Friday the 13th

[Darrel Kline <darrelk@domain.elided>]

 I replaced the waterpump on my 1980 Scout today. The plan was a quick R&R
of the pump and then some carburetor and timing adjustments. Of course with
today being Friday the 13th things didn't go as planned. A easy two hour
job (so I thought) turned into a 4 hour job. I removed the hood and pulled
out the old waterpump with no problems and then things got interesting. The
screws that hold the pulleys to the waterpump decided they didn't want to
come out. So out comes the real big screwdriver. Still won't turn. So I
swapped the real big screwdriver for the impact screwdriver and hammer.
These screws aren't moving. Ok. No more Mr. Nice Guy. 3 pound sledge
hammer. A couple of good blows to the impact screwdriver and the screws are
loose. That was fun. Won't need to break out the plasma cutter after all. 
  Everything's going good again. Install the pulleys on the new waterpump
assembly and get it bolted into the waterpump housing (still on the
engine). Time to put the fan spacer and fan on the new pump. Great, the fan
spacer doesn't fit onto the locating pin of the new Napa waterpump. The pin
is about 1/8 inch too long and a little to large in diameter....Thanks
Napa. Ok, I'll just run down to Pep Boys and get a spacer that will fit.
Waste of time...no spacers that are even close. Time to do some modifying.
Took the 4 inch angle grinder and ground off the extra 1/8 inch from the
locating pin. Then used the die grinder to enlarge the hole in the spacer.
Now I can finally bolt it all back together. Good as new now. Good thing I
wasn't trying to do this repair on the trail.  
  Ok. With that off my chest I've got a few questions: What exactly is the
purpose of that waterpump weep hole anyway? Seems the only thing it did was
let my expensive anti-freeze run out of the engine. Glad I finally got that
pump replaced. Looking in my IHC manual there's a procedure for checking
the propeller to pump housing clearance. How critical is this clearance in
the real world? I just made sure the propeller didn't interfere with the
housing. Also, I'm thinking about getting a clutch fan. Hoping it will
improve my gas mileage some.... 1/2 mile to the gallon maybe?  Does anyone
have a part # for the clutch fan?

P.S. Any IH owners in the Colorado Springs area please drop me an email if
your interested in going on some off-road trips.

Darrel Kline
Colorado Springs, CO