All righty then, new water pump & thermostat installed.....took my time, took around 2 hours........I was waiting for some surprise, secret, Land Rover surprise engineering to bite me in the ****, but it never happened......wait, didn't Ford design the motor? Oh god, if so I'm lucky I didn't break one of those 3 long bolts....lol.

What I learned........

This wasn't it's first water pump replacement......
Bearing totally failed.......
Cut and dry to replace....
Not it's first thermostat replacement...
Had a 182? thermostat in it.....bobbly thing must have made it '182'....?
Replaced with a 195 thermo, drilled a 5/32 hole in it......I now idle under 180...
It's easier to replace belt with the fan out of the way!!....

That's really about it, other than lack of notice of failure, it's something I over looked and should have done when first purchased........but then again, if it aint broke......why fix it.

We'll see how it goes over the next few days, don't expect any surprises...but I'll be watching driving temps with that 195 thermo installed to see how it behaves........party on!

 

Somehow the jiggle pin (bobbly thing) is what allows air bubbles created by the impellers vortices to pass through the thermostat's small orifice. Prevents cooling system vapor lock, how ingenious...... The engine was designed by Buick...... not much better than Ford since Buick had a penchant for changing designs from it's cousins. Ford's are like a science unto themselves in the Swap-O-Matic department. At least you didn't snap a long bolt eh..... seems that's the number two (literally) problem with water pumps. Next hardest issue is draining off the coolant...... I love how they solved that problem - they didn't.

 

Well if Buick.....explains the lack of power, sure they had a few good set ups over the years, but....this wasn't one of them.
While pulling those long bolts, I thought for sure the Ford thing was confirmed, worst thing on a small block Ford are those darn water pump bolts that snap.

 

Definitely started life as a Buick 215 V8. I had a old RRC motor that had a long bolt snap off in the block. One of many things that should have been changed.

 

215 V8.........Sounds like something that should be hanging off a key chain.
I forget who suggested it was a Ford block, that was a while back.......

Looks like my trans cooler has the drippies....hopefully it's just a loose connection as I've already replaced that once......guess I need to drop the bumper & grill..........hey, might be a good excuse to bend some new metal up front with the bumpa' off....

 

I would say so

 

Took her out for 40 miles.........smooth like a fresh shave!...191 down the road.

 

A smudge under your T-stat rating....... what's the temp down yonder?

 

Yep...just a touch below, down yonder?.....didn't look, but my outside temp was in the high 70's....really nice out! Came back, built fire, cooked meat & drank a beer!

 

Sounds like a good day