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Welding to water pump

Snowracer

Snowracer

Well-known member
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Jun 25, 2020
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Need to convert my BBF water pump to AN fittings. would be nice to just weld a fitting to the lower hose connection but from what i can find the stock pumps are cast iron. so am i asking for trouble welding a steel fitting to the cast pump? i know for welding knuckles or diffs its best to use the right wire/rod and pre heat and slow cool. but not sure how well i can pre heat the water pump with out messing up seals ect

felt like this was a newb question :homer:
 
Snowracer said:
Need to convert my BBF water pump to AN fittings. would be nice to just weld a fitting to the lower hose connection but from what i can find the stock pumps are cast iron. so am i asking for trouble welding a steel fitting to the cast pump? i know for welding knuckles or diffs its best to use the right wire/rod and pre heat and slow cool. but not sure how well i can pre heat the water pump with out messing up seals ect

felt like this was a newb question :homer:
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I don't think I would even go there on a cooling system.

That said...What about a NPT tap or die?
 
CarterKraft said:
I

I don't think I would be scared of a brazed on fitting
Click to expand...
Wouldn't because of the preheat needed to weld to cast, the seals and poss bearing get fucked doing that?

I would think pulling the waterpump apart before then rebuilding it be the best way, however I am no welder at all
 
Lilyota said:
I don't think I would even go there on a cooling system.

That said...What about a NPT tap or die?
Click to expand...

Threading the inside of the water pump is my back up plan. just havent measured yet to see what will fit ect while i do have a weld bung already
 
Buy an aluminum water pump to start off.

And in more detail buy a modular pump with the part housing the bearing is removable from the part that bolts to the engine.
 
Why not drill out the water pump inlet or outlet for a press fitted AN bung? One of the LS super charger kits does this for the upper water pump outlet(not AN fitting).

I think you are over thinking how much pressure the water system is under ;)

FWIW, you have to be pretty carefull on the sizing. To much interference and you can crack a water pump housing:homer::shaking:
 
crispins said:
Wouldn't because of the preheat needed to weld to cast, the seals and poss bearing get fucked doing that?

I would think pulling the waterpump apart before then rebuilding it be the best way, however I am no welder at all
Click to expand...
I mean its designed to be 200+ degrees all day long.
I would think I could keep the seals a tolerable temp or just remove the drive al
l together.
 
PAE said:
Buy an aluminum water pump to start off.

And in more detail buy a modular pump with the part housing the bearing is removable from the part that bolts to the engine.
Click to expand...

being a bbf the aluminum pump options are very limited and $$$
 
Lil'John said:
Why not drill out the water pump inlet or outlet for a press fitted AN bung? One of the LS super charger kits does this for the upper water pump outlet(not AN fitting).

I think you are over thinking how much pressure the water system is under ;)

FWIW, you have to be pretty carefull on the sizing. To much interference and you can crack a water pump housing:homer::shaking:
Click to expand...
doing a press in fitting with maybe an oring would be a good options. could drill the pump and do a set screw maybe?

and you are right i for sure forgot that system is low pressure so im probably overthinking it
 
CarterKraft said:
I mean its designed to be 200+ degrees all day long.
I would think I could keep the seals a tolerable temp or just remove the drive al
l together.
Click to expand...

that was my thought as well as running 200+ all day so could hand torch the lower inlet and weld it and should be ok?
 
Snowracer said:
that was my thought as well as running 200+ all day so could hand torch the lower inlet and weld it and should be ok?
Click to expand...
I think I could.
But if you want a guarantee just pull the guts out, water pumps aren't very difficult to rebuild.
 
Snowracer said:
doing a press in fitting with maybe an oring would be a good options. could drill the pump and do a set screw maybe?

and you are right i for sure forgot that system is low pressure so im probably overthinking it
Click to expand...
The super charger didn't use an o-ring between the water pump and the press 90 degree fitting. It didn't leak at all.

OTOH, when I tried to do an AN press fitting, I got the one that was too large(aftermarket vs OEM water pump)... pressing the fitting in cracked the water pump:homer: Fortunately, I had a competent welder near me who fixed it.
 
Maybe this would work for the needed application, if there is less heat produced when welding aluminum than cast iron and less warping of the casting as well.

665.0coupe said:
Granted this one isn't a cartridge style, but $150 doesn't seem to bad to me.

Water Pump
Click to expand...
 
PAE said:
Maybe this would work for the needed application, if there is less heat produced when welding aluminum than cast iron and less warping of the casting as well.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily, aluminum can take a lot of heat to weld, because it transfers heat so well.




Also, brazing an AN fitting to cast iron just sounds like an oxymoron in its self :laughing:

It would probably work perfectly though.
 
Looks like some of them come threaded so you should probably just drill and tap for that so that when you wind up replacing it in 5yr you aren't stuck cobbling shit together in the parking lot.

Screen Shot 2022-03-11 at 7.54.56 AM.png


Edit: Are you talking about the radiator hose connection or the heater core connection?

For the radiator hose I would drill/tap it to the closest thing you can get an AN adapter for. Availability of adapters in large sizes is probably gonna force your hand here.


Tiha said:
Nah, 6011 downhand. LOL
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Is downhand supposed to be harder? I generally have the best luck running 6011 downhill and 7018 uphill.
 
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arse_sidewards said:
Is downhand supposed to be harder? I generally have the best luck running 6011 downhill and 7018 uphill.
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Any position can be hard or difficult if you pick the wrong rod.

6011 is the best choice for up or down hand, all position really, but it seems like very few guys take the time to set their current correctly so you see some pretty nasty, horrible, goobered welds.
Just because you selected the right rod for the job doesn't mean you are capable of doing a good job. Using 6011 can really seperate the welders from the posers. LOL. So I guess for me it is kind of an inside joke. I am more of a poser, but I get great penetration. LOL
Downhand is never ideal or first choice but some jobs require it and when I say downhand I mean straight verticle down.

Rods like 6013, or even 7018 are pretty forgiving and easy to get a nice looking weld out of them. But not a good choice for overhead or downhand.
 
autoplumb.com

AN Water-Neck Conversion Adapters

an fittings, an radiator adapters, an hose ends, 20an thermostat housing, 20an radiator adapters, an hose, npt to an adapters, stainless steel an brake fittings
autoplumb.com autoplumb.com
We just used these on a friends rig and they worked great, but you gotta follow the instuctions carefully.
 
arse_sidewards said:
Looks like some of them come threaded so you should probably just drill and tap for that so that when you wind up replacing it in 5yr you aren't stuck cobbling shit together in the parking lot.

Screen Shot 2022-03-11 at 7.54.56 AM.png


Edit: Are you talking about the radiator hose connection or the heater core connection?

For the radiator hose I would drill/tap it to the closest thing you can get an AN adapter for. Availability of adapters in large sizes is probably gonna force your hand here.
Click to expand...

im talking about lower rad house inlet. stopped and picked up some fittings last night and looks like a -20jic to 1 1/4npt is my best bet

sd2AV9wE4FWfQ8x1kHcz81WlthlNCxpuCZXmX3xBxt0g=w2400.jpg
 
They are made in aluminum too...weight savings and high flow........
BBFL-WP.jpg
 
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