Good evening. I am seeking guidance on the reconstruction of my 1969 L-36. My AIM shows a spacer between the water pump pulley and the water pump. I don't have it and I can't seem to find it in the several catalogs I have. Does anyone know where I can get it (If I indeed need it?). Thanks and regards...Joe
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Re: 1969 water pump spacer
Joe,
What page in the AIM are you looking at because I would like to see what spacer you are refering to. I'm 99.99% sure that there shouldn't be a spacer between the water pump and it's pulley. -
Re: 1969 water pump spacer
Joe-----
I don't know if the shims were used in all cases or just when required to achieve proper pulley alignment between waterpump and crank pullies. However, I think that they were used a LOT more than many folks think. I've often had to add shims to big block waterpumps to achieve correct pulley alignment.
The first thing that you want to do is to check your pulley alignment. If it happens to be "dead-on", then you not only don't need the shims, but you don't want to install them no matter what the AIM says. There's really no point in installing the shims if they CAUSE pulley misalignment.
The GM #3740523 shims were discontinued from SERVICE without supercession more than 25 years ago. However, you can obtain shim kits from sources like Summit Racing as manufactured by Moroso Performance Products and others. These kits contain shims of 1/16", 1/8", and 3/16" thickness. With them, you can "fine tune" pulley alignment. The kits are inexpensive (about 5 bucks each).
I believe that the GM shims were 1/16" thick and as many as required were used. With the kits, you have the equivalent of 1, 2 or 3 of the GM shims.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Re: 1969 water pump spacer
Thank you,gentlemen. The section that I referred to was L-36; sheet A-7; page J-371. The part # referenced is 3740523 with no additional notes. My next step was and is to mount this up and check the alignment as Mr. Lucia recommends.
Joe Thanks for the insight and sourcing info.
Greg: I too do not recall this particular car having a spacer (or shims), but I haven't been into this part in a long time. Thanks again to you both. regards to all...joe
PS: I am AMAZED at the manual labor that went into building these cars. Efforts that required multiple assembling and disassembling such as fitting shims must consume enormous amounts of manpower and time, not to mention skill and patience!Comment
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