After replacing the thermostat housing gasket, we discovered a second, more serious leak from the water pump. The water pumps are designed to leak through a weep hole to indicate when the bearing is going bad, thereby inspiring you to replace it (before it fails and something worse happens). Fortunately, the previous owners had left us a brand new one as a spare in one of the buckets. It was easy enough pulling it off the front of the engine, especially with the new mirror I installed on the bulkhead. However, the new pump needed the pulley from the old one, and it was NOT easy getting the pulley off the old or onto the new. The pulley has four threaded holes on the front of it, to use with a puller. The puller is placed against the center shaft, and two bolts are threaded into the holes, pulling the pulley off the shaft. Well we didn’t have a puller, and couldn’t find a reasonably priced one nearby, so with the help of a good friend Pete we managed to finally jury-rig a puller out of a sturdy door hinge–really we just needed a stout piece of metal that wouldn’t bend, and it was a fantastic bonus that the holes just happened to match up to the holes on the pulley. It didn’t go onto the new one easily, either. It needed to slide on 2.4cm, or something exact like that, and I managed to get the first 1.4cm with a hammer and a block of wood (no banging directly on the cast metal, or you’ll crack it). To get the rest of the way, I ended up buying a small vice from Ashby Lumber nearby. I was wanting a vice for the boat anyway, so when I realized this could be the tool I sprung for it. It STILL was a bitch to get on there–I ended up bending the handle of the vice slightly (now I know why every vice on the farm has a bent handle).
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