The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Another 235 water pump question - HELP

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

I had a 235 in my '50 3100 using my original 216 short shaft water pump along with the pump relocation plate and the original 216 fan. I had no clearance problems. I've replaced the 235 with a 261 transferring the pre mentioned parts and adding a bolt on the crank for the dampener and again no clearance problems. Are you using your original 216 radiator or a replacement? A replacement might have a thicker core.

I checked and the radiator is the original. When I did the swap everything with the 235 bolted right up. I can get everything installed but the fan is tight against the radiator. I'm pretty sure the fan is the correct one.

When I originally put my 37 togather I could not use a stock fan with a shortened pump for the 57 235 and ran a electric fan,later I installed the adapter and now can us a stock fan.

Just contacted the Bolter that sells the adapter plates on eBay. According to him a plate will not solve my problem and cannot be used with my current set up (short water pump). He also informed me that the balancer/pully set up I have (original to this engine) should not be used due to overspeed. Can anyone tell me what balancer/pully I need to prevent this issue?

To say it will not solve your problem is not quite right. I just meant you can not use a 1955-62 modified pump with my adapter.
If you use a 1941-52 pump, designed for a 5/8" belt or a 1953-54 pump, designed for a 3/8" belt with my adapter you will solve your clearance problems.
As far as balancers you can use any 1941-62 except 1955-62 passenger with this setup, depending on the belt width you want.

A mid-'50s Ford 292 pulley is just right for the cut down later pump. That's the way we used to do it before there were specialty shops. I can't remember what the diameter is though.

I used daves adapter plate with 1953-1954 car water pump 3/8" pulley.I would have to measure the balancer,I know it's from a 235 truck engine.My 235 is from a 1956 car.


Tim

Pre '68 Dave: Thanks for the clarification on the adapter. I'm heading to your listing to order one now. To bowtietim I read one of your previous posts and you used a NAPA 58-126 pump with the plate? This is the 53-54 pump that worked for you and should be what I need for my 235. I'll be stopping at NAPA tomorrow after work. I really appreciate the information you've provided.

As for the balancer can I use one off a 216? I have one on the original engine but the pulley diameter is 5/8". Or it appears any balancer off a 235 truck will do. I'm assuming (bad word) that the 235 truck balancer/pulley was smaller than the passenger car. If anyone knows the proper pulley/balancer size please let me know. Thanks.

The 1941-52 216 balancer with the 5/8" pulley will work fine as long as you use a 1941-52 pump, it has a pulley that accepts a 5/8" belt.

It you decide to run a 1953-54 pump, it will have a pulley designed to run a 3/8" belt.

If you run a 3/8" belt you can use a:
1953 216 balancer
1953-54 235 passenger balancer
1953-62 truck balancer. The 1955-62 truck balancer is designed to run a 1/2" belt, but by running a 3/8" belt on it the belt runs deeper in the groove, in affect reducing the pulley diameter to where you want it to run to get the correct water pump speed. (1953-54 already has the correct diameter).

The water pump I listed is for the 3/8" belt,it won't work with a balancer that takes a 5/8" belt.Pre'68 dave has all the information listed above.It's easier to do the adapter plate conversion with the grille removed.

Good Luck!

Tim