water pump rebuild

[Daniel Grunwald]

The water pump on my 70 454 is shot. There must be some bearings in the front but they must have self destructed in this one. The fan end of the shaft wiggles loosly and spins with that sick rattle sound untill it comes to an abrupt stop as if an impeller or a piece of leftover schrapnel is stopping it. I opened the bach of it and it looks real simple except how would one replace the bearing. I was looking up replacement water pumps and came across a rebuild kit at Long Island C Vette Supply. Has anyone done this? Does it take some kind of press to remove the shaft? Any secrets? It initially started to leak from the hole in the casing and it seems like the water flowing through the pump would always do that. I would like to keep the original pump if possible as it is original tho the car.
Thanks,
Daniel

[Joe L.]

Re: water pump rebuild

Daniel-----

It's very possible to rebuild a waterpump; I've done many of them [but, only for myself]. At a minimum, you need an arbor press but an hydraulic press works best. The procedure for waterpump rebuild will be found in any pre-1971 Chevrolet or Corvette Factory OVERHAUL manual. In it's simplest terms, the hub is pressed off the shaft end, the bearing assembly is pressed out, the rotor is pressed off the shaft and the seal/seat or seal assembly are removed from the shaft. Installation is similar to the above, but things are not done in exactly reversed order.

You have to be very careful and follow the procedure in the manual. The pump housing CAN, and likely will be, broken if you press at any time using the pump legs as a support. You must otherwise support the housing.

The leakage that you describe is from the pump seal. When the shaft bearings go bad, the pump seal is a soon-thereafter casualty. Then leakage is seen from the weep hole on the lower side of the snout. Normally, the weep hole is on the "dry" side of the seal. When the seal fails, the dry side becomes "wet".

The parts that you need and which will come with the kit are bearing/shaft assembly, seal asssembly (usually a one piece arrangement with seat, but sometimes 2 piece with seperate seal and seat) and a water pump backing plate gasket.

[Mike M.]

Re: water pump rebuild

Dan. roy sinor had aplace in tulsa that rebuilt a bunch of pumps for me years ago. perhaps they are still offering rebuild services.give roy a call--page 3 of restorer. mike

[Dave S.]

Re: water pump rebuild

I sent the water pump from my 70 LS-5 to Arthur Gould in New York. He did a super job in a timely fashon and a fair price. I don't have his number handy but he is a Hemmings Advertiser. I had him restore the inside while leaving the exterior as original.

[Larry S.]

Re: water pump rebuild

I just finished painting my arthur gould rebuilt water pump.Lighting fast turn around it seemed I just shipped it to him and he sent it right away.I will find his phone number and adress and post it tonight

[Kurt B.]

Re: water pump rebuild

I think the gentleman's name is Bill Mock.
I seem to recall I had my small block water pump rebuilt by him years ago as I also wanted to retain the original number and date code. I think the cost was approximately 50-60 dollars.

[Larry S.]

Re: water pump rebuild

Arthur Gould
6 Dolores Lane
Fort Salonga NY
11768
631-754-5010
I think it was under 80.00 inc tax and shipping

[Clem Z.]

Re: water pump rebuild

i wonder if arthur gould is part of the gould pump family that manufactures industrial pumps?

[Daniel Grunwald]

Re: water pump rebuild

Thanks to all for the info. I haven't decided which way to go yet but I now have some good options. Thanks again, Daniel