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MG MGB GT V8 Factory Originals Technical - Water Pump

Hi

How much play is acceptable in the water pump. I have about 2mm fore - aft play (at the edge of the pulley). It pumps water OK and doesn't make any funny noises.

Secondly, why are MGB hive selling them for 48 quid, when everyone else wants about 90?

Cheers,

Nick
Nick Wilson

I wouldn't worry about 2mm play as long as everything is working okay and no leaking. If it ain't broke, etc., but it probably wouldn't hurt to have a spare on hand, or locate a dependable rebuilder.

Joe Ullman

Nick
I Agree with Joe's advice about the play - I had one of these remanufactured pumps from Moss and had to replace it because the front flange wasn't on straight.

This is probably another case of 'you get what you pay for' -I doubt the batch will last as long as the OE which was finished to a completely different standard.

Roger
Roger

Assuming for the V8, are you aware of the rear-ward offset of the inlet pipe from the bottom hose? The original has such an offset to help the hose clear the fan belt, but I have heard tell of some with no offset and others with only half the offset. Even though mine is an OE the fan belt still cut through the hose, so it now has a guard, which already shows marks from the belt.
Paul Hunt

Paul,

I also had the belt cut through the factory lower hose on my conversion. When I replaced the hose with another factory MGBGT V8 hose, it also touched. I found however that by twisting the hose some on the water pump before tightening the clamp I could position it so it cleared. I was still tempted to add an American band style hose clamp around the lower hose where the belt was close as a shield.
George Champion

Paul Hunt is correct, the OE pumps have the inlet pipe slanted back slightly to allow the lower rad hose to clear the fan belt. There is also a difference in how close the pipe is to the machined mounting face of the pump. Some aftermarket pumps have the pipe exiting farther forward on the pump casting than OE ones do, so even if the pipe is slanted back, it may still be too far forward to clear the fan belt.

After getting one aftermarket pump that had virtually no slant to the pipe plus being too far forward, and getting a second pump that had an intermittent growl in the bearing FROM NEW, I finally found a pump from Clive Wheatley that is as close to OEM as you will find.

Cheers,
Paul Kile
Paul Kile

Do any of the BOP pump variations have the slanted back hose inlet? Does the Buick 300 or V6 have a slanted back hose inlet? Does the SD1 pump have a slanted back hose inlet?
James Johanski

James,

The water pump that I removed from my '63 Buick 215 was not slanted back. I don't know if it was the original pump.

The Buick 300 pump that I used IS slanted back. It is also angled down a good bit.
Carl

To all the guys with a fanbelt/rad.hose clearance problem. Are you using the correct length fan belt ? I have 2 cars, one uses an early P6 rover pump & the other uses a modified SD1 pump. Both cars have at least 1" clearance between the belt & the bottom hose.Also both cars use the OE alt. mounting bracket. I have more of a clearance problem with the top hose, 1/2" clearance, probably because I'm using a thermostat housing with a straight neck ( Ford)rather than one with a cranked neck. HTHs Barrie E
Barrie Egerton

Barrie,
What Ford thermostat housing are you using? Engine model etc. and on what manifold? I have seen a Ford housing that has a takeoff for the water bypass to the pump but it does not line up with the buick on the buick manifold.
James Johanski

I see no back slant to the water pump inlet on the V6 pump I’m using on my 215, but it will clear the belt depending on how the lower hose is rotated on the pump. The alternator bracket is a highly modified Buick part required because the old Buicks didn’t have mounting lugs on the cylinder heads.
George Champion

George,
I don't like the idea of twisting the hose on the pump pipe to get it to clear the fan belt, especially with the quality of "OE" MGB-GT V-8 hoses we are getting right now. Twisting them puts a preload on the hose, and they are too prone to cracking and deterioration as it is!

Cheers,
Paul Kile
Paul Kile

I didn’t mean that I twisted it so that there was any tension on it. I just meant I rotated it a few degrees that gave it a quarter of an inch clearance. My thought here is that having the hose rotated incorrectly upon instillation causes some clearance problems and checking for clearance before tightening the clamps as I did on my replacement is the answer.

Now, should I admit the following? Before I used a proper MGBV8 lower hose I tried to find one at the parts store that would work and selected one that was similar in shape to the correct one except the end that connects to the radiator was pointing to the back. I forced it 180° and it worked with a strain on the radiator and some restriction to the flow. I suppose the new hoses wouldn’t take that kind of abuse.
George Champion

James Johanski, I'm using an Offy 7001 manifold. The thermostat housing is a chrome after market item bought in a speed shop.It came with a rubber "o" ring instead of a paper gasket & I did have to open the fixing holes out a bit to make it fit.Sorry I can't remember what model it was for but most of the Ford V8s are 351s or 302s in Aust.HTHs Barrie E
Barrie Egerton

Barrie, Thanks for the response--I have seen the one you refer too and as you say would require some reaming of the fixing holes. I am happy to here that it works--may look at it again.
James Johanski

On my conversion, i also found the belt damaging the lowwer hose and it improved a little by twisting the hose but because the damage coolant loss can do, i decided to make a guard from stainless steel which protect the hose fully. This works very well.
Peter
Peter van de Velde

The pump MGB Hive are selling may be the same as stocked by Real Steel (in Uxbridge, UK.) who if I remember correctly sell at a similar price.

The belt cutting the hose is not a problem I've had, but I do use the shortest belt I could get over the pulleys.

Dave
Dave Brooke

Regarding water pumps on the MGBV8, I have used a factory MGBV8 and I have used Buick 300 water pumps. Each pump was interchangable with the other, keeping everything else the same except for the pulley and possibly the fan belt.
martyn

This thread was discussed between 29/01/2002 and 01/02/2002

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