Hey guys. We're finally on the road and the truck is doing well. We are having trouble controlling the heat on long hills and I think the water pump is part of the problem.

So, seeing how truck water pumps are NLA. I was looking at doing the swap to a car pump. I see the Mumert spacer, but I don't have a way to get one on the road. We will be at Summit in Reno tomorrow to get a replacement fan.

Can I install a car pump and a generic Ford pulley (that summit might have in stock) of some kind and have the pulleys line up? The water pump is running off the groove closest to the block.

I don't think there is a pulley that will line up but you will be able to shim the pulley, if you get one that is a little too deep.  Shim kit are available, https://www.summitracing.com/search/part-type/water-pump-pulley-shims?PageSize=100&SortBy=Default&SortOrder=Ascending



Lawrenceville, GA

I think I used a pulley from a '66 or '68 mustang...was a little smaller diameter so it pumps more...I guess.  Mine's not a truck engine, though.
What made a huge difference on My 292 was going to a Napa thermostat...the part number is simply "6."  It's 170 degrees and solved all my problems.    

The thermostat that Deyomatic mentions is THM6.  It is a 170 degree wide mouth thermostat that  shoukl give you better flow.


54 Victoria 312;  48 Ford Conv 302, 56 Bird 312
Forever Ford
Midland Park, NJ

You may want to check your belt width with the pulley you are purchasing

Stopped at Napa and tried to get the #6 thermostat, but not in stock. We limped into Summit Racing in Reno and I was able to get the Robert Shaw #304 160° high flow thermostat. We got the right 3,000 CFM fan to fit our shroud so that can go back on, a stock replacement GMB car water pump and 68 Mustang 5.85" pulley. Tape measure on the parts counter suggests it's the same distance as my truck pump.

Belt width looks the same! Good tip, lots to go wrong here.

We got a motel next to O'Reilly's and I'll swap everything early in the morning when its cool, and hit the road again.

Today was brutal. 300 miles stoping every 5-10 miles to pour water over the radiator to cool it back down. Luckily we never really got hot and over heated, we were able to pull over and get it back under control and rolling again.

Poor Jess was cooking with the heater full blast.

Great pics.  Thanks for sharing.

You do not mention it or I simply missed it whether your current water pump has the 5/8” or ¾” pilot.

The ’63 & ’64 pickup/truck engines used a ¾” pilot at the front of the water pump versus the earlier models using a 5/8” pilot.  The fan belt spacing for the ¾” pilot pumps is different than that on the 5/8” pilot pumps.  To the best of my knowledge, the ’62 and earlier water pumps are interchangeable between the cars and pickups/trucks assuming the truck w/p is not using the upper fan mounting bracket on the pump itself.  The ’54 model pumps are smaller in diameter and not easily interchanged with the later model pumps.

With that being said, the car and pickup/truck dampers are the same in that the generator belt location is the same.  When switching from a ¾” pilot water pump to a 5/8” pilot water pump, then use the car water pump pulley as that will restore the fan belt alignment.  The Mummert adapter does allow the small pilot water pump to be used in place of a large pilot pump while retaining the original large pilot water pump/fan pulley.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Our current pump is the 3/4" piloted truck pump(engine is all 62-64 truck from what I can tell). No top fan mount.

We are trying to do exactly as you describe. Car pump, and got a car pulley. I'm heading out the hotel parking lot with new parts and jelly donut and will report back if it all works!

I appreciate everyone's ideas and experience. This is a big enough challenge without having you guys to bounce ideas off of!

Gentlemen! A heat felt thanks for the ideas and advice.

New car pump installed. Old truck pump had a bad bearing. Installed the new summit pulley and high flow #304 thermostat and 3,000cfm fan and shroud.

Just idled uphill in through Reno and the highest we saw was 187° and it quickly dropped as soon as we started moving. It stays just under 180° pretty constant.

Thank you all so much!

Spoke too soon. As soon as we got on the highway up to speed the temp climbed to 210.

I'm almost out of ideas. Thinking it might have a head gasket starting to go. Going to to a hydrocarbon test and test the radiator cap.

Just to sum up.

New 4 core aluminum radiator
New 16" Electric Fan 3,000 CFM in good shroud
New GMB stock pump
Smaller Car Pulley
New #304 Robert Shaw thermostat.

It's fine until it gets under load, then the temp starts climbing.