Water Pump Vs Timing Cover Conflict
Sometimes the simplest procedures soon turn into a bigger deal than one could ever imagine.
This 318 was rebuilt by a "reputable" machine shop that had been in business for over 40 years (I am not placing the blame on this idiosyncrasy on anyone by the way). My mission was simply to repaint it and replace the oil pan while I was at it. So the motor has already been put together once, so what could go wrong doing some basic pre-assembly checks (like cleaning out the bolt holes and checking threads on fasteners)?
Trial fit of the same cast iron water pump using the three shortest bolts (one on center top and two on bottom across from one another). Well, I could not thread the bolt on top by hand, it would not even start if the other two bolts were started first. Starting the top bolt first, then the lower right bolt would not thread by hand. No problem in either case with the lower left bolt starting by hand. I jiggled and jiggled but nothing doing. I could see the top hole in the water pump was just ever so slightly too high and that was causing the problem (see foto #1).
The conflict between the timing cover machining and water pump manufacture was probably the fault of some minor quality control issue. I don't remember if the water pump was new or rebuilt and neither can I recall the origin of the timing cover (which has the built in timing marks).
Brought out my Dremel tool and a small cylindrical sanding attachment (coarse grit) and proceeded to elongate the top hole in the water pump. Problem solved (see foto #2). The machine shop got it put together 10 years ago without having performed this final step, lucky dogs.
Sometimes the simplest procedures soon turn into a bigger deal than one could ever imagine.
This 318 was rebuilt by a "reputable" machine shop that had been in business for over 40 years (I am not placing the blame on this idiosyncrasy on anyone by the way). My mission was simply to repaint it and replace the oil pan while I was at it. So the motor has already been put together once, so what could go wrong doing some basic pre-assembly checks (like cleaning out the bolt holes and checking threads on fasteners)?
Trial fit of the same cast iron water pump using the three shortest bolts (one on center top and two on bottom across from one another). Well, I could not thread the bolt on top by hand, it would not even start if the other two bolts were started first. Starting the top bolt first, then the lower right bolt would not thread by hand. No problem in either case with the lower left bolt starting by hand. I jiggled and jiggled but nothing doing. I could see the top hole in the water pump was just ever so slightly too high and that was causing the problem (see foto #1).
The conflict between the timing cover machining and water pump manufacture was probably the fault of some minor quality control issue. I don't remember if the water pump was new or rebuilt and neither can I recall the origin of the timing cover (which has the built in timing marks).
Brought out my Dremel tool and a small cylindrical sanding attachment (coarse grit) and proceeded to elongate the top hole in the water pump. Problem solved (see foto #2). The machine shop got it put together 10 years ago without having performed this final step, lucky dogs.
