Hot Rods SBC Short Water Pump Recomendation Please

Hey all,
Looking for your advice for a replacement short style SBC water pump, need nothing fancy but of good quality and performance for a mild 350 in a '46 Ford Tudor I'm building.
Been looking at Rock Auto options and they have anything from US$20 up.
Initially looking at the Gates 41306 and the AC Delco 252581, both are similar but the landed prices in Australia are AU$80 - Gates and AU$106 - AC Delco. The Gates has a better price obviously but is there any advantage stepping up to the AC Delco or something even better. I'm sure that they're all made offshore these days, just need something that will be trouble free/reliable.
Thanks in advance.

 

I've never had a problem with any short GM pump,new or remanufactured,except once the rear cover bolts were never tightened at the factory and it leaked when I installed it.I always check those now before I put them on.Other than that they all worked fine.

 

It's what's inside that makes a difference. Some impellers are better than others. I doubt you will know what is in your choice until you open it up.

 

I do the same thing. The pump on my 355 came from Cardone on eBay, so far so good with 13k miles on it. How do you sell a water pump, shipped free across the country for $18 and make $$? This was a new pump, not rebuilt.

 

I had good luck with the speedway aluminum one... Cheap

 

check out FlowKooler water pumps, revised impeller for better slow speed water movement
Summit sells them. been using them on the last 5 builds anf worth the 90 bucks.

 

AC DELCO part # 252-581

 

Stewart... Heavy Duty internal parts

 

I replaced a Gates with a Flow cooler and saw no difference in how cool my car ran.

Gary

 

Check, probably too "fancy" though.

 

Thanks for your advice so far.
Here's the story, I brought this car in from CA to Australia a while back with the SBC conversion done and it had a short aftermarket aluminum water pump fitted. I've been setting up new engine accessory bracketry recently and I found that the water pump pulley was forward of the crank pulley by ~1/4".
Short pumps should be 5-5/8" tall and this aluminum one was ~5-7/8" tall and it doesn't appear to have enough space to press the hub any deeper so consequently a new pump seems my best option.
The engine is a mild 4bbl 350/T350 combo so I imagine that any standard replacement style pump should be suffice.
Being from Down Under I'm really just unfamiliar with what are reputable brands and quality products these days.
Thanks again for any help that you can offer me.

 

Stewart times 3

 

Guys, the Stewart brand looks great but it's really out of my budget now, especially with getting it Down Under.
Look how much the local supplier is asking.
https://www.stewartcomponents.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=60_70&product_id=80
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/254440089085?hash=item3b3dcfa5fd:g:dzIAAOSwQLZeFD04

 

Why not put a spacer on the crankshaft pully.

 

31coupe If you can't press it on any more, take it off and machine it down 1/8" then try pushing it on further. I've done that before and your belt alignment may not be that bad. There is no guarantee that a new pump will be better. Like dirt Said a washer behind the 3 bolts holding the pull on may also work. Lastly machining the back of the WP where it bolts to the block will also do the trick. Just make sure you have the room between timing cover and back of WP. Good Luck.

Pat

 

You may have a corvette water pump. They are not the same length as a SWP

 

Never had luck with any parts from rock auto. They be name brand but they are second rate parts

 

Thanks for those comments.
At first I was going to make a crank pulley spacer but I wanted to make everything standard so that if the water pump ever does need replacement and the new one is the correct factory depth I'm not having to modify the accessory spacings to suit it and especially if that replacement has to happen a long way from home one day.
Rock Auto lists all '66 327" - C10, Belair and Corvettes with the same assortment of part numbers yet I have read elsewhere that Vette's had a different pump height because of their engine mounts or something to that affect.

 

Short waterpump's were all the same height. The difference was, the C1 Vette's had the front motor mount sandwiched between the block and the waterpump, (causing pulley mis-alignment) which caused the need for the spacer behind the harmonic balancer, to bring the pulley's back into alignment, on C1 Vette's only. What the aftermarket puts out as far as casting's nowadays, that's a different story.

 

There are spaces for crankshaft pully,
and water pump.

 

Thinking of stepping up to the AC Delco (GOLD Professional) over the Gates (Standard Replacement) for the sake of $20. It all sounds like corporate promo-sales BS anyway.