201 vs. 218 water pump kits

[Ivan_B]

Does anyone know if they are interchangeable? I know that the pumps are. However, not sure about the kit (because I would like to keep my original pump). The kits for 201 are expensive and few in between, while the 218 for Dodge trucks appear to be available 🤔

Here are a couple of examples:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/275658478581

https://www.ebay.com/itm/372961827210

 

Also, the ones for the inline 8 Chrysler look similar 😁

https://www.ebay.com/itm/196535198772

[andyd]

Maybe I was young & silly(well, I was 50 yrs ago...now just silly) but I wouldn't use one of those repair kits now that new water pumps are available........I remember cursing those kits and the fibre washers that tended to break........Ivan....your choice to keep the original pump, me?, if I was to keep it it would be as a paper weight on a shelf, the new ones have sealed bearings, better seals & no more playing with grease and improved more modern impellers.......my understanding is that the only difference between the kits is the style of impeller...........my Oz 2 cents worth......Andy Douglas    

[Loren]

In my college days I had a 49 Special Deluxe Club Coupe. One day the water pump started to leak so I got a rebuilt one from Pep Boys or some such place.

I changed it and about two years later the pump leaked again. In those days I never threw anything away ( still true sometimes ) so I got the original out of the trunk and gave it an inspection. There was a grease fitting on it I hadn’t noticed before. So I took a wire brush to it and cleaned it up then shot some grease into the fitting.

I reinstalled the old pump and surprise! It never leaked again!

The replacement pump went back in the box and assumed it’s position in the trunk….just in case.

[TodFitch]

4 hours ago, Loren said:

In my college days I had a 49 Special Deluxe Club Coupe. One day the water pump started to leak so I got a rebuilt one from Pep Boys or some such place.

I changed it and about two years later the pump leaked again. In those days I never threw anything away ( still true sometimes ) so I got the original out of the trunk and gave it an inspection. There was a grease fitting on it I hadn’t noticed before. So I took a wire brush to it and cleaned it up then shot some grease into the fitting.

I reinstalled the old pump and surprise! It never leaked again!

The replacement pump went back in the box and assumed it’s position in the trunk….just in case.

On my drive cross country I had a pump start to leak just after leaving Tucson on my way to Reno. I’d left my spare parts at my folks in Tucson so had no spare with me. A shot of grease every time I got gas was enough to keep it from leaking on that leg of the trip (Reno, SF Bay Area, San Diego and back to Tucson) roughly 1,000 miles.

 

I went through a lot of water pumps until I got wise. Went through meaning having them rebuilt as the 1933/34 pumps are different on the water inlet to the block and not directly interchangeable with the 1935 and newer ones. I had been setting the belt tension too tight and the plain bearings (bushings) wore out fairly rapidly with all the side loading.

 

Once I figured out that I only needed enough tension to keep the belt from slipping and with that old style wide belt the weight of the generator was enough to tension it sufficiently I stopped needing to rebuild the pumps (I have two one on the car and one rebuilt on the shelf ready to install).

 

I don't know about all the rebuild kits, but for the style with bushings I think they are all the same 1933 and up. Been a while (decades) since I rebuilt one myself, nowadays if/when I need a pump rebuilt I send it off to Gould. 

[Ivan_B]

7 hours ago, andyd said:

I wouldn't use one of those repair kits now that new water pumps are available

I am conservative, so I like to keep things as original as possible

My old pump with a grease fitting is still working, I was just looking for a repair kit for when it goes out. I suppose that it is possible to retrofit the old casing with some generic new parts from modern pumps, as well, but this is too much work if the original kits are still available.

 

6 minutes ago, TodFitch said:

Once I figured out that I only needed enough tension to keep the belt from slipping and with that old style wide belt the weight of the generator was enough to tension it sufficiently I stopped needing to rebuild the pumps (I have two one on the car and one rebuilt on the shelf ready to install).

That's what I have going on under the hood, right now. The old belt makes a squeaking noise, though... I have to put a new one, I bought, one of these days... The only down side of having a loose belt is that you cannot turn the engine by the fan 😅