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: 34,454
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: 34,454
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: 11,361
Likes: 383
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.
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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.
