Water pump replacement turns into major teardown - ? on '74 rt-side p/s pump..

[Gremlingts@xxxx]

 Well, my planned all-day water pump replacement job turned into a much 
deeper project than I had planned - I had to take out the radiator to get to the 
pump bolts, and once I had it that far, I decided to remove all the greasy 
brackets and rusting components, clean them up, and get them painted. So, I now 
have a mostly-stripped front engine bay. Only thing left is the timing chain 
cover, and THAT is coming off , too, as I discovered that there is 6 degrees of 
play in the chain, so it really needs replacing ( 4 is usually max allowed ). 
Might as well, as I have it torn apart this far anyway, and once I get the 
new head on, I won't want to take it down again for awhile. I goofed on trying 
to use an outer edge pulley puller, and started separating the inner pulley / 
balancer on the crankshaft. Dang it! I shoulda waited and found my good puller, 
but wanted to try it. Oh well, will have to take it to a machine shop and 
have it pressed back down flush again. No biggie, I don't think. 
I started degreasing the small stuff later in an auction-bought 
stainless steel cooking pot, worked really well! I was gonna sell the pots or give'm 
away, but I need them now. :) I'll probably get the steel brackets 
power-coated black, not gonna cheap out and use Rustoleum or some other temporary paint 
fix. I am also thinking about polishing the alloy brackets for the P/S pump, 
and the alternator housing, if it's aluminum. Once I get it done, I want the 
car engine bay to look GOOD. Something I don't usually do. But I would like one 
Gremlin to look nice for a change, other than look like a faded driver , 
which most of mine are. 
Speaking of the P/S pump, mine is located on the passenger/right side, 
and the bracket had 3 washers spacing it away from the block on the front 
bolt. I "assume" it's because the PO didn't get the correct belt, and had to move 
the pump further away. If anyone has a P/S pump on the right side, and can 
confirm that the bracket is mounted flush to the motor, I'd appreciate it. Just 
one more little detail that needs fixing. 
So, instead of having a running car again, I have a torn-down engine 
bay. At least I can get to the frontal area, and degrease that as well, and try 
to bring out some "shine" in the paint inside the bay. Anyone have any good 
suggestions for removing grease and polishing the paint, feel free to throw in 
some advice. :) 
Another thing I noticed was that the fan blades were painted black, 
but seemed to have a polished or stainless base, but looked copper-colored. I'll 
probably try to polish those blades, and see what they look like. I'll get 
the main center part painted black again.
Well, I may not have accomplished anything immediately, but I will 
hopefully get the engine cleaned up and the parts painted, and at least the front 
of the engine compartment will look nice when I'm done. Just hope it's not 
NEXT year when that happens! LOL. I'm such a procrastinator. But I will 
hopefully move this "little" project along quickly. 
That's all for tonight, I need to wash up for bed. Adios, my friends!

grimy Jerry in Virginia


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