Oil Bottle Drain

[Mini Cooper S]

Back in the 1960's someone told me that if you allow your oil cans (oil came in cans back then) to drain you can get an extra Qt. out of a case, but I never really did that. Fast forward to today. With the price of the oil that we use in my son's 1969 Triumph GT6 race car and the fact that oil now comes in plastic bottles with screw on caps, I finally decided to do something about recovering that extra Qt. of oil. I was cleaning up the empty oil bottles in garage and this idea popped into my head. I grabbed my soldering gun, clamped two caps in the vise and started to weld. I used the security band the keeps the cap on the bottle as a "filler rod". Then drilled a hole through the two caps and used shim punches to put holes in the cardboard seal disks and I had myself a bottle drain fixture! I will let each bottle drain for about a day.

 

[Bone Head]

Buddy of mine has done that. Whatever oil he empties gets drained into a common bottle. He uses it for general lubrication. Think door hinges, drawer slides.
No idea how much oil he gets over time.

 

[DiscoDan]

I did that years ago with a 1x piece if wood sitting on top of a Mr Peanut can with a hole the size of the bottle. I like this idea better.

 

[Island Time]

I've seen adapters used in restaurants to deal with the leftover ketchup in bottles. I never thought of it for other applications. Great idea.

 

[RJSakowski]

I've been squeezing that last bit out for decades. Not just oil but hand soap, dish detergent, shampoo, etc. I made up a female/female adapter years ago but nowadays, I just lay the container on it id tilted slightly towards the spout. It works nearly as well and I can do all five qts. at the same time.

How much you can reclaim is variable, depending upon how quickly you empty the bottle and temperature. Usually, it is only a ml or two. Not enough to make up the difference but the containers are convenient when I need a small amount to lubricate something. The bottles from my last oil change are sitting in the corner of my barn and easy to grab as opposed to looking for an oil can.

 

[benmychree]

I do the same thing by cutting the bottom off one oil bottle to serve as a funnel and screwing it into a gallon glass jug, then taking the other containers, one at a time, sticking them neck down into the "funnel"; good to the last drop!

 

[Shotgun]

I have a hole in a shelf and a small rack underneath to hold a chinese food takeout tray.

 

[pontiac428]

I'm going out on a limb to say that some of you guys must really miss the days of Ron Popeil.

 

[cathead]

I'm going out on a limb to say that some of you guys must really miss the days of Ron Popeil.

View attachment 458608

To me, it's not sensible to spend money in an attempt to save money.

I simply improvise to accomplish the same end.