Water Pump Assembly Question

[photousa]

Since I'm in the middle of replacing my head gasket, I decided to pull my water pump today and just replace it while I was in there. I bought the Hepu, cleaned everything up and re-assembled the halves. My question is, I noticed something on the threads of the T30 screws and was wondering if it was thread locker or what? The material was a bit white in color. So I wanted to find out if any of you are using anything on the threads of the screws? In addition, I could find no mention on using anything on the fiber gasket, is anyone coating the paper gasket with any sealant?... Is there a torque setting for those screws, or do you just snug them up equally?

[Brad Lauzze]

Snug on all the bolts should be fine, you don't wanna tear that gasket by over-torqueing. Not sure what the white stuff in the threads are, maybe some kinda thread locker from a previous replacement.

[photousa]

Thanks Brad, I'm continuing to move forward. Today, I'm going to be cleaning parts. I have a fuel injector service kit on the way. The word from the head rebuilding is that my
head appears to have experience a big time overheat. I wasn't too surprised by this news, I think the previous owner experienced the perfect storm of a failed Coolant Bypass Valve in concert with
a coolant expansion tank with a bad sensor, not a good combination. The head was actually "bowed" and is now in the process of being corrected.

[rlague]

How is the head going? I just did mine. Are the valves all OK?

[photousa]

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How is the head going? I just did mine. Are the valves all OK?

How did your cylinder had job work out? Wish we had Malibu weather here.....[/FONT]

We got the head back on and the car fired up on the second try, it runs great with no lifter noise. I took my head to a machine shop, it was re-leveled, the owner said it was "bowed" and had probably been exposed to a pretty good, "overheating situation". Also had the valves and valve seats ground and put in new valve seals. The only complaint that I had was that they could have given me back a cleaner head. A lot of my bolt holes were clogged with grit, so I had to spend a of time blowing out the holes with brake cleaner, re-cleaning the head and pre-fitting all of the screw holes. Nothing was wrong with my valves or valve sleeves, they told me everything was in great shape. I also had my exhaust manifold re-surfaced, which was warped. I did have trouble getting #15 and #16 lifters back into their bores, I don't know what was going on there, but they finally went in and like I said, everything is fine. The shop originally quoted me $225 for the work, but since the guy had to remove one broken exhaust stud, remove another stud and resurface my exhaust manifold, the final charge was $315. My mechanic referred me to this machine shop and after I first walked in, I kept thinking, this guy has the same technology as Fred Flintstone, his shop was primitive, cluttered and filthy. I tried to talk to him about how many hundredths of a inch he was taking off the head and I could see that he was totally old school, using a straight edge to make sure everything was right. I can't complain, after installing a new water pump, rebuild alternator, rebuilding my injectors and replacing numerous hoses and my coolant expansion tank, I probably saved at least $2500 in labor charges...

[rlague]

Glad you got all that grit out of there. The shop should do that!! My head came back in a plastic bag. Will post pix soon.

I was in Chicago and Janesville WI last week and it was warm there.....what are you talking about.

In addition to the head I did the whole short block with Wossner forged pistons......really worked out well. I can dig up some photos and so someposts on it if anyone is interested.

This is the top of the Wossner forged pistons, and a shot of the SPEC aluminum flywheel which is only 11lbs, or a savings of 12lbs over the stock 23 lbs flysheel.

[photousa]

Wow, you really took things to another level, hopefully you have a nice, rust free car to start with. Your machine shop work looks amazing. I've not seen a finer looking short block. I for one, would love to see more photos.

[rlague]

Yes my 2001 is very rust free. It is a So Cal car and I have owned it from new. Even the undersides have no rust anywhere.

I have Koni suspension with spring spacers to bring the ride height to spec and lots of suspension work like new bushings etc..

[photousa]

Yes my 2001 is very rust free. It is a So Cal car and I have owned it from new. Even the undersides have no rust anywhere.

I have Koni suspension with spring spacers to bring the ride height to spec and lots of suspension work like new bushings etc..

Very Cool, that's when it's worth all of the trouble, when you have a great car to start with and you know its history. We're plagued with salt covered roads here in the Midwest
and onward East, so finding a nice, rust free example is next to impossible. Your suspension setup sounds ideal...I think it's the dream of every used Saab owner
to load it up with all new bushings and other new suspension items. I'm dying to know what my car must have felt like and how it handled with new suspension components.