waterpump issue with 90' 302 going with my stock radiator

[meteorwingnut]

Hey there!

things are moving along nice with my 62' finally. Just pulled apart a 1990, Mustang 302 and am converting to carburation.
in the meantime..ordering some parts.

question: I have the stock(re-cored...went to 3 row) brass radiator in my car. (62' S-33) It has BOTH the inlet AND the outlet on the passenger side of car.

that said, will hoses have to be going in crazy directions to get to right side of car when using a 90' water pump that matches my timing cover?

dont the newer water pumps(not the stuff going reverse with serpentine....i am DEFINATELY going v-belts) have a driver side outlet?

does this even matter?

thanks for your help as always!

Mike.

[w2zero]

Yes the new pumps are driver side. You can shop around for hose that will elbow around to the pass side and use a section of exhaust tubing to connect to another rubber hose at the bottom of the radiator. Remember the spring in the inlet hose down there are necessary to keep the hose from collapsing since that is the suction side of the cooling system. You can buy new pumps with pass side inlet but you will need a matching front cover. Then you have to be aware of the need for a slinger washer on the crank snout inside or the cast in place deflector in the front cover to avoid a leaky front seal. It is one or the other but not both or neither. I used a late model pump, 89 Thunderbird and a seventies 302 truck front cover. Be sure to pay attention to the sizes and locations of the front cover and water pump bolts. Also watch out for the match or mismatch on the timing mark and pointer.

[meteorwingnut]

thanks a bunch for the reply! very helpfull. i did get a 302 truck timing cover..turns out thats what the guy before me was using...1979 cover i believe. i found a flow cooler brand water pump that has a passenger side outlet. pricey but seems like it will work?
thanks for reminder about suction side of cooling system and need for spring in inlet hose. awesome!