i have been trying to find a water pump for my 68 firebird its pretty old and started to leak its a 11 bolt pattern one. i can't find them in any of the catalogs is there any out there that are aluminum or high flow ones ?? thanks for the help

I have never heard of a high flow. All the cheap parts stores around here have stock replacement. You probably have the same chains there. You would be surprised at all the old car parts they have cheap.
Jim

You can get an aluminum pump from Summit.

The water pump is not the limiting factor on the flow of the system. There are plenty of other restictions that limit how much water you can move. The stock pump is usually enough, though you can use a smaller pulley on the water pump to gain a little bit.

Q

Here is the one I'm lusting after:

http://www.meziere.com/

Click water pumps, GM, Corporate, Traditional Pontiac and you see a beautiful 11 bolt, high flow, electric water pump good for 2300 hours of use. It comes in Black, Blue or Red for the Pontiac and is $285 from Summit. It's been said that this saves up to 20HP at higher RPM's.

G.J.
68 350 Coupe

There's one on eBay right now.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=34202&item=7900216924

Q

Too bad I've got the early 68 8 bolt setup or this would be REALLY tempting.

hey Quenton i went to summit and i can find an aluminum one anywhere i have 11 mounting hole one not the old 8 hole by the way is there a lot of difference between the 69 water pump and the 68 water pump???

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=BRA%2D1649

Q

will that fit my 68 firebird cause it says that its for 69 and up??

You have an 11 hole water pump. That's typically 1969 and up. It will fit, and you should not have any problems except in the case where you have one of the cars that was built mid-produciton when the switch from 8 to 11 holes was made.

I think replacing the water pump pulley with the corerct one solves the problem. I think Jusride may have dealt with this a while back. The difference - as far as I remember - is about 3/4", or the width of one pulley groove.

Q

Napa used to carry aluminum replacements, not sure if they still do.

I don't if it's a w or w/o ac or an issue with years, but I'vd ran into the problem: There is a short snout and long snout. The bolt pattern is the same but one pump is something like 4 inches tall and the other is 4 & 1/4, or it's 3 & 3/4 and 4 inches. (My w/o ac garbage can bulit set-up requires the short style pump.)

Come on guys! Many of you are walking textbooks on these things. Make sure that joes burd doesn't learn the hard way.

Anyway, have the old one with you. Lay it flat on its mating surface; likewise, with the new pump. Check the height of both pumps. It's quite obvious when you look at them, and it's more obvious if you install it and see the problem with belt lineup.

thanks for the info guys and good looking out Amervo