disassembled the entire cooling system sans water pump, THUROUGHLY flushed radiator... after pressurizing with plugged ports i found what i first thought was part of the hose that blew up previously but it kinda resembled some black windshield sealant... put it all back together - started car and heard a grinding noise coming from the water pump pulley -- pulse the throttle and i saw SPARKS! looked at its origin and noticed the outer edge of the pulley was contacting the lock nut on the altenator belt tensioner (new belt) released the trension and got the same result... got a flashlight and noticed the SAME black stuff from the radiator was being used to seal the water pump to the block!!!

OK here's the question: Could this crap be the culprit in allowing the water pump to sit not so flush to the block or is this a blown pump bearing?

Also, looking at new water pumps on Groton i Noticed that alll the pumps came with seals and gaskets... but the they also sell the JUST the seals and gaskets... this mean the water pumps hardly fail but the gasket does?

Thanks in advance