Dear Fellow Brickboarders,

May this find you well. To ease water pump installation, I used:
(a) gasket cement to stick the gasket to the pump body
(b) Volvo brand seals and gasket
(c) a bottle jack - and a piece of wood, cut to fit - to lift the pump gently and so to compress evenly the top seal.

I lightly and evenly snugged all pump fasteners, before using the jack - very slowly - to raise the pump and to compress the top seal.

On the underside of the pump shaft housing, towards the base (closest to the engine block), there is a small rectangular "platform". Against this platform, I put the end of a board (19" long, 2 1/4" wide, and 3/4" thick; narrowed to 1" wide, 9 inches up from the bottom). Board length will vary according to the type of bottle jack used.

The 1" x 3/4" top cross-section of the board lets the board fit, so it is perpendicular to the pump shaft's axis. As the jack's piston rose, it lifted the pump straight up, by about 1/8". This compressed evenly, the top seal. The jack held the pump, while I tightened bolts and nuts. I used a lug-nut pattern - tightening opposing fasteners - to compress the gasket evenly.

The results: no leaks and no back strain.

Hope this helps.

Yours faithfully,

Jay E.