Can I use multiple water pump gaskets

[Donald H.]

I have a correct 3859326 water pump,with the small 1/2 or 5/8 bypass. I bought it from one of the larger vendors at Carlisle a couple of years ago, so it was not inexpensive. It had been rebuilt. The rbuilder rebuilder trued the mounting surfaces where the pump mounts to the block. Looks like they took of about a 1/16", so the pump back is hitting the timing chain cover with maybe a 1/32" gap before the ears touch the block.

Can I safely stack a couple of gaskets on each side? I've never tried it.

Thanks,
Don

[Douglas L.]

Re: Can I use multiple water pump gaskets

I'd imagine you could with some quality sealer between each gasket but perhaps a better solution would be cutting some spacers out of 1/16" thick plate.

[Joe R.]

Re: Can I use multiple water pump gaskets

I have a correct 3859326 water pump,with the small 1/2 or 5/8 bypass. I bought it from one of the larger vendors at Carlisle a couple of years ago, so it was not inexpensive. It had been rebuilt. The rbuilder rebuilder trued the mounting surfaces where the pump mounts to the block. Looks like they took of about a 1/16", so the pump back is hitting the timing chain cover with maybe a 1/32" gap before the ears touch the block.

Can I safely stack a couple of gaskets on each side? I've never tried it.

Thanks,
Don

Most of the water pump gaskets I have seen are very thin. I have a collection from various sources and a few of them are much thicker than most. I'm not sure where I got the thick ones, but I think I got them frm Bill Mock when he sold me a rebuilt pump. We had some discussion about properly locating the fan hub, and he sent me an assortment of gaskets to fine tune that.

I'm away from home right now but if you want, I can measure the thickness of the gaskets I have. If you decide that all you need is a thicker gasket, PM me and I can probably send you a pair.

[Richard M.]

Re: Can I use multiple water pump gaskets

WP gaskets are fairly simple to fabricate, so if me I would get some thick(as needed) rubberized cork gasket material and make my own. NAPA has the materials.

I would use each WP flange as a guide and trim the gasket exactly to fit using a X-Acto knife. Keep them specific to each side and aligned when installing with a good amount of Permatex. Wipe off excess and let dry overnight. Brush on some Orange paint around the edges and hit the bolts while you're at it and you should be fine.

Rich

[Donald H.]

Re: Can I use multiple water pump gaskets

Thanks Rich and Joe.

What I ended up doing was making two shims out is 1/16" stainless steel plate. I then sandwiched these shims with gaskets and sealer.

Don