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- Timing Cover Plates, Sleeves, and Accessories
Timing Cover Plates, Sleeves, and Accessories
Pontiac V8 Timing Cover Plates, Sleeves, and Accessories
Small Parts, Big Leaks — Timing Cover Plates, Sleeves, and Accessories for Pontiac V8s
These are the small parts that decide whether a Pontiac front end seals and circulates. The water pump divider plate splits coolant to both banks and sets impeller clearance; the timing cover to water pump sleeves carry coolant across the joint and are a classic seep point on any 1969-79 engine.
Butler stocks divider plates for 1964-68 and 69-79 covers in stainless and zinc coated, steel and stainless sleeve sets with rubber o-rings, timing chain cover alignment sleeves, timing cover to intake wedge spacers and o-ring seals, and a complete install kit.
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1. Divider plates
Because the Pontiac water pump mounts to the timing cover, the divider plate behind the impeller is what actually splits flow to each side of the block. Clearance between the impeller and that plate is what builds system pressure, so a pitted, bent or wrong-thickness plate costs you cooling even with a brand new pump.
| 69-79, stainless | fits all Pontiac 11-bolt water pumps and will not rust out the way a plain steel plate does. |
| 69-79, zinc coated | the same plate with a coated finish, also for all 11-bolt pumps. |
| 1964-68 timing covers, stainless set | sold as a set for the earlier 8-bolt covers. Note that it may need modification to fit the aftermarket 8-bolt reproduction cover. |
2. Sleeves and o-rings
Two sleeves carry coolant from the timing cover into the water pump on 1969-79 engines. They are cheap, they are behind the pump, and they are the reason a lot of Pontiacs drip after a pump change.
| Steel or stainless, 1969-79 | sold as a pair, each sleeve with a new rubber seal o-ring, replacing GM part number 9796347. Use them with 1969 and up timing covers and stock-type water pumps. |
| Alignment sleeves | timing chain cover alignment sleeves are sold as a set and locate the cover to the block. Remember that some reproduction covers are not machined with the counter-bore these sleeves need. |
| Alignment studs | water pump alignment studs hold the plate and pump while you start the bolts, then get pulled and replaced with bolts once the rest are in. |
3. Intake joint and install kit
The top of the timing cover seals to the intake manifold, and that joint has its own hardware.
| Wedge spacer | the Pontiac timing cover to intake wedge spacer is offered on its own or as a kit with the stainless steel bolt. |
| Timing cover to intake o-ring | Butler's seal measures .980 outside diameter, .635 inside diameter and .250 thick. |
| Install kit, 11-bolt 1969-79 | stainless divider plate, steel sleeves, timing cover gasket, fuel pump gasket, timing cover to intake o-ring, timing cover seal and two water pump gaskets. Use it on a new cover or to refresh the cover already on the engine. |
| Heater nipple block-off caps | 5/8" and 3/4" caps for engines being run without a heater circuit. |
None of this is expensive, and all of it is buried behind the water pump, which is exactly why it gets skipped and exactly why it comes back as a seep on the garage floor a month later. If the front of the engine is coming apart for any reason, replace the plate, the sleeves and the o-rings while you are in there, and check the plate for flatness and pitting before it goes back against the cover.
Not sure what your Pontiac needs?
Call our tech team at 866-762-7527. Tell us your engine, heads, car, and power goal, and we will put the parts together as one combination that works.