350350

So I was putting a third water pump on my LT1, and I decided to make an attempt at keeping the weephole from destroying my third optispark.

I got a brass nipple (heheh, I said nipple) and ground off one end so that it was a light/short press fit into the weep hole, then tapped it in with some JB-Kwik around the outside of the weep hole. Then I ran some washer fluid hose from the nipple off to the side, down the frame rail.

Hopefully this will keep at least the water pump from killing the opti.

Thoughts? Seemed like a good way to spend $6 at the time...

bowtiedad_z28

Its been done before and is a great mod.

Injuneer

https://www.camaroz28.com/forums/lt1...p-hole-659969/

350350

First Al Gore beats me to inventing the Interwebz, and now this??? Story of my life!

Ahhh well. My pictures are good though huh? (Lie to me if you have to...)

slick1hunting

Pictures are very nice. One of the comments on the link suggested clear tubing as often the weep dont make it out the hose. Might be a good idea but I would question what shape a clear tube would be in when pump begins to go. Shoot my original pump and opti was still going at 150,000 when I blew a head gasket. Posted from Camaroz28.com App for Android

Injuneer

Good to see how you did it.... I'm pretty sure this have been done for about 15 years. Don't mean to diminish what you did. It's a good reminder for all the LT1 newbs that aren't old and grumpy like I am

I just saw a post on another LT1 forum where someone was raving about a flimsy little aluminum shield that bolted to the bottom of the water pump, commercially available for (can you believe it?) $80. Your solution is obviously way better than something like that.

350350

I did make the effort to route the hose so that it's "all down hill" so that it should still weep out and become noticeable.

350350

Heck yeah I'm willing to sell mine for only $49.99!!!

2QUIK6

How about a belt driven waterpump now and get rid of those darn gears and leaky driveshaft?? Mine has been sitting for around 8 months now after fixing it once and it still leaks and sounds like there may be gear issues now, guess no one is making the gears aftermarket either yet...probably will be switching to an electric pump someday when I feel like working on a car again Driving a new car has its pluses now.

Fatdog2

Hi Injuneer.Sorry for bringing up the dead posts(It is Halloween after all),but I was wondering about this opti shield thingy from ---Opti-shield.com
and the installation page ---opti-shield.com/opti-shield-installation.html
It's now $35.00 shipped.I did loose a waterpump on my old bird when the car started to crap out while driving and I shut it down ,had it towed to the mechanic and had a new GM waterpump put on and the opti was saved thank God.Anyway my question is by removing the two bottom bolts from the waterpump is that going to create any problems with gasket integrity (leaks).Going into uncharted territory here.But I can see the two bottom bolts clear as a bell.Unlike the egr valve.What are your thoughts?Many thanks.And why is Shoebox selling his car?

Injuneer

Loosening the two bolts to install the shield will not compromise the gasket.

Note that the photo in the "install" shows a Corvette water pump. The F-Body pump has an additional connection to the right side/above of the bolts in question. Should not affect the install.

Also irritates me when someone is selling a 4th Gen LT1 product, and incorrectly labels it as the "LT-1". Plus, they only mention the Corvette LT1 years, ignoring the fact there is a 1997 F-Body version of the engine. Yeh, I know - picky, picky, picky.

bw_hunter

I don't think the gear drive has anything to do with it...the seal that fails here is the same one that fails in a belt driven pump. The real issue is the fact that the distributor is right under it and sensitive to coolant.

I know all the negatives to having an electric water pump...which I have and like since I live in Florida...but there is a positive. The freeze plug that is used to seal the engine side of the housing covers the weep hole so while the pump may fail it isn't going to drip onto the Opti.....

Chimera96

Doing the "divert weep hole coolant" mod certainly helps prevent coolant from getting on/in the Opti. Obviously something that did not show up on the drawing board when GM developed the Optispark distributor which would be mounted behind the water pump.....that had its weep hole then directly aimed at the Opti and serpentine belt

Bought my 96 SS new and under factory warranty (3 yr/36k mi) the dealership replaced about 8 WP & Optis because of weeping WP's. 500 mi after the last AC Delco WP was installed warranty ended...but the weeping WP saga had not....until...I went EWP. That was 17 years and 92k miles ago and EWP still working. YMMV

Yeah it to will crap one day but IMHO has proven to be good for a DD with several 600 mi L.A.-Vegas round trips. I keep a spare in the trunk as if it does, and will, die it will likely be in bum **** somewhere but I can swap in a new one in minutes with a small wrench

Does the EWP have a weep hole, yes. It is bottom front of the pump...not in direct firing line of the Opti

When I gutted the stock WP housing my opinion is if AC Delco had spent maybe $.05 instead of $.02 on the seal it would last longer