So i'm in the middle of a b20 rebuild and seem like i keep running into road blocks. I decked the block to get better squish...no biggie right. Well, shaved it 1mm and now my friggen water pump is sticking 1mm above the block surface. Oooooops! I laughed when I saw it...and then I felt like crying! Looks like its back to the machine shop. Figured I'd share my misery.

A little rat tail file work on the bolt holes will fix the water pump problem.
Try it as you go so as not to take too much. This could be a blessing in disguise.
(in terms of a great seal between water pump and head).
--
George Downs Bartlesville, Oklahoma

I was thinking about this at first. Either a file or a rotary sander with 40 grit sandpaper would take that aluminum down pretty quick. I just don't wanna risk it being uneven and then having a crappy seal. I spent a lot of money on machine work to go on and screw it up now. I'll call the machine shop and ask them what they think is best

DON'T MESS WITH THE TOP OF THE PUMP!!
ONLY WORK IN THE BOLT HOLES! Use a Rat-tail file, JUST enough so it comes level.
--
George Downs Bartlesville, Oklahoma

Just the bolt holes huh. Here's the thing i've kinda neglected to add. I placed the head on the block without the head gasket. I'm using the special elring one (93mm bore) because I have b21 pistons installed. The gasket is pretty thick. About .047 when compressed so i'm sure with it on, there shouldn't be any interference with the water pump. I just wanna be absolutely sure before I torque it down and realize that it's still not level. Here's some photos showing the water pump sticking above the deck surface.





I guess I'll just concentrate my efforts on the bolt holes like you said. Thanks for all the help gents

You still gotta have room for the seal rings in there and the water pump should be flush with the top of the block. If you got 2 sets of seal rings, use the longer ones but do NOT let the pump stick up above the block. You want to be sure that NOTHING keeps the head gasket from sealing. (BTDT.)
If you machine the top of the pump your seal ring grooves will be too shallow.
--
George Downs Bartlesville, Oklahoma

+1 to George's comments. I would say that looks a rough old pump unless it's been shot blasted. They usually have a smooth die cast finish. If, as I suspect, it's a pattern pump of eastern European or far eastern origin, it may not be very precise as far as the bolt holes go. If you have your old one, offer it up and see if that fits properly, then make up your mind if you want to mod the new one and use it.

Its been painted dude. I also have a new pump from IPD that sits the same way, 1mm above the block surface.

Not sure I understand this stack-up... I've taken B20 blocks to zero deck height and never had this problem.
--

Gary L - 142E ITB race car, 73 1800ES
BlueBrick Racing Website
YouTube Racing Videos

I'm just gonna make this my rant thread. I mentioned road blocks previously. LOL! Well, the "other" road blocks i'm talking about are:

- First post above
- Timing cover seal does not fit (housing already modified)
- Wrong valve stem seals bought from IPD (not my fault;listed as correct seals)
- Water pump seals wrong o.d. and height, does not fit water pump
- Finally, headers that I bought from Ebay are for use with weber manifold (i'm assuming since they don't line up with the stock intake and have little tabs welded to them) Seller said it was for stock intake.

Ain't that dandy. I've rebuilt countless toyota engines with zero problems. Touch a volvo and i'm ready to blow my brains out a few hours later!

KE,

O.K. - no affiliation etc etc, but Mike D at iroll motors is GREAT! My B20 rebuild went smooth as glass. I was lucky to find an "old-time" machinist who did great work for not so much money. The only problems I have had is not knowing enough to put a spacer between the block and fuel pump; and really having to tweak the timing to make up for the B20E head I used.

Good luck!

Kent
--
Too much iron, too little time

Last March I suddenly heard a loud clatter coming from the B18 in my 66 1800S. That was the start of a two month odyssey once I decided to rebuild the engine. It was two months of stress and searching for parts, one trashed friendship, dealing with a Neanderthal machinist, and almost a thousand dollars in overruns.
But, it's all over now and my B18/20 is a sweet running motor that I enjoy almost every day. There is life after these rebuilds.
If it's not too late to have the engine balanced, do it. Upgrade seals to have a dry motor. If you suddenly have compression you will probably need a starter before long. The list goes on.
IPD seems like a good company but sold me the wrong parts once too often. There are plenty of other suppliers out there.
Good luck.
Bob
66S