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What you see below is installed next to the radiator in a car built in the mid-1940s. The cap appears to indicate a water-carrying part of the cooling or heating system. The warning on the lid is an indicator that the water container is under pressure (“remove slowly”). This is a factory installation, but it is not standard, but custom-made. What could its function be?

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If near the radiator and with what appears to be a radiator type cap I wonder if it might be an early version of an overflow tank.

Good afternoon...I would think that Howard is correct. One can purchase similar ones now at Speedway. I have one rigged on my Model A Ford...It is not under pressure...as it is open to the atmosphere...after the tank fills up...Ernie in Arizona

It may have been factory installed on an air conditioned car.

The double nuts suggest a non-factory installation.

Also note the fan shroud. Export equipment provided by the factory or delivering dealer?

I think these were later additions made by an owner.

First of all, thanks for every reply and reaction. I will process all answers chronologically.

Howard (HH56) & Ernie (Ernie Vitucci), yes, an overflow tank makes perfect sense. The water pipe directly at the thread seam apparently forms an overflow.
Ernie, to find several similar "Coolant Expansion Overflow Tanks" at Speedwaymotors.com was easy, due to the information about Miss Princess provided in your signature "1931 Model A Ford Tudor".

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I was guided by the inscription on the radiator cap, which btw is still sold today, 80 years later, with this warning. The existence of an overflow seems to prove the correctness of your advice.


image source: autozone.com

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TxGoat, your advice literally electrifies me. Could you please elaborate a bit more? The car exists and sooner or later I'll get more images. The photos that I currently have do not provide any information about the existence of air conditioning.

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This statement shows a good and knowledgeable eye for detail. But the car in question does not meet Western or Packard standards. It is a Soviet car. I know from other sources that this vehicle was prepared at the factory for its specific location, although I don't know what specific changes were made. The professional mount leads me to believe that this was not retrofitted in the technologically backward country where the car was used.