Okay I bought three DIY books that really explain nothing about the replacement of the water pump. I took it off last week since it decided to blow the seal. I'm running a 1984, 351 Windsor with the stock 54 radiator. The fluid that came out looked orange and brown mixed together. I would like to call it florescent brown. Anyway the thing is drained and now I want to get the mew pump on. I have the high heat silicone and some new hoses to get the job done. I'm sure that I will have to play the match the hole game a little but I expected a little. My question to all of you is how do I do this with one arm that can only lift 10 pounds because I'm still recovering from shoulder surgery? Also the book states that I need an inch pound torque wrench because the bolts have to be put in at 12-15 ft-lbs of torc. I've watched my dad do water pumps on a 74 Merc and I'm sure that he never used a torque wrench.
Question 1: Make a new friend with two good arms. Question 2: Inch-pound wrench for inch pounds, foot-pound wrench for foot pounds. I've never used a torque wrench on water pump bolts either, but if you're new to the game, use one...or have your new two-armed friend use one. Far better to be a little **** than a lot sorry...or something like that. Good luck!
Clean the threads,lube both the bolt threads and the threads in the block with a shot of WD-40 screw them in till they seat and add 1/8 to 1/4 turn extra,no more! they can snap EZ been thru that already,I have an '84 302 in my '54.
Thanks for the info guys. It would be nice to trust myself to be able to tighten down some bolts, butI just spent $600.00 on my JAP car because I snapped a bolt in the head and broke the valve cover trying to do a simple valve cover gasket change. Apparently aluminum valve covers can only take about 9in-lbs of torque which is way less than what I did. I had to take it to Mitsubishi and cry all the way home. End state, they are the Big Bad Wolf and I'm just a little pig trying to live in a stick house. I lose!
one thing is the coolant sounds like it may have a long life coolant like dexcool. you dont want to use it some of that stuff is not compatable with the older cars. it will turn muddy if mixed with another coolant. i would flush it and installed green coolant.
If you lived near me I would have done it for you . I am in Pa and don't know where you are . If you have a young teen that likes cars around your area , maybe they can do the work for you . If you have a set of dies to clean the threads in the block that would help too . remember they are very different than a tap set ! I call them thread chasers . Also check all the bolts and the treads on them for any bad threads or the bolts for corrosion . The are very cheap to replace them if you think they might break when tightening them down . Once the bolt gets snug add about 1/4 turn and you should be OK . As for alum valve covers they must be tightened equally . The best gaskets for them should have the metal round spacer in the rubber gasket that the bolts go through so to prevent over tightening . Alum valve covers only need to be snug ! Jim
Thanks for the information Jim. I actually live in San Diego so I don't foresee that working out very well with the distance.
when you do get everything un-hooked, since your water/antifreeze is all muddy, use the garden hose and stick it in every hole in every direction and flush the whole thing out with water, i did that on my 54 when i pulled the radiator and installed a new water pump (stock 223 motor though) that's actually kept a lot of my rusty junk from coming back, my antifreeze is nice and neon green still.... (if ya do get any of that spilling out of your catch pans, really really really dilute it though... don't wanna kill the local critters running around) good luck sweetie... and hey... hopes to a good recovery... i've seen my dad struggle through getting jobs done with his back problems, it ****s, i hope you come back to top notch! xoxo denise
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