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Anyone using one of these?

6K views 22 replies 13 participants last post by  Mad_Max 
#1 ·
I'm considering buying a new high-flow water pump for my SBC and I've narrowed down my choices to one of these:

Tuff Stuff 1449NC

FlowKooler BRA-1773

Stewart EMP-13113

Summit has all three and they range in price from at $75 to $83. About the only difference I could find is the warranty. Tuff Stuff and Stewart offer a 1-year, FlowKooler is 2-year.

I haven't been able to find any bad reviews on any of them. If anyone has knowledge of these pumps, or has a better suggestion, I'd appreciate your info.

Thanks.
 
#6 ·
When I read these threads on forums like this it always amazes me how many things some people go out of their way to over think, over spend and over engineer something only to post later that they have problems and can't understand why.

Sometimes the rule of K.I.S.S. really works the best! :yes:
 
#11 ·
I have a Weiand on my BBC it is a street use pump. Some of the advantages some of use people that overthink things are:

Weiand light-weight, performance aluminum Action-Plus water pumps give a weight saving of 30% to 50% over stock cast-iron pumps. These aluminum water pumps feature a premium quality bearing/seal and have twice the load capacity of stock pumps. WEIAND's exclusive housing counter bore keeps the bearing from "walking" out. All pumps are designed with the necessary bracket bosses and water connections to fit popular street applications.

Water Pump Features:
Lightweight aluminum
CNC Machined
Heavy Duty Shaft with 5/8" Pilot
Six-Blade stamped steel anti-cavitation impellers for maximum water flow necessary on street applications
100% leak tested
New twisted snout design for updated style
Permanent mold castings for improved appearance
Extra Heavy Duty 1/2" thick pulley hubs for maximum durability are dual drilled to fit more applications
Zinc plated back covers and hardware for long life and corrosion resistence

I also overthought my radiator, thermostat, transmission cooler and fan shroud. It allows my car to run 11.20's and idle in traffic on 100 degree day at 180 degrees.
 
#12 ·
Hmmm..... :rolleyes:

Same here!

Only I do it with a water pump proven to be so good that GM used it in millions of their engines that went 100's of thousands of miles for many decades. Oh and I'm going high 10's with that same pump. ;)

:D :D :D
 
#14 ·
They also used cast pistons, crappy heads, weak valve springs, weak rear axles, etc., etc. Do you use all those parts also? If you do keep it quiet. All the aftermarket parts companies will go broke cause they can't sell their over designed parts.
I had a friend years ago that refused to install an aluminum intake on his car. Why because the engineers spent millions of dollars developing the cast iron q-jet intake on his car. His thought process was if GM spent that much money no other company was going to spend more money to develop a better intake than GM did and only sell a few thousand of them. Yet for some reason I chose a Edelbrock intake and heads. As a matter of fact other than the block and fuel pump push rod my entire engine is made by an aftermarket company. If I had had the money I would have used an aftermarket block also.
I personally think that 99% of all parts put on cars are a compromise and are developed to fit as many cars as possible at as little cost to the manufacture.
It seems weird to me that you would choose a water pump as the “part” that other people are foolish for switching. GM made camshafts, lifters, intakes, carbs, distributers, valve covers and exhaust manifolds. If I said I was going to put a stock camshaft in my engine I would never hear the end of that foolishness. But my God to switch an aftermarket water pump “OH MY LORD WHAT HAVE YOU DONE”!!!!!! You know GM made that pump with the greatest of care and switching to an aftermarket pump is pure foolishness!
:D
 
#16 ·
I can say the Tuff Stuff products are first hand quality. I would lean to that pump. I have also used Edelbrock water pumps with great success.

sometimes Warranty, is not a deciding factor to quality. In the parts business a extended or even a lifetime warranty is nothing more than a cover for a cheep part. This situation is found in the brake parts business by chain part stores. You can get a set of lifetime warranty brake pads for 40.00 or a set of Quality OEM Bendix for 75.00, the Bendix will last another 75k like the OE Stock pads, the parts store brand with the lifetime warranty will need to be changed 3 times for the same mileage. So with labor and hassle and now your rotors are crap, did you save money?


IMHO
Al

I could answer the question like most do, "I run a Edelbrock on mine, and it's perfect" It's 6 years old with no problems!
Giving the statement that if you don't do as I do your a moron! :devil:
 
#19 ·
I used to run a factory iron pump on my car with the OE Brass/Copper radiator when I first purchased my car, but last year in East Texas we started getting heat into 108+ coupled with high humidity, that thing would overheat fast! I eventually went with a Stewart 31203 water pump and a griffin aluminum radiator and haven't seen my gauge go over 180. Personally I would recommend the stage 2 aluminum Stewart, but if you aren't in a very hot part of the country I don't think it would matter quite as much.
 
#20 ·
Thanks, everyone, for the helpful suggestions, spirited debates, and good-natured humor. I always learn something from you guys and I sincerely appreciate your willingness to share what you know with the rest of us. One thing I learned from reading your posts and a few others is that I need to check a couple of other things to positively rule out a couple of other potential causes before I start spending money.

Thanks again,

Gerry
 
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