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izzy_Britton · 02-17-2016, 02:44 AM

Ok so i have been doing a LOT of reading and such about the different water pumps available.

I have an 03 suburban engine that will be going in my 86 C-10. one thing that i had sort of planned on was using the suburbans mechanical? fan which is attached to the water pump pulley. if i am able to stuff the engine in the bay in the right spot i will not need to modify the fan shroud for this to work properly, or at the very least not need to modify it much. however the trucks as we all know have a left side upper radiator hose and i personally think it is kind of dumb to install a 4 foot upper radiator hose (ok. this may be a bit of an exaggeration) simply because the dumb inlet is slightly right of center on the engine.

i had planned on using a custom radiator with both inlets positioned on the right side to accommodate this situation, but i am not thrilled at the prospect of paying big bucks for a custom radiator. so the new thought to me is is that maybe i could get away with using the camaro or ls3 vette water pump.

The L99 or LS3 water pumps both feature left hand inlet ports allowing for a slightly shorter upper radiator hose.

So to the question i have been getting at: NEITHER the LS3 or L99 water pumps appear to have provisions for the mechanical fan attachment, and rightfully so. BUT i do see that the pump and housings are of coarse separate parts and i am wondering if i can install the actual PUMP assembly from a truck into a L99 or LS3 housing to allow for the fan to be bolted to the pulley?

does this make sense?

I do realize the difference in pulley spacing and the L99 being on the truck spacing vs. the LS3 being car spacing would require the water pump spacers that are so commonly available.

of coarse the odd bit is that i believe that on my 03 Suburban the fan is held in place with 4 bolts while the newer ones are held in place with a single centrally located nut?

has anybody done this or know specifically what will or will not work? conjecture is great but without parts in hand some questions simply cannot be answered.

thanks in advance.

Izzy

02-17-2016, 02:44 AM	#1
izzy_Britton Registered User Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Nor-Cal Posts: 632	L99 LS3 Truck Water pump question Ok so i have been doing a LOT of reading and such about the different water pumps available. I have an 03 suburban engine that will be going in my 86 C-10. one thing that i had sort of planned on was using the suburbans mechanical? fan which is attached to the water pump pulley. if i am able to stuff the engine in the bay in the right spot i will not need to modify the fan shroud for this to work properly, or at the very least not need to modify it much. however the trucks as we all know have a left side upper radiator hose and i personally think it is kind of dumb to install a 4 foot upper radiator hose (ok. this may be a bit of an exaggeration) simply because the dumb inlet is slightly right of center on the engine. i had planned on using a custom radiator with both inlets positioned on the right side to accommodate this situation, but i am not thrilled at the prospect of paying big bucks for a custom radiator. so the new thought to me is is that maybe i could get away with using the camaro or ls3 vette water pump. The L99 or LS3 water pumps both feature left hand inlet ports allowing for a slightly shorter upper radiator hose. So to the question i have been getting at: NEITHER the LS3 or L99 water pumps appear to have provisions for the mechanical fan attachment, and rightfully so. BUT i do see that the pump and housings are of coarse separate parts and i am wondering if i can install the actual PUMP assembly from a truck into a L99 or LS3 housing to allow for the fan to be bolted to the pulley? does this make sense? I do realize the difference in pulley spacing and the L99 being on the truck spacing vs. the LS3 being car spacing would require the water pump spacers that are so commonly available. of coarse the odd bit is that i believe that on my 03 Suburban the fan is held in place with 4 bolts while the newer ones are held in place with a single centrally located nut? has anybody done this or know specifically what will or will not work? conjecture is great but without parts in hand some questions simply cannot be answered. thanks in advance. Izzy __________________ WHO_DCTC - Wifes 05 Z-71 Build - Now defunct as she decided she wants an Escalade too Cream Puff - LS'd Square - Slow going on the back burner Tripple Threat - 3 Wrecks for the price of one build thread Project Delongdium - Step-Sons Plastic Clad 2003 Avalanche - DONE and Delivered.