Water pump solutions

[Ian Williams]

I had a 750cc Coventry Climax FWP Charles, that had a water pump very similar to an Imp but I found it difficult to make it work on a std seven. Keep the suggestions coming though, pictures of successful installations would be good, particularly if anyone has used kart pumps, they look promising but I do not have an example to mess about with at present.

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You generally need a water pump when you try to make your engine produce more power, so the water pump is related to a chosen route of development and therefore should be somewhat period.
Old cars overheat in modern cities and traffic and that's not due to a wilful desire to go faster, merely a function of the congestion in the U.K., hence the tolerance for electric fans.

Charles

That's exactly it. When I had my perfectly standard spec P Type Lea Francis that had no water pump or mechanical fan it was impossible to take it out in modern town/city traffic without overheating. The electric fan I fitted enabled me to use the car as you would normally expect to. Friends living in central London with a vintage Alvis 12/50 similarly specified from new could only take it out on Sunday mornings as at any other time, the traffic congestion was such that it would overheat before they'd gone any distance at all. Again, an electric fan solved that. You just have to remember to turn them on before the engine overheats. Turning them on when things are boiling is too late and achieves all but nothing. 

Steve

Thanks for the explanation Charles and Steve it now make's more sense to me why the VSCC would allow electric fans. I hate the way they look on a vintage car but can see there may be few other options in some situations.

[Duncan Grimmond]

I fitted an in-line pump in the return hose on my BSA trike to overcome the excess heating of the rear cylinder. IIRC it was very discreet, colour and diameter matched the hose, the only giveaway was the wires.

[Duncan Grimmond]

    Perhaps  my memory misled me... after a couple of hours scouring and re-arranging photos I found the one I was looking for. Not that discreet after all.

[Nick Lettington]

There are a number of mechanical marine raw water pumps that I looked at when considering the cooling arrangements for my Silverstone. Sherwood make one that i have seen fitted with a V pulley on a racing seven. I bought a similar used Yamaha marine engine waterpump for £30 off eBay... I did consider running one of the shaft driven ones from the end of the cut-down dynamo... Then bought an aquaplane pump from small ford spares. Still collectiing parts and ideas... One day I will put it all together!

[Ian Williams]

Yes some raw water pumps look like they may fit the bill but has anyone actually tried one?

[Nick Lettington]

 Sherwood make one that i have seen fitted with a V pulley on a racing seven.

I'm fairly certain Pete Shepherd's racing special (built by Andy Shepherd) has the Sherwood pump. It is a nicely sorted car. I may have a photo. It is a better bore size than a kart pump. The Aquaplane pump much used in the 50s is essentially a 30s ford export pump and apart from the angles of the inlet/outlet very similar to many of the raw water pumps.

[Jackson]

To see some "cost effective" water pumps, go to www.carbuildersolutions.com, part nos. WPSM, WPSM2, and WPMAG.
Also sell other interesting parts.
I add I have no contact with this company, apart from a satisfied customer.
Clive

[Nick Lettington]

Hopefully photos to follow. All are extracted from info shared on the Speedex exchange, but I apologise if anyone is precious about their copyright... Still didn't find a picture of the Sherwood pump on Pete's car...


Ford Export (e93a) 

  ford export.JPG (Size: 23.97 KB / Downloads: 262)

Raw water type 

  Raw water.JPG (Size: 46.78 KB / Downloads: 261)

gokart 

  gokart 1.JPG (Size: 37.81 KB / Downloads: 265)

Hillman Imp 

  hilman imp.JPG (Size: 30.77 KB / Downloads: 261)

[Nick Lettington]

  s-l400.jpg (Size: 17.43 KB / Downloads: 192)
Whilst lying around recovering from man flu i have had a brief dalliance wth a certain internet auction site. If i hadn't spent a small fortune on an Aquaplane one, I might take a look at one of these... 

It is an external water pump for a mini one ref 506788 availble second hand from £20 so ideal for the parsimonious sevener. It's fitted to a mini too... So almost acceptable?

Just a thought... and no... I haven't seen one fitted. I'd love to know if anyone has.

[Charles P]

Ian

A crude sketch of my arrangement. 
I built it to suit a Cozette blown car with the water pump on the front of the mag timing case, driven by the mag drive shaft. I replaced the whole mag drive shaft with a new one made in stainless.
The core element is the use of a modern ceramic seal, sourced from Chenderit in the UK. Once I'd found that and had the seal design drawing (below as well) the rest more or less designed itself. The impeller came from James Gunn who has a pattern. Housing parts were cast from scratch.
The seals and bearing need to be scrapped when you remove the outer timing cover which is the major downside. If I was a better engineer I'd work out a different approach but you do what you can......

   

   

Charles