Fan /Water Pump

[JOES31]

Finally after finishing the complete upholstery I took the 31 out for a drive. Drove great. I started to notice little specs of something on the windshield. Opened the hood and found the specs all over the firewall. So I took the leather off the water pump and there it is....leaking.

So two questions. Snyder's has three different pumps along with the rebuild kits. Since I am a newbie could someone point me into the right direction. New pump, which one or rebuild the old pump?

Now while I am at it I read the post about the fans. I now have the original 4 blade fan. Should I replace it so it doesn't cause a disaster? Can I drill out the rivets and install say 1/4" allen bolts through the fan and pulley. If I were to replace it should I use the aluminum or plastic fan?

One final note. When you fix something on a Model A does the car know you fixed it and makes another component go bad? Seems like they always want to be pampered and I already have a wife I have to maintain!!! Good thing I like to work on cars.

Any advice is very much appreciated.

Joe

[mshmodela]

Are the specs water or grease? On my car the front grease fitting had little grease and i pumped in more some of which came out after a few drives.... Suspect maybe normal but better greasy than not. Fan sounds smooth now.

[Kurt in NJ]

The original pump has a packing that gets tightened when it leaks---- look in the owners instruction book , that tells you how to do it

[JOES31]

It's not grease. Antifreeze all over the floor so it's leaking. I tightened the nut and the shaft seem to get hot. This car was sitting for the past 15 years. Had the radiator cleaned flushed the block, changed head gasket and changed hoses. So I would think I am looking at a rebuild or replacement of the water pump.

[jrelliott]

Get a new leakless pump with stainless steel shaft. Some of the newer pumps have a collar on the front of the pump shaft so the shaft does not wobble forward to back which use to be corrected by grinding off the end of the shaft that was behind the impeller until the forward to backward gap was correct. One fitting will require greasing with water pump grease about every 500 miles. Would also suggest the new aluminum two blade fan. Make sure the fan sets on shaft snuggly so will not wobble with the thin steel washer on the front. You now can relax without worrying about failures in this area.

[neds29]

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The 4-bladed fan is not original; original was two-bladed. I'm a cheap SOB so I bought a leakless water pump kit and it seems to work great. Easy to rebuild too and as a plus I feel good about rebuilding the old rather than buying a new. My pick up truck has a 4-blade fan too and a new Brassworks pressurized radiator (not cheap but which fits perfectly BTW). When I get the brakes adjusted I'll tell you how they all work.
Ned

[rocket1]

4 blade fan with the rivits is very heavy,will cause problems down the road,I would change that fan.

[maxandmickey]

I bought a new leakless water pump.the instructions say if you have a new radiator you have to file down the props on the pump.if you have the old one just put it on.how can I tell if my radiator is original.doing this for my fatherlaw so I don't know if he ever had this radiator replaced.any help greatly appreciated.

[29Cabriolet]

Here is the text from a previous post of mine:

Same deal with my "leakless" water pump. I returned two of them and rebuilt the original. The rebuild kit I got from MAC's had a seal in the brass bushing. The kit included the stock lead packing rope but I used a lead packing ring I got from Brattons. About 100 miles so far and no leaks.

[29 Tudor]

I got a leakless from Mac's and although there were instructions included on cutting down the impeller, the impeller was already cut down as received.

Bolted it on and it works fine.

Steve

[1931 flamingo]

New or old radiator, I don't think you're going to "hurt" anything by taking some off the new pump. JMO

Paul in CT

[maxandmickey]

yes tudor,your right... mine was already cut down.

[fiddlybits]

Originally Posted by JOES31

One final note. When you fix something on a Model A does the car know you fixed it and makes another component go bad? Seems like they always want to be pampered and I already have a wife I have to maintain!!! Good thing I like to work on cars.

Yes. Like any worthwhile mistress they are high maintenance.