- Home »
- Catalog »
- Cooling System Components »
- Water Pumps and Conversion Kits
Water Pumps and Conversion Kits
Pontiac V8 Water Pumps and Conversion Kits
Start at the Front — Water Pumps and Conversion Kits for Pontiac V8s
Water pumps and conversion kits is where a Pontiac cooling job usually starts, because on a Pontiac V8 the pump hangs off the timing cover rather than the block. The cover, the divider plate, the sleeves and the pump are one assembly, so changing one of them almost always means looking at the rest.
Butler splits this section two ways: individual water pumps for 4-bolt, 8-bolt and 11-bolt front ends, and conversion and replacement kits that bundle the cover, pump, plate, sleeves, pulley and gaskets so an 8-bolt engine can run the later, better-cooling 11-bolt setup.
Select a Sub-Category
Popular Brands:
More About Water Pumps and Conversion Kits
1. Why this section exists
On most V8s you unbolt a water pump from the block and bolt a new one on. Pontiac does not work that way. The pump bolts to the timing cover, coolant passes through sleeves in the cover, and a divider plate behind the impeller splits flow to both banks. Every part of that stack has to be right for the engine to cool.
| Water Pumps | mechanical pumps for 4-bolt, 8-bolt and 11-bolt covers in stock-replacement and high-volume form, plus Meziere electric pumps for 1969 and later engines. |
| Conversion and Replacement Kits | complete front-end packages, including 8-bolt to 11-bolt conversions and the early-1969 4" to 4-1/2" water pump conversion. |
2. Know your front end before you shop
Count the bolts holding your water pump to the cover. That one number tells you which aisle of this section you belong in.
| 4-bolt | 1955 through early 1963. These engines cannot be converted with the kits on this site, so plan on a 4-bolt pump. |
| 8-bolt | 1964-68 covers on 326, 350, 389, 400, 421 and 428. Replace in kind, or convert to 11-bolt. |
| 11-bolt | 1969-79. Early 1969 engines used a short 4" hub pump; from 1969 1/2 on, the pump is the familiar 4-1/2" hub with a 5/8" pilot shaft. |
3. Building versus fixing
Both paths land here, and they need different carts. A stock rebuild wants the correct pump for the year and a fresh set of gaskets, sleeves and a divider plate. A performance build wants flow at idle and in traffic, which is where a high-volume mechanical pump or an electric pump earns its keep, and often wants the 11-bolt front end regardless of what the engine left the factory with.
Water Pumps Conversion and Replacement Kits
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.