[blucar]

It is very common to overlook the internal lubrication system of the EFV8 water pumps.
Many years ago when the flat-head Ford engines were common and detergent oil was not sludge would build up in the block causing all kinds of problem, one of which was the oil passage through the block, which was un-pressurized, gravity fed from the engine valley.
It was very common to remove water pumps that had been leaking coolant via the shafts to find that they had not been receiving lubrication for a long time. Prior to replacing the worn out water pumps it was SOP to run a wire through the block to clear the oil channel.. Many people did not bother to do this, because they did not know there was an oil channel through the block.
As I recall the early 21 stud engines had grease zerks on the water pumps.