Is it worth the effort to change over to an electric water pump. I have a 350 TPI, so what kind of gains should i see from this mod. Also what all goes into doing this swap.

 

Never having done it before, I would say that you would have to remove the current pump, reroute the serpentine belt and you should be done. That and channel some power to it.

Big question is WHY? I know you lose some parasitic drain but if this is going to be a street car, you will at least need to monitor your temp gauge or have a warning light hooked up to sound an alarm if it stops working. It does not take long for a meltdown to occure.

Electric pumps are great on race cars because they tear down the engine every now and then. Will you?

I'd go with a good pump like Edelbrock and be done with it. They are supposed to flow equal amounts of water to each head.

 

I would not go the Electric Water Pump route on a street car. Its not worth the problems that could result.

 

Lots of LT1 guys use the Meziere pump with little or no problems on the street. It's a common mod for them - easier too. The stock pump is not belt driven. It just bolts to existing housing.

You might see 5HP?

 

LT1 guys run them all the time because the stock pump on an LT1 is driven by the cam. Changing to electric is cake for them. On a 3rd gen, the water pump pulley is the center of everything. With a v-belt system you could just run them all directly off the crank, but with a serpentine system you would need to add at least one idler pulley to route the belt in such a way as to get enough contact area between the belt and the accessory pulleys. Otherwise they'll all just slip and you won't have power steering and your battery will die.