Changing water pump

Yesterday spent a couple of hours replacing the water pump on my VdP 1500 auto 1976, it was bloody freezing, literally, so I thought I'd drain the system and fill with all fresh antifreeze

The water pump came from Ebay, £9.49 inc delivery, new old stock, lovely

I bought a Mercedes ML320 off my brother last year, and he gave me a gallon of Merc blue antifreeze with it, so I figured it would do nicely if i flushed out what looked like red antifreeze, but may just have been rust and radweld

I did a lot of research before using this antifreeze, as I don't want any swamp-monster chemical reactions from mixing the wrong types - what a minefield, I just hope I called it right.

The old pump turned out to be deteriorating badly where the pipe meets the outlet, not sure if this is clear in the pictures, and also the bearings are obviously on their last legs as the pump doesn't spin freely compared to the new one. This would almost certainly affect cooling, and probably fuel consumption as it must put a strain on the engine and fan and alternator belt too. Very glad I did, I remember my old VdP of twenty odd years ago had overheating problems in summer traffic, I don't want a repeat of that, having to drive to my mate's wedding with the heating on full belt to help keep the needle out of the red




To remove the water pump is a piece of cake, three bolts hold the pulley on to the pump, remove them, then off with the belt, another three hold the pump on to the engine, that's it!
Of course you have to clean up the old gasket and grime before fitting the new gasket (included), and refitting is the reverse procedure.



We ran fresh water only through the system a couple of times, getting up to temperature to allow all the water a chance to circulate beyond the thermostat, and because of the cold weather, it wasn't long before the engine cooled sufficiently to reintroduce cold water and antifreeze again without cracking the head (touch wood).

Cheers,
Jim

...Nice one Jim, great minds think alike, was the 1st job i did and part i fitted on mine, bearings we shot on mine too and leaking thru the shaft
I was wondering about using the red stuff for later motors with the organic acid stuff to keep limescale down and anti clogging but i guessed our head gaskets may not? be able to cope with it?

So just to be on the safe side ive ran it up, flushed and dropped with clean water about 8 times now and then it'll have 50/50 standard blue stuff after a couple more flushes, its just started to clear up quite nice now and no sign of head gasket naughties ...yet

talking of headgaskets Jamie,

is there a type or brand of headgasket that is better than the others?

I know over time headgaskets in particular engines have been improved, just wondered if that might be the case for the Allegro? Rather than buy a new old stock one, which may have deteriorated over the years anyway, is there a more modern equivalent manufactured more recently?

I do fancy buying a set just in case, and there are cheap ones on Ebay, but that might be a false economy?

Anyone got an opinion on this matter?

Cheers,
Jim

...Ive ran it thru my mind already i must admit and the fact of newer manufactured gasket sets maybe better? or could be worse? or just not suitable?, only angle i can put on it is the past experience i had doing both heads on my essex 3ltr in the granada, the new style gasket what had the rubber bits on it ect didnt seal very well around a couple of head bolts, a fellow owner was soon to pipe up "Should have used a 'proper one' !" wasnt long in being said lol so im a bit in the unknown with the E series as yet so this really could do with input from other members with more experience of said job.
Its a solid fact and point to keep in mind tho as new old stock bits can deteriorate absolutley

Wish my restoration moved forward as quickly as yours both do !! I likewise have a boxed water pump to fit so pleased to hear it's a nice straightforward job. Mine is leaking out the shaft so guess the bearing is shot likewise.

Only experience I can offer on headgaskets was on a Marina 1.7 'O' series engine - OHC like the E series. I replaced the head gasket with an after market one, lasted about 4 months before 'blending' the oil and water. Fitted another, same type (put it down to duff one) & same thing happened. Bought OEM one from Wahdam Stringer, who were BL dealers at the time & no problem, drove it around for 2 years after that until I sold it. I guess if you get an original manufacturer NOS one thats been correctly stored it should be OK.

Favour to ask Jim, could you post some pictures of the kick-down rod connections. Mine's been removed for some reason & can't find any info on how it's attatched or works. Can't get 4th gear without it.
Cheers. Andy.

That's the kind of info we like Andy

I'll try to take some pics of the mechanism tomorrow as the car is outside my house at the moment, my camera work is not the best as I'm sure you've noticed!

I could do with some pics of the inside of the boot, as mine has no carpets etc..at all, I'd love to know what they look like

Cheers,
Jim

...Ive just had a quick scan thru the old Haynes, page 107, shows the kick down linkages from carb to gearbox but nothing from carb back to pedal, it shows the adjusters tho at the gearbox end, the usual 'push past full throttle' set up to the pump lever for when you need the go button.

...Well stored OEM bits is a safe bet id think too to be honest, nothing worse than doing the job twice cus of crap bits

Here's the photo's I managed to take today Andy, hope they are good enough to be of any use, and a picture of the ice layer on the car this afternoon

Too cold to be messing with stereo wiring and the like, so got nothing done on the VdP today I'm afraid!












Cheers,
Jim

Thanks very much for the pictures Jim, just what I needed. I wasn't sure how the down rod fitted on as the exhaust looked to be in the way. I can make out it is close but passes down the back of the exhaust onto the bell-crank mounting thingy.....

I'll get some pictures of the boot & rear trims tomorrow as mine is complete. Have found some spare bits you're after, i'll photo them & upload so you can eyeball them to be sure.

Cheers. Andy.

Oh, and looks damm cold too - nice frosting you got there!!! Been chilly here too until Thursday eve, then got very windy & wet & +10C. Better day tomorrow so may get bit of work done on 'Old girl'