[72LuxuryLeMansLa.]

Originally Posted by GT182

I appolgise and didn't mean to leave you guys out. I'm just finding out some of you are having problems, of which I hadn't realised. I thought things were fine with the 11 bolt pumps and plates.

Any of you have problems with the clearance for the impeller and divider plate please let me know here..... for SS replacements and originals.

Also I'd like to know if the impellers have been shaved on any nonoriginal 11 bolt pumps. Cardone can then look into this too.

Charles and I can then let Cardone and Ames know what's going on and try to get things sorted out like the 8 bolt pumps.

Gary,

My water pump started leaking out of the weep hole a couple of months back. I ordered a new water pump and a stainless steel divider plate, in case I found a rotten plate when I tore it down, from PY. When the package arrived it contained a stainless and standard divider plate with no pump. I called PY and was informed that they were out of "new" pumps so I got them to ship me a rebuilt unit instead. Well that was a mistake. First of all the gap between the plate and pump was huge. I had to beat down a plate to fit so I used the stainless one so as not to destroy the one on my car. The water pump that was on my engine was a stamped steel unit so it is possible that the plate was not original either but I wanted to save it just in case. This rebuilt pump lasted less than three weeks and 500 miles before it began to leak itself!!! I was not going to return the pump and try again because of the difficulty of changing it. I've had two surgeries on my lower back so it is a two to three day operation to change a water pump depending on pain levels.

I called Ames and they had new water pumps with cast impellers so I ordered one. The gap between the Ames impeller and the divider plate that was on my car when I originally tore it down was right at .060" with the gasket. So far I have around 500 miles on the new one with no problems. Whether or not the impeller has been "shaved" I wouldn't know because I don't have an original pump to compare it to.

Karl