Any tips on replacing the water pump on a '68 for a newbie?

[tdskip]

OK - got the fan off but I’ll be darned if I can see where the water pump to block bolts are.

Do I need to take off the timing belt from cover?

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Progress! Yes, I am pretty sure you need to remove the timing belt cover (but not the timing belt itself). I don't have timing belt covers on my spiders, which is why I can't give you a more definitive answer.

-Bryan

[tdskip]

Thanks Bryan - will pull the timing cover off.

Was surprised to see that it is alloy, was expecting plastic.

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Yellow plastic is very common, but I've occasionally seen "silver" plastic (painted by the owner?) or metal. Depends on the model year, I guess. My '69 had yellow plastic (long since removed as I mentioned).

-Bryan

[tdskip]

My timing cover is definitely alloy, going to resist the temptation to do more than clean it because I’ve got bigger fish to fry .

I got the old pump off, which was very time consuming because the fan pulleys we’re stuck on the pump nose, not easy to access those four bolts.

I pulled the thermostat housing from the top of the engine and removed the old thermostat, used a sensible amount of gasket maker to seal it back up and that’s installed and tight now.

Have to run to Ace to get new water pump bolts and then get the new pump installed, using new bolts and washers are suggested.

Radiator from Vick’s came today as did the external thermostat set up. Going to need to study how that all installs now...

[18Fiatsandcounting]

because the police were stuck on the pump nose, not easy to access those four bolts.

Good on you as far as progress, but you've got me stuck with the police and the pump nose. Several mental images come to mind, but none would seem to apply. Perhaps, "Roxanne! You don't have to put on the red (brake) light"...?

-Bryan

[tdskip]

Ha ha, sorry, Siri was trolling me.

What I voice dictated was that the electromagnetic clutch assembly and the fan pulley were stuck hard on the water pump....

Sorry!

[tdskip]

OK ends in progress to report and lessons learned:

I have the water pump and fan pulley installed and it looks like everything is going to lineup. I have a water pump for a 73 (Vick’s) and fan pulley belt for a 1972 (Mark Allison), which is the deep offset one. I had to add one flat washer as a shim in between the water pump and the fan pulley but after having done that everything aligns perfectly.

I have an external thermostat housing that I’m going to be running now (Vick’s) that will be used in combination with the T-shaped connector from a later car (Mark Allison).

What I missed – and is absolutely needed – is a later neck that will mount to the T-connector. The original Thermostat in the head neck does not have a provision to mount the T-connector. Mark Allison has what I need in route.

I’ll keep this updated as the parts go on the car.

One question - is there anything other than the coolant hoses that locates the external thermostat assembly? It makes me nervous to have that dangling in the air as I imagine slicing through the canyons ...

Thanks!

[18Fiatsandcounting]

One question - is there anything other than the coolant hoses that locates the external thermostat assembly?

Nope. The three neck thermostat is quite happy to be fixed in space by the three hoses. Things to watch out for, though, are rubbing of any hoses against any body (frame) areas. On my '71, which has the external thermostat, the lower radiator hose can rub against the battery tray if I'm not careful with orientating how the hose points. Same with my '69, now that I think about it, and it has the thermostat in the upper housing at the front top of the cylinder head.

One question, though: Why the switch to the external thermostat? More expensive, and problematic in my mind, although they do have the advantage of giving you heat in the passenger compartment as compared to the "thermostat in the cylinder head" design.

-Bryan

[tdskip]

Wait - didn’t you suggest it?

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Wait - didn’t you suggest it?

Hmmm, no, I suggested removing the bulky electromagnetic fan clutch assembly and going with an electric fan, as this is a much more reliable setup. To accomplish this swap, you would need the appropriate water pump and pulley, which it sounds like you now have.

My thinking was that you would retain the original thermostat setup located in the housing at the top front of the cylinder head. This was how I did it on my '69. You could put in a 3-neck thermostat and T-connection and remove the original thermostat in the cylinder head, but it isn't necessary. Apologies if I have led you astray...

-Bryan

[tdskip]

No worries, I extended that guidance based on talking to Vick’s who said that the in the head thermostat was suboptimal and had a greater tendency to blow a head gasket’s .

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Vick's has much more experience than I do, so you should be good! Let us know how it goes.

-Bryan

[tdskip]

I would NOT recommend doing this conversion, super frustrated with a lot of wasted time into it.

Loosing the mechanical fan was fine, everything else has been a train wreck of ill fitting parts and missing components honestly.

Happy to share the part numbers of what I hopefully can track down to make this work, but displeased to put it mildly.

[spiderdan]

Tx for posting tdskip. I've been following your progress and frustrations. I might have to go there someday. So far, I am glad with the set up that I have. Might not be perfect, but it works for me and that's all I care about...driving! I was surprised by Vicks' comment on the stat, but then again I might not even have one installed in mine. Been like that for years I guess. I think my "Fiat guy' said something about free flow but never mentioned the head gasket problem. I guess I should knock on wood and be glad I have a "Fiat guy". Appreciate your updates and I hope you get it running the way you intended.

Cheers