I'm in the midst of resurrecting my old 261 and have found most every part I need easily...except for a water pump. I ordered one for a truck 261, but the flange for the pulley and fan is 1/2" too far out. I was able to drive the flange down the 1/2", but the bearings and stuff also moved. Anyways, into the tuition pile...
Looking again on Rock auto at various 235 and 261 applications and the only WP they sell is assembled with the flange at 5 1/4". For my pullies to line up it appears I need to find one with the flange set at 4 3/4". rock auto does have listings for the Canadian Pontiac 261...but offer no water pumps.
Has anyone sourced a correct 261 waterpump anytime in the last few years? If not I'm going to order another wrong one and use a press to push the flange down further. Obviously I'd prefer an off the shelf option.
I've got one if you're interested. I bought it in the 1990's for my 57 Chevy with a 235, but sold the car in the early 2000's. It's rebuilt in a box, here's a few photo's. Let me know if you need some measurements.
I measured from the flange where it mounts to the engine to the face of where the fan mounts, it's 5-1/4". Is it possible you're using the wrong pulley?
Guys, firstly thanks for the quick response. I double checked the pulley alignment with the old water pump and the crank pulley and the water pump pulley line up perfectly with the 4 3/4" flange stock pump. I have no idea why the Pontiac 261 pump is oddball, but it is. Having the new pump with the 5 1/4" flange setting here I can verify the only difference is how deep the pulley flange is set. The impeller, casting, and everything else is all good.
My 261 is unmolested, the car was wrecked in Jan '67 and has sat since. I know the pulley is stock and correct.
Carl, who sells Autoline pumps retail? Apparently I need a P192...
I killed my new pump last night trying to make it work. lol
I stopped by Napa on the way home. Asking for Canadian Pontiac stuff there was frustrating...
Star Chief?
Bonneville?
Chieftain?
Ironically Rock Auto knows about Canadian Pontiacs and has parts listings for almost everything...but Napa is blind to our beloved Canadian Poncho's.
So, I asked if an Autoline PN# would help. Not really.
For the hell of it I asked for a water pump for a 57 Chevy 235. I'm thinking I'll use my ball joint press to alter the flange height this time (instead of brute force and ignorance like last time...lol). The parts guy asks me if I know which flange height I need? Suddenly I'm feeling more optimistic! Choices are 5 1/4" or 4 1/8". I ordered the 4 1/8" flange height water pump which will be here next Wednesday. I'm thinking I can use the flange from the water pump I wrecked to create a spacer and get my offset correct.
