Re: 15 hp Rude 1979 Water pump kit
Yes - I'm absolutely positive it wasn't there.<br />The seal insertion area of the pump has no witness marks of ever having one pressed in. <br />No, I didn't lose it. That would have been impossible, since I don't think you can even remove the seal once it is installed. <br /><br />There IS a witness mark on the driveshaft where there once was a seal riding on it and wore a definite groove. This motor has probably had several pumps installed, but apparently the last installation was incomplete.<br /><br />I DID install the seal on the new pump, and My-My-My, the pee hole squirts better than it ever did. Of course the previous performance may have been due to the poor job the previous owner did of installing the copper tube up at the base of the PowerHead. The hole in the bottom of the block was nearly plugged with the old rubber grommet/seal. <br /><br />That is probably why the previus owner removed the thermostat - overheating...and that is probably why the motor was completely wore out - forcing me to rebuild it to preserve the money I already had into it. <br />Yes completely wore out! rings, pistons, rods & wristpins, crankshaft, and had to machine the bores to .030 over.<br /><br />The pump seal question came up because I decided if I was going to spend all the cash and time to rebuild this thing it would be absolutely nuts to not replace the pump while I was at it...
