Do it yourself it's easy. 6 10 mm bolts and 3 hoses.

 

Not an easy job. Besides removing the water pump, you pull the power steering pump assembly, crank pulley and timing chain cover. You then need to drop the oil pan a little. It's close to changing out a cam shaft without removing the heads.

 

I can reply to this one

I replaced my water pump w/ a Meziere unit back in 2005. It was a GP through Tbyrne, FYI.

Anyway, yes, it is expensive. I installed it myself w/ the directions from that same link. I did all the installing, and let the other half do the wiring Did it in one night, and had no problems.

The LS1 is truly the easiest F-body motor I have ever worked on.

If you are worried about removing your TB and other stuff though, you should probably let a shop do it for you.

 

Okay I finally got around to it. I went as far as lifting the car but found that wasn't really necessary. It was straight forward, the writeup made it look alittle intimidating but when I finally started doing it, I had no problems. I took my sweet time though because I'm unorganized and very cautious so it took me the whole day, It's stil not back together yet either, the new pump is on but I'm going to replace the belts, thermo, and do the TB Bypass while I'm here...

Oh yeah does anyone know how to bleed the system?

 

Besides having had mine off for the head and cam exchange, I just replaced the leaking pump last week. Just bad luck as the pump began to leak about 500 miles after doing all the engine work.

Here's my procedure of coolant replacement. TAKE THE STANDARD PRECAUTIONS OF PROTECTING YOURSELF FROM HOT COOLANT AND STEAM WHEN WORKING WITH AN OPEN RADIATOR AND CAP REMOVAL UNDER THOSE CONDITIONS.

Hook hoses up - fill the radiator with concentrated coolant (not 50/50) if you are replacing your old coolant. If you are re-using your old coolant then you obviously will fill the radiator with your old mix.

Leave the radiator cap off and start the car. Watch the temp gauge and the radiator and check for leaks. Add pure water (or old coolant mix) as the coolant level drops. It won't go down much for a while as the thermostat is in a pocket of air and won't get the actual coolant temperature for a longer time than you will want. There will be a bad lag between the engine metal temperatures and thermostat temp coordination. Keep the radiator cap handy and when the coolant begins to jump out the filler neck, put the cap on to the first postion. What I recommend is watch the temperature gauge and when it goes beyond 150° shut the engine off. Let the engine heat soak for 5 minutes, watch the coolant level and continue to add. Restart the engine and continue this process until it appears you can add no more coolant or the bubbling at the radiator neck will not permit access. The temperature gauge should have reached the 200+ mark by now and your radiator cap should have been cranked to the full lock on sealed position at some point. You might need to let the car sit for an hour or until cool and recheck - re-do. Once it appears your system is flowing and taking no more coolant drive the car, watch the gauge, stop the car, let it cool and recheck your coolant level. Add pure water or your old coolant as necessary.

The other method - much better is to drill two 1/8" holes in the thermostat valve blade. This worked perfectly for me. There was no air pocket or potential engine overheat. I simply filled the radiator with premixed (used) coolant, started the car and continued to add the premix until I had to replace the radiator cap due to flow and bubbling. I drove the car and had to add nothing or next to it. I hope this is helpful.