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06-26-2006, 10:10 AM   #1 (permalink)
UniCav
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 24
Water Pump Studs

I'm trying to patch my 81 Tbird back up. Got a radiator leak so I put in a new HD radiator, then after 2 days of running and only losing about 1" water from the resivoir, I go out one morning to add a little 50/50 and the whole damn system is bone dry! Apparenly there was a bad seal or crack on the water pump and when it got cold it opened up and dumped.

So I take the radiator, shroud, belts, fan, Altenator off. Then comes the brackets for the A/C and Power Steering and finally I get the pump off. joy of joys ... the timing cover's cracked too at a bolt hole. Now getting a timing cover and water pump is not a problem (other than cost) but there is a problem I can't seem to solve.

Where on God's green earth can you get replacement STUDS for the water pump. There's TONS of bolt kits out there but if you have an A/C and Power Steering they're not bolts, they're STUDS. I've been hunting the net for 3 days now and can only find a couple "stud kits" that appear to only have the stud for the altenator bracket. I'd reuse the studs but they are so pitted they'll surely break. It's a miracle I got them out in one piece. I'd use all-thread and just change the nuts on the bracket end to the same thread but #1 it's tacky, #2 it's bound to overtorque the pump while mounting the brackets and crack it all again and #3 I worry about the sealing in the exposed areas. Then of course there's the Ford dealers but nobody has stock listings on anything that old anymore.

Any suggestions on replacements?
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06-30-2006, 01:40 AM   #2 (permalink)
dacofa
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Western Pa
Posts: 2,384
Water Pump Studs

What size engine is it? You might have to search the boneyards. Or take the old one down to a Fastern Store and get the right length and size.
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06-30-2006, 04:58 PM   #3 (permalink)
UniCav
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Posts: 24
Water Pump Studs

It's a 302. If I dig around forever at the junkyards I might have a slim chance of digging up a set, but through the early 80's there were so many different A/C and power steering bracket combinations I don't stand much of a chance finding the same bolts. No chance of getting these from standard stock at any store because of the odd manufacture. 1/4" shaft to a 5/8" head and a 5/16" thread on the outside end = special manufacture. Probably made by the A/C compressor subcontractor in their kit. I'm probably going to just have to clean them up best I can and hope they hold up on reassembly.
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