Heavy Duty Water Pump

[1974vette]

last night on the way home, i noticed that i smelled burning antifreeze (windows were down)...i watched my temp gauge and it sat about 210 so i kept driving and i saw steam come from under the hood and antifreeze shot all over my windsheild...i immediately pulled over and popped the hood...got to looking and my water pump was cracked...im going to have to replace it and wanted to know what a good, heavy duty water pump is for my l-48 (bored .060 over)...this is the second water pump that i've went through since december....

 

[Jack]

last night on the way home, i noticed that i smelled burning antifreeze (windows were down)...i watched my temp gauge and it sat about 210 so i kept driving and i saw steam come from under the hood and antifreeze shot all over my windsheild...i immediately pulled over and popped the hood...got to looking and my water pump was cracked...im going to have to replace it and wanted to know what a good, heavy duty water pump is for my l-48 (bored .060 over)...this is the second water pump that i've went through since december....

Not all "short" pumps have same dimension ... vette "short" pumps have slightly different hub-to-block spacing. If your 74 still has OE pulleys then be sure you use pump specific for vette ... or else the water pump pulley may not align correctly with other pulley(s). Dunno what's causing your failures but poor belt-pulley alignment will cause problems. Also, "rebuilt" water pumps are poor choice when you look at how little New costs these days. Three excellent choices for New are Stewart, Weiand Team G, Edelbrock Victor ... any order ... all 3 are top notch.
JACK:gap

 

[Christian]

I am considering changing my water pump for a High Flow Aluminum Water Pump to improve the cooling of my 1971 Big Block.
What manufacturer do you like best;
EDELBROCK - Victor Series (Part #8852) or
STEWART - Stage 2 (Part #21204) ?

Any other suggestion most welcome.

 

[Tom73]

I replaced the waterpump on my 90 L98 last year, went with the Stewart high flow pump and it made all the difference in the world. Stays nice and cool now. Seems to be a good solid product. So I would recommend checking out the Stewart products.

http://www.stewartcomponents.com/html/products/chevrolet/stage1.asp

tom...

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

If you need an aftermarket pump to keep your engine at a normal temp, you're just putting a bandaid on the root problem. Why not just find and fix it properly?

 

[photovette]

That's so true; I had an overheating problem where my motor would spark knock no matter what I did. I put an Edelbrock water pump on and it stopped the knocking and it ran cooler. Then the engine burned up--it seems the butterfly flapper came off the EFE valve and clogged up the right side of the exhaust. I will say though, the Edelbrock sure must put out a greater flow to cool that problem.

 

[Christian]

If you need an aftermarket pump to keep your engine at a normal temp, you're just putting a bandaid on the root problem. Why not just find and fix it properly?

Just because I am driving a Big Block in SW Florida by 88-90F (31-32C) at 80%+ humidity and because I have done everything I could to make sure all my original system is clean and fully operational and because everybody driving a BB in Florida is struggling with the very same problem.

By-the-way, I love Canada where I go for business once a month (Montreal) and I know for sure that I won't have the same problem with the same car if I was living there (I and the vette are fine from October to May, even in SW Florida).