Since my temp gauge is busted (least of my worries) I don't know quite how badly but i know my old girl has been running hot. She would boil off her coolant to the tune of about 1 gallon per 40 miles. I pulled the rad, and took it to the shop only to find out that of the 103 tubes. 60 of them were completely plugged and not passing water. Rad shop tore the rad down, fixed the tank, the fittings, the drain, and even gave me new cap and overflow hose. Did a real nice job. If your near the DC area i highly recommend Paul Koch Auto Radiator Service | Home. He took one look at my rad and identified it off a 1960's ford truck. Great guy and loves his fords.

I also removed the thermostat housing and had the press fitting replace since it was quite badly rusted. Given that both the rad, the intake and return tubes, and thermostat hosing had quite a lot of rust, is it worth taking the water pump off and replacing it? I know i need to flush the block, but I don't wanna just go randomly replacing parts on the motor since its in pretty decent shape.

Looks like rock auto has a new pump for 50 bucks.

https://www.rockauto.com/catalog/x,c...,parttype,2208

The smart money says yes, but i am already 300 bucks into this repair and id like to keep the cost down, also its really cold out right now, and my garage is filled up with my other toys, so the less time I spend outside the better.

:Edit: I should have mentioned that while the truck is a 1960, motor is a rebuilt at some point 272 HD from 1957

 

There isn't much that can go wrong with a pump, bearing and seal are the usual problem. If it isn't making noise, the shaft isn't wiggling around, and it doesn't leak it should be OK. But like any old part it can be good today and bad tomorrow. If I was planning a 1000 mile trip I would change it, if driving around locally you can probably let it go for now.

 

Thanks, I am more worried about the fins rusting away then anything else. I have not noticed any leaking, and its usually pretty quiet unless its cold, and then i get some minor squealing. I have just chalked that up to the alternator needing an adjustment since its ever so slightly out of line with the pulley on the motor. I really just don't wanna put this thing back together, dump in 5 gallons of coolant which is about 60 bucks, and then need to pull it all apart again because i didn't do it right the first time around. Also since the rad and electric fan is currently out, there is enough room in there to build a new water pump from scratch, let alone replace one.

 

Yes, this would be the time to change it while everything is apart. But mentioned not wanting to keep the cost down. I re use coolant if it hasn't been in too long, just did that recently when I changed radiators in my 57. Drained it into a 5 gallon bucket, the little crap in it settled to the bottom over night, then I ran it through some cheese cloth and dumped it back in...