Swapped a rebuilt 235 out of a '56 Belair into my '50 3100. During the rebuild I installed the short shaft water pump from Classic to allow for proper fan clearance. Before body reassembly, I test ran the 235 for about 20 min and it did overheated (the garage was 95+ degrees). The fan was close to the radiator and extremely close to the balancer. Since the sheet metal was off the radiator had little support. Fast forward 23 months later. I have the truck completely reassembled and cannot install the fan due to interference with the radiator. The fan will also strike the balancer. I installed a bolt in the shaft to hold the balancer in place and this makes the interference problem with the fan worse. I just spent a couple of hours combing thru posts on this topic. Can someone clarify what I think might be my problem/s:
1. My engine is a late 1955 model. My understanding is that there are 2 different short shaft water pumps for this engine, one for a 53-54 and one for 55-61 engines. To obtain max clearance one should use the short shaft pump for a 1953-54 235 as this provides an additional 1”-2” clearance. Is this correct?
2. Should the adapter plate be used with the short shaft pump to eliminate the cooling problem?
3. There were several posts that discussed the pulley diameter on both the water pump and the balancer. I currently have the original balancer & pulley for my engine and use the pulley that came with the pump. Both measure ~ 7” in diameter. Is this OK or will I have a rotational problem?
4. Any other tips to get the clearance I need without moving the radiator?
Thanks
