BBC Water Pump
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 3,472
Likes: 18
From: Lake Ozark, MO
BBC Water Pump
Does it matter if I run a short or long water pump on my 454. No fan. Only power steering and alternator. Is one (long vs short) better than another as far as flow?
Team Owner
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 34,453
Likes: 665
From: Republic of Texas
Originally Posted by Hvymtlc5
Does it matter if I run a short or long water pump on my 454. No fan. Only power steering and alternator. Is one (long vs short) better than another as far as flow?
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 3,472
Likes: 18
From: Lake Ozark, MO
Does that guidance (short pump) apply to all years 454? I've seen in the catalogs that newer cars (80's models and up) use long pumps. Older 454's call for the short. My block is a 1974.
Team Owner
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 34,453
Likes: 665
From: Republic of Texas
The block isn't the problem, if you use the long pump you'll have to use a different crank pulley, and that pulley doesn't work with our crossmembers. The short water pump is pretty much your only option.
Race Director
Joined: Sep 1999
Posts: 11,360
Likes: 382
From: Plano TX
Also, if you intend to run a factory corvette pulley you need the corvette specific short w-pump. It has a 3/4 shaft which is unique to the vette! If you get a generic short pump the factory pulley will not be centered.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)
Joe Kucinski
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!
Brett Foote
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!
Michael S. Palmer
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know
Joe Kucinski
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2
Michael S. Palmer
2027 Corvette vs The World: Every C8 vs Its Closest Competitor
Joe Kucinski
10 Most Common Corvette Problems of the Last 20 Years!
Joe Kucinski
Pro
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 677
Likes: 5
From: Cary North Carolina
A short water pump isn't your only option. When I bought my 454 it had a 2 groove LWP crank pulley from a small block (it had a short water pump but did not use the first track on the wp pulley). Even though this arrangement slightly underdrove the WP and accessories everything worked fine (no overheating even with the AC on).
The setup was:
Crank Track 1 - crank, wp, alt
Crank Track 2 - crank, wp, AC
alt and PS both had two groove pulleys and a belt running from the alt to the PS
Since you dont have AC you might be able to get away with a single groove crank pulley. If you are worried about underdriving the WP I think you can get an overdrive WP pulley.
I now have the correct crank pulley with an idler.
The setup was:
Crank Track 1 - crank, wp, alt
Crank Track 2 - crank, wp, AC
alt and PS both had two groove pulleys and a belt running from the alt to the PS
Since you dont have AC you might be able to get away with a single groove crank pulley. If you are worried about underdriving the WP I think you can get an overdrive WP pulley.
I now have the correct crank pulley with an idler.
