Thanks for the comment about the expansion tank. It is a Williams Motorsport tank and I think it is a rather elegant solution.
If you read the article I linked to, it is more than elegant. It is NOT plastic and it is LARGE. I am saddened it is not MMC stock. One thing there seems to be consensus on now. That is the fact that
an expansion system increases the size of a coolant system while recovery systems do not. That being the case, a larger expansion tank is better than a small one, in the same way a higher capacity oil system runs costlessly cooler than a smaller one
. Sheally showed me that..So I use the best of all Rover V8s sumps with the greatest clearance and the highest capacity. Cooling a big engine in a Morgan, that can meet ALL situations, merely requires attention to details. The needs of each car is different in this another areas as these are
SPORTS cars individualized to the style and needs of each owner. One size DOES NOT fit all. Who here drives their Morgan in same manner their significant other does?
My system appears to be an expansion tank and I don't know how a recovery tank would fit into the system, or indeed why one would need one.
I don't agree. If your system was a expansion system that lovely tank you have would have a pressure cap on it rather than a sealing cap. Fords, to the current annoyance of its performance owners, is one of the few companies that still use recovery systems.
I too get confused by the difference between an expansion tank and a recovery tank.
Considering the nonsense found on the internet, you must expect to be confused. Even dear George, who has a legendary understanding of vintage mechanics, is learning from this thread which I applaud. Shows he is still younger than he thinks.

There is another codicil. Coolant systems are becoming more complex, more out of reach of owner understanding. Rad fans that run at 2-3 speeds controlled by computer..like that of Colin's car that Luddite experienced, IIRC. For example, there are systems now that combine elements of both expansion and recovery, having two tanks present that operate differently. I SHUN them. For a long distance mogger, it is imperative one's Morgan is reliable.
Here is an example. Among the handful of the most advanced brains left dealing LR/Rover V8s is J.E. Developments, and J.E. Developments, both founded by the UK's John Eales. Eales believes, with backup, that the plague of cracked blocks and slipped liners that ended the engine was not caused by the elimination of most of the casting between the cylinders with wider boring. After all, that boring had begun years before with the 3.9s. With GEMS, some young designers had decided to create a system that would heat up the engines faster. They blocked radiator flow from the engine until the non-circulating coolant in the engine reached running temperatures..and at that point the hyper cooled coolant from the rad was allow to enter in a rush. Do that a few hundred times and, if I were, a LR V8 cylinder liner, I would leave for Malaga too.

This last is for Luddite. He will enjoy it as much as I.
gmg