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While my ZF is out for a rebuild (they haven't moved it in a month...boo hoo) I've been looking for things to do.
A shiny new high volume aluminum water pump sounds good! I've found four different ones. Most claim 30% more flow. One claims 30% more at low RPMs and normal flow at higher RPMs. One claims to block off a passage for more direct flow.
Is there a "preferred" pump for the Pantera? Is the pump really going to improve cooling, or is the improvement so slight that it is a waste of time?
I have a stock radiator with larger "pusher" fans. I live in Colorado and traffic is becoming a problem. The car has come close to overheating on a few occasions, during the summer, but generally does OK.
Thanks, Mooso.
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I went with the Weiand, it does block off the bypass. It works well out here in the california Central valley during the summer and I am very satisfied with it. It's a well cast piece of Aluminum, with Beefy Shaft and bearings. And wait until you compare the weight to the Cast Iron piece you will be pulling off. Have a good time with it! There's not much better than stripping "Dead" weight off of Your Pantera! Marlin.
Typically, a water pump in a street car moves water.....period. An aluminum pump is 1/3 the wt of the stock iron pump, and some, such as the Weiand, have no warm-up passage, which extends the engine warm-up in cold weather but frees one to use any old Ford thermostat. It may also lower your operating temperatures 10-15 degrees. Some water pumps have a plate welded on the backside of the impeller, which improves the flow characteristicas favorably, and one has a curved-vane impeller rather than the flat steamboat-paddlewheel style. All this stuff costs more, improves pump efficiency and probably won't make any difference visible on your water temp gauge, which in any case reads wrong unless you calibrate it in your particular car. At low speeds -e.g-traffic- the fans are usually the problem since most Panteras do not overheat on the road, only at very low speeds. What you're trying to do is generate a 25mph breeze thru the radiator & more water flow won't fix that. In most Panteras, pusher fans of any type won't be adequate, either.
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