Mercury Water Pumps again
 

Just an update. I decided to keep both rebuilt pumps, even the left side one with the wrong pulley since I read here that it can work just buy a different length belt to run both pumps off one belt.
Got the left side pump off this evening and my worst fears did not happen. The internal bolt in the lower water outlet was pretty stubborn but came out without rounding off the head or twisting off. I had to use a 14 mm socket as the nine sixteenths seemed a loose fit and I was afraid it would round off. Lots of penetrating oil and patience.

Re: Mercury Water Pumps again
 

That bolt location was not one of Henry's better ideas.

Re: Mercury Water Pumps again
 

I Use'd a stud, brass nut and some silastic type goo on the end of the stud. I did this 4/5 years ago, havn't had a pump off since, but will be interesting to see if it helps any!

Re: Mercury Water Pumps again
 

I was thinking maybe some anti-sieze applied to the threads on installation would be a good plan.
On another related note, what was the idea of having each water pump driven by a separate belt?

Re: Mercury Water Pumps again
 

Stainless bolt with anti-seize is what I used.

GB

Re: Mercury Water Pumps again
 

You could heat the head of the bolt up till its red, and let it cool on its own. It will shrink a bit after it cools, and the expansion/contraction breaks the rust loose.

Re: Mercury Water Pumps again
 

Did the same thing on mine except didn't use anti- seize when I rebuilt it 25 years ago. Recently rebuilt both pumps. Bolts came out easy.

Re: Mercury Water Pumps again
 

Having a separate forward belt on the passenger side moves the belt further from the distributor. It makes it safer to adjust the timing while the engine is running.

Re: Mercury Water Pumps again
 

Interesting. I had never considered that but it makes sense. I suppose the other option would be to remove the belt while adjusting timing.

Re: Mercury Water Pumps again
 

The narrow 3/8" belt is a bit farther away from the distributor, but I'll bet the reason was more about cost; cast 1 piece narrow crank pulley vs the larger multi-piece sheet metal wide belt pulley and 3/8" vs 5/8" belts, also possibly wanting to slow the fan by using the smaller/outer narrow belt crank pulley.

Re: Mercury Water Pumps again
 

And speaking of pulleys, I just noticed that the new pulley is an inch smaller diameter than the original offset pulley. Have not compared the right side but I would assume it is also smaller than the original. I hope this won't be a problem. Currently I am having great difficulty lining up and starting the two mounting bolts. Pump bolts are all started and loose, prying the engine around with a pry bar but so far no luck starting a thread on those two bottom bolts.

Re: Mercury Water Pumps again
 

JFYI, the outside diameter of the '50-'53 Ford/Merc driver's side narrow belt pulley is +/- 4.1", while the passenger side is +/- 4 3/4". The larger diameter crank pulley drives the larger ds pump pulley, and the smaller crank drives the smaller ps pump, so both pumps will run the same rpm. :)

Re: Mercury Water Pumps again
 

Yes, my rough measurement on the new pulley was 4 inches. So now running both pumps off the same crank pulley I should be ok.

Re: Mercury Water Pumps again
 

Most good hardware stores stock stainless steel bolts that will replace the originals in the pump inlet. You may not need them, but the next guy will thank you.

Re: Mercury Water Pumps again
 

When I took my pumps off one of the mild steel bolts inside was "shagged" to the point it was rounded off and my regular socket set could not get a grip on it. I brought one of those Urwin socket sets that have the grippy bity things inside, then it came out real easy.

GB

Re: Mercury Water Pumps again
 

I have heard of those type sockets and was hoping I would not need one. Lucky these pumps had only been on the engine since the early eighties. Even so there was a little corrosion on the bolt heads which is why I needed to use a 14 mm socket giving a tighter fit than 9/16.
Latest discovery: the right side motor mount is loose on the cross member. Hoping it just needs tightening.
Also discovered the car serial number is stamped into the top of the frame near the right side water pump.

Re: Mercury Water Pumps again
 

I have a press and a good puller to rebuild pumps. It took a while to make several pusher tools & pressing adapters but it was worth the effort. You can press the sheave of of the old pump and likewise for the rebuilt and swap them out to get an original arrangement. Just be carefull with the cast type pulley sheaves. They break easily.

Re: Mercury Water Pumps again
 

I bought a "Gator Grip" socket a few years ago for a similar problem and it worked very well.

Amazon.com has them listed.