Update on the water pump misadventures...

Took off the WP on Monday.  There were 3 loose bolts in total.  Took of the back plate, replaced the gasket with a nice new one.  Sealed with Indian Head sealer.  Bolted the back on again, nice and tight.  Bolted the WP onto block. 

Had to go out of town for work, got back into garage this afternoon.  WP sat and dried for 4 days.  Filled up the rad with water today...and she pissed from the WP like a racehorse once again.  Unbelievable.

Removed the pump, re-tightened the back bolts just to be sure and SNAP!  One bolt snapped flush IN the pump.  I'm done.  New AC Delco WP is purchased and going in tomorrow.

Also, decided to NOT pain the WP this time.  I'm wondering of coats of primer then paint somehow warp the back housing gasket and push the bolts out of whack??

Jason




|UPDATED|10/16/2015 7:30:33 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

Update:  The new water pump is in, everything is reassembled, and the car runs GREAT!  Had to tighten up the new upper rad hose after a nice long ride and the lower rad hose where it meets water pump.  Now everything is nice and dry!  She ran great!

The only thing, I got some oil blow out from the new aluminum valve covers on both sides (passenger and driver) in the exact same spot: in the middle of the valve cover on the side that is closest to manifold.  I am wondering if the valve cover bolts have to be re-tightened after the first ride (after everything got nice and hot) just like the radiator hoses had to be re-tightened?  Originally, when I placed the new valve covers, I read online to torque the bolts to 5lbs.  It felt really tight so I never tightened the full 5 lbs to avoid cracking cork gaskets.  Thoughts?

Jason

 Glad yer water leak is fixed, but...
Make sure the bolts you're using for the valve covers are not too long. They may be bottoming out before actually tightening the cover down onto the gasket. There are thick and thin vc gaskets, too. Aluminuminum vcs work best with the thick ones...just be sure your bolts are not too long, and be absolutely certain there are no small chunks(hi-tech term) of old gasket left on the heads.

Hang in there brotha....you'll get there!

Thanks for the reply, Adam's!

I made sure those heads were free of debris before I placed the covers.  I will double-check, but I am certain the new bolts tightened down completely.  I tried the 5lbs torque but stopped because I was afraid to crack the cork.  Do you think I should just torque all the way to 5 without backing off?

I would say the cork is medium thickness...not paper thin and not the really thick ones.  They came with the covers and were in good shape, not brittle or anything. 

I will say one thing, placing the passenger valve cover with the AC still attached is not fun 

Jason D.

  I TOLL you!!

btw...are you saying you have actual liquid oil coming out, or smoke/vapor? If it's just smoke/vapors, it's possible that it's just oil that got onto the exhaust manifold while you had the covers off and that oli is just burning off....it might take quite a few mile of driving to get all that burnt off. If it's liquid oil, then you definitely have a serious leak there...





|UPDATED|10/19/2015 3:24:27 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

Okay - I figured out the "leak".  Good news and bad.  Good news, it's not a valve cover leak!  Bad news, I think the POR15 engine paint I used to paint the engine actually burned in those two spots.  I have included pics.  No leaking from the covers...the edge of the valve cover is completely clean on both sides of the car, as is the manifold area directly in front of the cover (where cover meets manifold).  It's the paint!  Grrr. 

Driver's Side



Passenger Side

That's the EGR passages in the manifold. It gets REALLY hot right there, and it's gunna be hard to find a paint that will survive there. Another thing is, the paint may not have had enough time to completely cure before firing the engine up the first time, but it shouldn't take more than 1 day to fully cure, so....
At least it ain't a leak!
You need to check your heat riser valve on the passenger side exhaust, right where the headpipe bolts up to the manifold. If that thing is stuck closed, it will definitely push all of the exhaust from the passenger side back up thru the intake manifold....and burn the pee out of the paint.....

|UPDATED|10/19/2015 3:42:48 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

For those who have seen my project through to the end with me, I wanted to show you how the engine compartment turned out!  New water pump is in and working perfectly.  Anything red or orange was hand painted: Manifold, front of block, brackets, pulleys, air cleaner, vent pipe.  New valve covers.  New air cleaner rubber.  New Hood insulation. 

I'm REALLY excited how it tuned out.  Thanks for all the help and support throughout this project!!!  You guys rock!

Thank you, Adam's!  I will check the heat riser valve today.  Really disappointing about the paint in the EGR areas.  POR15 came highly recommended as far as engine heat is concerned.  I wonder what other people do to keep those areas looking nice?

Good news!  Called O&G Water Pump in TX and they are fixing the OEM WP at no charge!  Even paid for shipping!  I'm not going to install the OEM, because this after market is working, and, well, if it ain't broke...!  At least I have the original, rebuilt in the event I ever sell the car.

Jason

Looks freaking AWESOME! I have been following this thread from the get go. Let us know what they find with the pump and they are doing what they should be, covering shipping etc. Good customer service. What are your future plans? Have car judged by NCRS or local car shows or drive it and enjoy it. It is nice to have the original parts but if you plan on driving I would suggest when something needs to be replaced ex. wp, alt, starter I would put the original on a shelf labeled and use after market parts. You probably paid more to have original WP rebuilt then you paid for the new delco pump. If you are going to have it judged by NCRS then you need the original parts with GM part numbers and date. I had the exact same oil cap you have and it was not very good quality and didn't seal good. I will check my inventory I should have a GM cap that will look like the original with the S stamped in the rivet. If I have it send a pm or call me and I would gladly ship it to you for a corvette warming present.