the slot finishes and at that point went in 10mm. Then I joined the lines where 10mm and 18mm finish on each side.

http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/2786/bracket1y.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/838/bracket1y.jpg/)

After cutting those sections off and rounding off the edges nicely, I measured 55mm in from the edge of the bolt side and bent the bracket slightly to follow the angle where it leaves the reservoir and where it goes towards the bolt.

Then I bent a lip of 15mm upwards right next to the bolt. I actually mounted the bracket in and drew the washer around the bolt to make sure I don't go past it, otherwise I wouldn't fit the bolt. The reason I did that is because the can would sit on top of the reservoir bolt and not flat on the bracket and it couldn't even if the bolt wasn't there as the bracket slopes downwards in an angle. So the drain bolt of the catch can is next to the bolt (on the engine side) and the lip bent upwards holds the drain bolt which prevents it from sliding towards the engine. This is not really necessary as the clamp will hold the catch can nice and tight in its place right up against the bracket.

Then I drilled two long slots (3 holes next to each other) roughly just above the middle section of the catch can for the hose clamp to feed through.

When that was all done and all bur taken off, I applied rust converter, primed it and painted it in gloss black.

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/7658/bracket2s.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/88/bracket2s.jpg/)

When the paint on the bracket dried, it was ready to be installed. That was the simple part :) I fed the hose clamp through slid it in and fastened the bolt which now holds down the reservoir and the bracket. It was a perfect fit. See pic below:

http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/6405/bracketinplace.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/831/bracketinplace.jpg/)

More to follow...

[briteway]

Then I fastened the catch can with the hose clamp with nipples pointing towards the engine so that the see-through pipe is easily visible for checking level of oil. See pic below.

http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/3603/catchcaninplace.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/442/catchcaninplace.jpg/)

I had issues with hoses and these red ones are my newest set. I'll see how they go. Initially I had 2 different types of black hoses. The first one kinked the next day so the air was blocked from the PCV valve and to the intake. I got that replaced with another set and that set lasted a bit longer but wasn't too happy with it either. It's also a bit hard to get the right size as the PCV and manifold outlets are 14mm, while the catch can nipples are 9 or 10mm so can't go too much bigger than 14mm and there's not many around at that size. The first hose I had was something like 17mm and I had to clamp it at the PCV and intake. Second one was 14mm but took that off as it was cr@p.

Then I went to Pirtek and got these 13mm red ones (as in the pic). They guarantee it won't kink. I just wish they were black but after going through hard time in finding the right hose, what the heck??? Only costed $12 per metre. Because they are 13mm, they were very hard to put onto the PCV and manifold nipples so clamps weren't needed.

I'm gonna have to get another meter to replace that short one coming out of the PCV valve and make it go down and around like I did the intake side one. Obviously, I wouldn't use the whole meter, LOL. That is so I can put the beauty cover back on as I had it with the previous ones. I don't like seeing all the wires and the engine like that. In addition to that, I'll end up replacing the straight nipples on the can to 90 deg elbow ones so there's less chance of hoses kinking and it would neaten the area up a bit too.

After 3 oil changes so far, the catch can is doing its job. It's just showing on the bottom of the clear tube which equates to approximately one third full... already. It's also a good idea to get the one where you can check the oil level. See pic below:

http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/5451/catchcanoillevel.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/685/catchcanoillevel.jpg/)

That's about it. I hope you like it and can find it useful for your own setup if you don't want to drill into the body of the car or weld up brackets.

When I get the new nipples and sort the hoses out, I might post another pic with and without engine cover.

Thanks for reading.

[briteway]

OK, I got around to finish the catch can mod with purchasing another metre of hose and 2 x 90 deg elbows. The two elbows cost $5 each from Pirtek.

So the whole setup costs $50:
- $20 catch can
- $20 1.5m hose
- $10 2 90 deg nipples

It cost me a bit more due to buying another 2 sets of hoses prior to these in the last year.

http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/1571/catchcan90degnipples.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/507/catchcan90degnipples.jpg/)

Below is the pic of the setup before putting the engine cover on:

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/1637/catchcanhoseswithoutcov.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/444/catchcanhoseswithoutcov.jpg/)

And now after putting the cover back on (after a long time):

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/4031/catchcanwithcover.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/46/catchcanwithcover.jpg/)

[HemiJeep]

Thanks for the step by step - doesn't look too hard, def gunna give it a go.
Cheers. ;)

[fester]

Nice work but keep an eye on the throttle body for a better idea of how successful this can is. Petrols don't have as big an issue with blow by as the diesels but I had a lot of discussion with a guy on toyota forum who was an oil filtration r&d tech guy. Tech on how oil moves through air basically dictates these cans trap far less than what flows through, especially in turbo applications. Basically the only thing proven to scrub the air properly is the Provent with its special filter.
These cans are better than nothing but not ideal and certainly not worth any more money than the cheap eBay ones.