How is Your Chev 4 Water Pump?

A good opportunity to revisit a earlier posting from early 2010, as it runs hand in hand with the the previous posting on a radiator overflow tank.

And the story goes.........................................

"I was never a big fan of the original Chev 4 water pump, and even in good running order they are prone to leak, and require regular adjusting, and lubing. Also the grease used to lubricate the pump slowly clogs up the cooling system, even though it is water soluble.

The low rate of leakage would normally not be an issue with most Chev 4 owners, but I run a closed cooling system, with an overflow tank. We are only talking about 2 or 3 psi, but this is enough to enable me to run modern coolant, which you can not do with an unpressurised system. 

During the 2009 Chev 4 Tour at Castlemaine, several Chevs were running a modified water pump, using a modern Holden (GM) bearing and shaft, but still running the original Chev impeller and pulley, thus retaining much of the character of the original unit without the hassle.

I caught up with Ray Hatcher from NSW during the tour, the guy who does the modification. A month later at the Bendigo swap meet I picked up my modernised pump.

The new water pump is excellent and requires no maintenance. The benefits are no loss of coolant, no lubrication required and no coolant leaking or spraying over the engine"

Update as at 21st November 2012

"The improved water pump has not given me any trouble since it was installed in 2010, and has required zero maintenance"
 
The following pictures show the modified pump.