3.8L water pump

Ol' Ron · 10-04-2004, 02:14 PM

I'm installing a 92 Buick engine in a 31 Model A.
It would be very convient if the water pump turned in the CC rotation. Any help would be appreciated. Ol' Ron

bluewhale13 · 10-04-2004, 03:25 PM

Just curious as to why it would need to turn in a counter clockwise fashion. Is it due to wanting the motor to cool in a reverse manner?

**Syndicated** · 10-04-2004, 03:47 PM

i think the only way to get something like that to happen is to buy an electric pump with reverse flow. If you think about it, with a belt driven pump, there's no way to set up any size belt to reverse its direction, since the crank only turns one way.
come to think of it, the cooling system is designed specifically so that it can only flow in that direction. without getting into too much detail, reversing the flow would be doing more harm then good, and unless the system was constantly full of coolant you'd have massive pockets of air in it which would contribute to over heating.

Ben

**BillK** · 10-04-2004, 04:23 PM

Ron,
When you say CC are you looking at the pump from the front or back of the engine ? I am betting that you want to be able to use a traditional blade type fan instead of an electric. The 91 3.8 pump probably turns CCW when looking at it from the front, due to the serpentine belt drive. You can probably use a pump off an earlier 3.8 that used v-belts. The difference in the two pumps is probably just the impeller. BUT .. you really need to get two pumps and compare them closely, I am not certain if any other changes were made to the front cover area as well.
Hope this helps,

**Tom Gallagher** · 10-04-2004, 07:59 PM

The only way I could comprehend this singular request is that the waterpump impeller is engineered and designed to work in reverse. Even So Given? what is the Advantage/Purpose? It's like driving North in the Southbound Lane. YOU are Certainly going Against the Flow. More Turbulence and Agitation? Increased Cooling Proberties? or Design Modification?

[img]graemlins/clonk.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/smash.gif[/img]

[img]graemlins/shield.gif[/img] Tom Gallagher [img]graemlins/shield.gif[/img]

Ol' Ron · 10-05-2004, 05:42 AM

The original pump is driven by a serpentine belt. I do not wish to reverse the flow of the water just the punp. The engine only needs to run an alternator. I have reversed the intake to give me more firewall clearance, but this puts the EFI out in front of the engine by about 6" eliminating the use of a fan. The starter is on the drivers side and interfers with the steering amd the exhaust. Having installed Flatheads and SBC in Model A's with little trouble. I wonder if anyone has every used this engine in any early car.
PS This engine started out with the supercharger, but no room.
Thanks for your input
Ol' Ron

**BillK** · 10-05-2004, 07:12 PM

Tom,
Both Chevrolet and Ford used the same pump housing with a different impeller when they switched to a serpentine belt drive in the early 90's. Some of the rebuilt pumps were sent out with the wrong impeller and stumped a few techs with heating problems.
The point is, I dont know for sure, but it could be the same case with the Buick 3.8 If the front cover is the same, the engine could care less which way the pump turns as long as it pumps water in the correct direction.
Ron, I will try to remember to do some checking for you to see if the front covers are the same. If so, it should not be a problem to use a pump off an earlier engine that turns the direction you want. Do me a favor and e-mail me a reminder in the AM.

Ol' Ron · 10-06-2004, 05:22 AM

Bill
It would be nice to know if I could change the front timing cover and use an early pump. If so where can I purchase same? Thank you

**BillK** · 10-06-2004, 04:59 PM

Ron,
I did a bit of looking today, but have been very busy and did not come up with a definite answer. One thing I was thinking about ... was your 92 3.8 originally in a front wheel drive, or rear wheel drive car ? I think there is a difference in head gaskets that may cause you a problem also.

Ol' Ron · 10-06-2004, 08:32 PM

The engine was a crate replacememt that was never used. I bought it several years ago on spec. A friend thought it would be better in his Model A instead of a SBC. (Nobody wanted it) I have a 700R4 behind it (S10). Everything looks OK, but not too many people know much about these engines up here in VT. I think when it's finished it will work very well with it's 3.80 rear, might even get good gas milage.