So, I've been giving my truck (78 F250, 460cid) a lot of love lately. Recently redid most of the ignition wiring and fuel delivery system, and it decided to reward me with a horrendous groan from the water pump as a thank you. Pump hasn't failed completely yet, but I know it's coming. I put the current one on back in like 2010ish so I guess it had a good run since it was a cheapie over the counter from OReilly's. I'm in a bit of a better place financially though and am willing to spend a bit more for a better quality one. Especially since I'm in the desert where summer high temps can hang out at 110+.
I've been shopping around on the usual online spots- RockAuto, Summit, Jegs... I guess OG Motorcraft pumps are a thing of the past and I'm mainly seeing a lot of pumps from brands I've never heard of before that like to use three letters as their names...SKP, GMB, WJB, CVF... no clue on their actual quality other than some middling reviews on Summit.

Just curious what others are running and what you'd recommend. The truck is mainly stock. Looking to stick w a mechanical pump. OEM flow would probably be fine, but I'm down to try a high flow one too. Hopefully not going over $200.

 

I've been running an aluminum Edlebrock forever

 

I went with a napa pump for my 86 460, been running it as a daily driver since the install several months back and no issues with it that I'm aware of at least.
Kind of wanted to keep it local in case I need to warranty. Didn't really trust any of the other local parts branding either.

 

If you've got the time to be able to send out your pump for a quality rebuild and the desire to do so, I've had positive experiences with WaterPumpMan.com.(no affiliation)
Mine happened to be a OEM Ford pump and I had an entire winter of downtime so speed of removal, rebuild and return was a non-issue for me.
Tbruz

 

I have used GMB water pumps on my Cleveland's with no problems and find they are well priced.

 

Concerning Waterpump Man, I see only GM parts. Do they all fit Fords or engine specific?

 

Per their website and my experience they rebuild all types/makes of water pumps.

 

Don’t know for sure about the rest, but GMB at least has been around since at least the late 70s. Possibly longer…
The name CVF usually goes along with aftermarket performance stuff. Including full pulley and serpentine drive systems.
Flowkooler is the one we sell, and what I’ve been using on my 302’s since the early ‘80’s when they were were just a short time from being called Brassworks.

I’ve got an Edelbrock on my 400. Haven’t put any miles on it yet, but it was of very high quality and fit perfectly.
Moroso was another one available for the 400 at the time. Flowkooler didn’t have one in the old days, but might have now.

But the bottom line as far as I’m concerned, is that for a normal non-high performance or racing engine, just about any water pump will get the job done.
I’ve heard of some fitment issues on FE engines (discussed here I believe) with modern pumps, having a flange here, or an appendage there, that had to be ground down to make it play nice with all the other engine bits. But once fitted, worked fine.
Whatever you get, with whatever name on the box, will hopefully give you years of good performance.

 

As much as I'd like to go with an Edelbrock, I just recently laid down $400+ on a new 650 AVS2 carb and associated bits in the fuel system overhaul. Putting another $300+ into the water pump is hard to justify. If I still had the original Ford pump housing I'd likely go with WaterPump Man, but since I don't I'm largely leaning toward GMB now with the two recommendations here. FlowKooler definitely has my interest piqued though! Especially with that low-rpm high flow improvement they claim.
If memory serves, I've got a 165 Tstat in it, and the running/driving temp stays solidly locked at 180 most of the time. The exceptions being stuck in traffic on summer days, or going from long higher rpm highway speeds down to inner-city speeds it'll creep up to 205-210 for a few mins.

 

The old time expert recommendation to never run a low-temp thermostat seem to hold as well today as they did 50 years ago.
If you're racing, or just need low engine temps for some other reason, then they're fine. But the factories ran 180 to 195 for a reason. Up to 215 nowadays I think!
At cooler temps, your engine just doesn't live as clean a life. Nor does your heater work very well sometimes.

I've heard, but never experienced, that a lower temp t-stat will also not control the heat as well on a street engine as does a higher (factory) rated stat.
Let the engine temps rise then, but control them with a good t-stat.

At least that's what I'd do at this point in the game.
I also like the Robertshaw "full flow" thermostats. Or is it "even flow" instead? Don't remember, but they're an odd looking duck for sure.
Here again though, there's really nothing wrong with the original style of thermostat. I just like to keep things working as efficiently as possible. Including higher end water pumps and t-stats. Just like I go overkill on battery cables and the number of grounds for the electrical system, I like overkilling the cooling system just a little as well.
If you've never had an overheating problem though, no dire need to go overboard either.

Paul

 

Up until a couple years ago the truck ran on propane. It was an old farm truck they had converted to run on propane and it basically lived on the farm till I snagged it up in 2008. I even still have the original conversion certification from 1980. It was very happy on propane and I kept it running on that till the only propane dealer near me (who would refill the truck) closed up shop. At which point I swapped it back to gasoline.
Anyway, the point of telling you that is it's common practice on propane converted engines to run a couple stages cooler on Tstats and spark plug heat ranges to help the engine manage cooling since it loses the cooling benefit of a "wet" fuel like gasoline.
With the 165 Tstat, on propane, it used to run at approx 190-195 although it would spike significantly higher after highway runs than it does now. I hadn't really thought much abt the Tstat until this topic came up. Personally I'm pretty happy with the engine hanging around the 180 and above line like it does now. But I also wouldn't mind it at 190-195 since I know the engine's happy there too. Maybe now that it's back on gasoline I wouldn't see such a spike after highway runs if I upped the Tstat to a 180. May experiment a bit with it later this summer. Thx for the thoughts!

 

Thanks for the info. I wasn’t aware that propane engines used a cooler thermostat.
I always heard that they ran cooler in general, but didn’t know that changing T stats was part of it.
Maybe just to open it sooner to keep the coolant circulating better?

And I caught your comment earlier about running at a higher temperature than rated, but wondered if it’s the gauge or if that’s actually what the temperature is.
Do you have aftermarket gauges that tell you exact temperatures?

 

Ya, I really wasn't happy with the OEM guage cluster and vague guages. And I went through a couple used replacement clusters but they just eventually fell apart from age and desert heat so I compiled a custom gauge cluster with AutoMeter guages. Super reliable now and way more informative than the stock setup.

 

Super nice! And yes, much more informative than the stock crappy ones.
All of my other old vehicles had very reliable and shockingly accurate gauges from the best I could tell. But once I got into these 70s full-size Fords, it was kind of shocking to see how vague a representation they gave.
Even my Early Bronco, which used 50s and 60s gauges, actually had numbers and read in a linear form and were proven over time to be very consistent and accurate.

that said, I do have a Dakota Digital instrument cluster that I’ll put in the 79 one of these days.

 

My 2¢ re: FE Edelbrock replacement waterpump.

I have this pump installed on my truck. It’s a great part. Edelbrock fully discloses the fitment issues.

The pump bolts right up no problem. No problem on the alternator side.

The power steering bracket had to be realigned; I increased the spacing between the pump and the engine by about 3/16” (it’s been about a year so I don’t remember exactly). this wasn’t a huge deal for me as the new pump I installed required the adjustment anyway. The adjustment was pretty simple; I used flat washers as shims. Played with the number in the stack until I got it right. Then measured and had some custom spacers made at about $25 each.

I can’t speak to issues with fitting an a/c pump cause I don’t have that.