Hey all I'm going to do some work on my flatheads cooling system getting it ready for chopped and an Aussie summer. ive been looking at the bob drake water pumps, but just wondering who people think is doing the best water pump on the market at the moment? Any advice would be good before I purchase a pair wold be great Cheers John Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
My brother had 2 that were from Mac VanPelt (yes the early ford trans guy) and they were real nice. Google VanPelt sales
I use the rebuild kits from Job Lot in Queens NY. Not hard to re-build, bot you need a press and an oxy/acetylene tourch.
I've had good luck with the new ones from Macs and Speedway. For the longest time no one was rebuilding the pumps well and they would leak right out of the box. If the price tag is cheap on the pumps they are probably the old ones and will leak. I had a customer get a set because they were $20 cheaper than the new ones. Surprise surprise they leaked as soon as they had water to them.
Speedway. Weak spot on a flathead is the water pumps,why would you rebuild something thats is proven to fail? The seals and bearing are quality stuff.
I have bought a pair of Drakes , a pair of speedways and I have had a few sets rebuilt by Skip Haney in Florida . If you have an early engine with w/p in the heads then I suggest skip . If you have the later with the w/p in the block I chose Speedway . I had the Speedways and the Drakes at the same time to compare them . The impellers are virtually the same but the quality of the speedway housing is a lot nicer . The Drakes have a very rough casting on the water inlet that is kinda ugly . The speedway pumps are very nice and have a nicely machined area for the hose . As far as bearings and quality , well I would ***ume they are close to the same . They are production built pumps . What more needs to be said . I just went off of a visual stand point . Like someone mentioned , the cooling will depend on your cooling system , not the pump. I had to put stats (160 deg)in mine to get it to heat up . In 100 deg temps , idling with a mechanical fan I will get up to 185 . Once I start rolling it will drop back to 160 +/- . I do not run a pressure cap. I was like you wondering what to buy . Drakes were the least expensive , Speedways were a few bucks more and Skip was about double of Drakes . Skips will be the best quality but for double the price I made a choice to try the production pumps . We will see after 50000 miles ?? I only have around 2500 on it so far . If money was no object I would have had Skip do a set of originals but I am always on a budget . Good luck
I run Drakes and they are fine. I also would say, do not use modern conventional thermostats. They are very restrictive in the opening and will slow the flow too much. There are some stats available called Stant, and the model for a Subaru Justy fits the 59A outlets perfectly and have 25% more flow than the ones most commonly supplied. I got mine from Summit Racing.
I think every situation is different . As far as stats, I agree with the above statement but ......... I had a set of modern, br*** stats lying around that were new . They were the good quality ones , but still modern stats . I drilled a 1/8" hole in each to let some water through in case of failure,and get the air out and fill the system cold . I figured I would give them a shot since I had them and I wanted to know first hand , knowing it might be a problem from what I have heard/read . Well. they work perfect . No heating issues as stated before . I also have an original ,re-cored radiator so nothing fancy here. Just goes to show you that what we work on are all different animals . You just never know . The next engine I try this on may not like it ?
If you are in Melbourne why not just buy a pair from Mike Davidson is South Australia? Mike is a stand up guy and all his parts are good. He exports his parts from Aust to USA. Google flat attack racing - or Mike's sidevalve supply. Good guy, good parts and will save you a bunch on freight. 08 8554 7141
Skip Haney in Punta Gorda Florida. Rebuilds your pumps with the newest technology. Best of all you get your original pumps back so no problems with fit. He is the best.
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