C-1 Fuel Pump Installation

[Jimmy J.]

What is the secret to install a fuel pump on a 59? How do you hold the push rod up while installing the pump? Thanks Jimmy

[Michael K.]

Re: C-1 Fuel Pump Installation

Put a little bit of grease on the rod. Enough to hold it in place until you can install the pump. I used wheel bearing grease.

[Jack H.]

Or, do it the way the factory did...

and put a long bolt (one used to mount the pump) in the front of the block where the hole is plugged with a short bolt. At Flint, engines were tested without carb or gas so there was no fuel pump installed. Prior to shipping the engine to St. Louis, the fuel pump push rod was installed and 'pinched' in place via the hole in the front of the block.

When the fuel pump was installed on the power train feeder line, it was bolted in place and the 'shipping bolt' was removed and replaced with a 'short' bolt that would keep oil from seeping out but NOT pinch against the push rod.

Grease works, but how much is enough? Using the shipping bolt method is the sure shot...

[Jimmy J.]

Thanks Mike and Jack Just what I needed to Know *NM*

[John M.]

Great Post Jack

it's the little tips and secrets revealed that make it easier for all of us.

Thanks, & Save the Wave..........

JGM

[Joe L.]

Re: Or, do it the way the factory did...

Jack-----

Although it's a "fine point" and not really related to the basic issue here, the fuel pump push rod was not installed at Flint and held in place by a longer bolt. No push rod was installed, at all, at Flint. The fuel pump push rod was installed at St. Louis with the fuel pump and other related parts.

The "short bolt" which "plugs" the upper, front, right side motor mount bolt hole (which is a through hole to the fuel pump push rod bore) was installed at Flint. This bolt is always painted with the engine assembly. If it had been installed at Flint, it would have been almost certainly un-painted.

One will usually note, though, on original engines in "as-delivered from St. Louis" form that the bolt in question will have "mars" on the paint as if it had been previously removed and re-installed subsequent to engine painting. That's because I think that the folks at St. Louis used the procedure you described to install the push rod.

Whenever I use the "long bolt" trick to install a fuel pump on a small block, I use a brass or nylon bolt. It might be "overkill", but to ensure that the fuel pump pushrod is not "nicked", it's worth the extra effort. I keep such a bolt in my tool box for just such purpose.

[Verle R.]

Re: Or, do it the way the factory did...

You do not have to "crank down" on that bolt, just snug enough to hold it without nicking it as Joe said.

Be sure to replace the bolt with a short bolt. The long bolt in place may cause failure of the cam lobe that operates the pump.

Verle

[Christopher R.]

Re: Or, do it the way the factory did...

The '62 AIM calls this a "shipping plug", and gives it p/n 444819.

What size was p/n 444819?

[Verle R.]

Re: Or, do it the way the factory did...

3/8" 16 by about 1". 3/4" long would do.
Don't know what the GM part number calls for.

Verle

[John H.]

Re: Or, do it the way the factory did...

It's 3/8"-16 x 1/2" long.

[Dennis C.]

Mo impotant, engine, #1 cyl, firing,TDC *NM*

[Joe L.]

Re: Or, do it the way the factory did...

chris----

GM #444819 was a 1/4-18 NPT brass, hex head pipe plug. There's no way I can see that such a plug could have been threaded into the 3/8-16 motor mount hole. So, that must have been some sort of mistake.

There are several things to consider with respect to the upper right side motor mount hole (which goes through to fuel pump push-rod bore).

First of all, the fuel pump pushrod was not installed at Flint; it was installed at the assembly plants (St. Louis, in this case). Therefore, there was no need for any sort of "long" bolt to retain the pushrod temporarily. I don't see why there would really have been a need for anything, at all, plugging this hole. Certainly, it could not have been a 1/4-18 NPT pipe plug. The most logical thing to "plug the hole" (if anything was going to be needed, at all, to plug the hole) would be the 3/8-16 X 1/2" bolt that would ultimately reside there after installation of the fuel pump. Of course, a plastic or cardboard plug could have been used but I just don't see why such a thing would have been necessary for a hole like this.

For 1962, the AIM notation is as you describe. However, we know that there could not have been a pipe plug used for this tapping. Since there is no bolt specified for installation at Flint, whatever was in the hole from Flint must have been what remained in the hole at St. Louis.

The 1963 AIM shows the notation "shipping plug-plug hole in cylinder case". However, there is a torque specification (20-30 lbs ft) attached to this part. So, we know the part could not have been a plastic or cardboard plug. Once again, AND MOST IMPORTANT, SINCE THERE IS NO BOLT SPECIFIED BY PART NUMBER FOR INSTALLATION AT ST. LOUIS, WHATEVER WAS IN THE HOLE FROM FLINT MUST HAVE REMAINED IN THE HOLE.

For 1964-67 the notation changed. It now read "shipping bolt-plug hole in cyl case". The same 20-30 lbs ft torque specification was attached to this bolt. As before, there was no specification by part number for for any bolt to be installed at St. Louis. If the "shipping bolt" were to be replaced, there would had to have been a specification for the bolt to replace it with.

After 1967, the notation disappeared altogether from the AIM.

My belief, based upon the above and based upon what I have observed, is that a short, 3/8-16 bolt was installed in this tapping at Flint. The reason that bolt is pointed out with a torque specification is that this bolt would be removed at St. Louis in order to facilitate fuel pump push rod installation. The original bolt on my 1969 had been painted with the engine but, as I mentioned previously, the paint on the bolt head appeared "marred", likely by its removal and re-installation at St. Louis.

The most important points that I can make here are these:

1) There is no specification in any of the 62-67 AIM's for a part number for any bolt that was to be installed at St. Louis in this tapping. That further means that either whatever was in the hole from Flint was left in the hole or nothing was left in the hole after St. Louis. We KNOW that the latter did not occur.

2) If the bolt that remained in the hole was installed at Flint, then the bolt head would have been painted with the rest of the engine.

[Paul B.]

Re: C-1 Fuel Pump Installation

I just did mine using wheel bearing grease, worked like a charm.
Paul