Marcie -- do you know which hose to the water pump it is? There's a big hose which goes from the pump, above the alternator, to the bottom of the radiator. Then there's a little hose (actually a pipe at the pump end) which comes out the back and goes rearward under the exhaust manifold to the firewall. This carries coolant ('heatant') to your inboard heater core. Sometimes that will leak at the back end of the water pump. Check out if you can see which hose, and where, it's leaking. It may be a simple case of tightening a hose clamp. Finally, there's a compression gasket between the water pump and the overhanging front edge of the cylinder head -- I find that gasket the single most problematic leak source.

If you get your mechanic to do a timing belt and seals job on this, while everything is apart, it might be a good idea to replace the water pump at the same time -- cheaper labor in the long run. Also, if you don't know the history of the car, I'd have the upper and lower radiator hoses replaced (the fat ones) and might as well throw in a new thermostat at the same time. Thermostats cost around $10, the big hoses cost ~$15 apiece, and the water pump costs around $40 or $50. So you're looking at ~$100 in parts and an hour (tops) of labor for a bit of piece of mind.

Good luck with your '87. I really like mine.

Rob Kuhlman