Hot Rods Did Oldsmobile Make a Short Water Pump for the Early Rockets?

I have a '54 324 in my '36 Ford that's too close to the radiator to run the stock water pump and fan. An article from a 1956 Car Craft states that they used a '51 Olds water pump to gain enough room to wedge the stock setup in a '40 Ford, but all the pumps I've seen for sale (Kanter, etc.) list the same part number for '49-62.

Does anyone know if there's a short water pump that will work? Anyone modified one?

Thanks

 

I am not aware of any OE pump that would be shorter. I might suggest that you contact Tony (Goatroper2) on here as he is always working on Olds engines and has many answers often.

 

I had a thought..
lose the rear pulley on the pump and press the flange further onto the shaft

went out to the pile 'o-motors to see..
but there is not enough room behind the flange to push it back far enough..
need about 3/4" to get belt alignment
but there is only about 1/2" gap behind the flange.

only very minor differences in pump bodies through the years
and all appear to be same dimensionally.

 

Thanks for the responses.

Hmm....Paul, you got me thinking. I figured I'd have to section or machine a new shaft, but it would be easier if I could just press the flange closer to the pump. I figured I'd have to modify the pulley anyway.

 

potentially a lot of work for only a fraction of an inch

 

Pumps are the same 49-62.

 

I had a '52 Super 88 and when I replaced the leaking original pump I had a similar problem. I ended up pressing the mounting flange back as far as it could safely go to get the pulleys to line up. The belts were still a little off but it worked great. The only difference that I noticed between the original water pump and the replacement was that the original had a retaining clip in front of the shaft bearing /seal and the replacement was strictly a press-in. The overall shaft length was the same but the casting was a little shorter on the original. (due to the retaining clip)