Water Pump question
This one:
https://www.paragoncorvette.com/p-34...ing-cover.aspx
or this one
https://www.paragoncorvette.com/p-35...ing-cover.aspx
should fit behind a short leg OEM water pump.
I have both of these and one tab hits the balancer and the other tab is too far away.
https://www.paragoncorvette.com/p-35...ing-cover.aspx
https://www.paragoncorvette.com/p-35...ing-cover.aspx
The aftermarket ones are too tall and hit the water pump. I'm not a fan of double/triple gasketing the water pump to clear the TC cover. Misaligns the belts.
(in my case the cover was already off and I powder coated it after, but no reason you couldn't remove it while installed and leave as is)
(in my case the cover was already off and I powder coated it after, but no reason you couldn't remove it while installed and leave as is)
- Fits all 1955-68 S/B Chevy passenger cars, 1969-70 350 c.i.d. Corvettes and 1955-72 light duty trucks.
- Has 3/4" ball/ball bearing.
- Dimension from block surface to hub: 5-5/8".
- Inlet diameter: 1.80".
Long-Style Pump for 1969-87 V8, 90° V6 & 1973-86 truck (5/8" pilot shaft)
- Fits all 1969-87 S/B Chevy or 90° V6 passenger cars and 1973-86 light duty trucks.
- Does not fit Corvettes (use #8810 or #8812) or late-model vehicles with serpentine accessory drive belts (use #8881).
- Has heavy-duty 3/4" ball/roller bearing.
- Dimension from block surface to hub: 6-15/16".
- Inlet diameter: 1.80".
Short-Style Pump for 1971-82 Corvettes 3/4" pilot shaft)
- Fits all 1971-82 S/B Corvettes.
- Comes with heavy-duty 3/4" ball/roller bearing.
- Dimension from block surface to hub: 5-13/16".
- Inlet diameter: 1.80".
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
The dimensions are all the same, however there are different castings. Some pump belt pulleys do not fit all the different castings.
The pump pulley on my '70 needs a "step" in the body casting, otherwise the pulley will hit the pump casting before limiting on the pump flange.
The distance is shorter on the '55-'72 short pump.......
Short-Style Pump for most 1955-72 cars & trucks (5/8" pilot shaft)
- Fits all 1955-68 S/B Chevy passenger cars, 1969-70 350 c.i.d. Corvettes and 1955-72 light duty trucks.
- Has 3/4" ball/ball bearing.
- Dimension from block surface to hub: 5-5/8".
- Inlet diameter: 1.80".
The distance is is........longer......on '71-'82 short pump.......
Short-Style Pump for 1971-82 Corvettes 3/4" pilot shaft)
- Fits all 1971-82 S/B Corvettes.
- Comes with heavy-duty 3/4" ball/roller bearing.
- Dimension from block surface to hub: 5-13/16".
- Inlet diameter: 1.80".
So the short style pump has a short and a long casting/the "short casting" is 3/16" shorter than the "long casting"....which causes some water pumps to need thicker gaskets in order for the rear cover of the water pump to clear "heavy-duty" timing covers and also causes a mis-alignment on the water pump pulley.
I always thought that the early "long pump" meant a long "nose"/shaft casting on the front of the pump housing which would cause the pulley mis-alignment also.
(Then there is the "long style" pump which is noticeably longer by approx. 1" which I am not referring to because that block-to-hub- length is so obvious)
Basically....we're talking about the same things (pump lengths) which can cause installation problems....I just stumbled upon the difference one day when laying the two versions of the short pump side-by-side because my replacement pump jammed against the timing cover, and I didn't want to stack pump gaskets together to solve the problem and then create a fan-belt problem.
This cover:
https://www.paragoncorvette.com/p-35...ing-cover.aspx
with this tab:
http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/perform...ATID=1038.html
works with this balancer:
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-161350
and this gear/chain set:
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/edl-7800
with a OEM GM short pump
No doubling of gaskets or other Bubba's.
Last edited by Tom454; Feb 19, 2015 at 09:27 PM. Reason: more info

















