Over the next few days whilst waiting for the new water pump to arrive, I removed the old one. This of course involved draining the cooling system, but I was able to save most of the coolant by using some empty 5-litre containers.
To remove the old water pump, I had to remove the fan pulley. This proved a tight squeeze because the recently-fitted Kenlowe fans were getting in the way, but I finally succeeded. Using an old cardboard box, I then drew a rough sketch of the outline of the water pump, and then punched some holes around the edge showing the location of the bolts. As each bolt was removed, it was placed in the relevant location in the cardboard. It's important that the bolts go back into the same holes from which they were removed - they're different threads and lengths. If they're replaced incorrectly you could end up blocking a water pathway.
I was then able to gently remove the old water pump and clean up the gasket surfaces on the engine. This was not the only thing I had to clean up. As the old pump came away, I found lots of blueish gel-like material inside. This may have been caused by the previous owner mixing different types of antifreeze, or it may have been that the system was not fully drained prior to commencing the rebuild:
I got rid of this stuff by inserting a hosepipe into one of the radiator hoses and flushing the engine until the water ran clear. It was inside the pump as well - no wonder the poor seal had failed!
The new pump arrived, and was reinstalled without much fuss. Here's the new pump:
Finally the radiator hoses were reconnected, and the cooling system refilled. Now at last I could start the engine.
Would it start properly this time, or would something else blow up?
Tune in next week for the next thrilling episode!
Only kidding. With the application of the choke, the V8 burst into life. It felt a bit of an anticlimax, really.