I had to remove the thermostat housing from my '64 260 the other night
because of a small leak and while I was at it I decided to pull the water
pump to touch up a small area of paint that had "chipped" off. By the time
that the pump was out, over half of the paint (everywhere but the shaft
stem) had literally flaked off. The exposed aluminum was badly oxidized and
the hose fittings were deeply corroded. Interestingly enough, internally the
pump looked great. The impeller and the coolant chamber were free from rust
and the coolant was very clean. The cooling system had operated leak free
until the small problem developed with the thermostat, so the exterior of
the pump hadn't been bathed in coolant over a long period of time. Obviously
I'm going to need to replace the pump. My questions are: Has anyone
experienced this problem with the aluminum pump? and if so, were you able to
do anything about it? After reading some of the CAT Shop Notes, I understand
that the 289 was fitted with a cast iron. Are they interchangeable? and if
so, is there any advantage (or disadvantage) to switching over? From what
I've read, the Tiger pump is not directly interchangeable with the
comparable Ford pump. Does anyone supply a pump built to Tiger specs or
provide a service to retrofit a Ford pump? Lastly, is there an aftermarket
pump available that would provide better performance and efficiency?
Any recommendations would be appreciated!
Steve
B9470250
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