Input please

Did the power steering pump have to be removed when you changed the water pump? I would guess that removing the steering pump and bracket is going to be the only way to get the broken bolt out.

-jim

No - I never removed the PS at all nor touched it aside from loosening the adjustment bolt to get the belts off.

Good grief - it never rains but it pours.....

The bolt slides thru the steering pump body it seems, but there is a spacer nut on the back - too thin to get a wrench on and it is holding the power steering pump to the bracket. It is frozen on with time. If I try to spin it out, it locks the bracket tighter to the pump body.

I have the alternator and steering brackets off, but I cannot get the damned nut loose. If it were loose I could spin the bolt thru and replace it. And of course the head is snapped off so I cannot just break it loose.

The power steering hoses are frozen to the assembly under the car so it will be really tough to try to get all that loose and remove it all.. Quite frankly I am reluctant to try that in case I really mess something up....

What to do? (Be gentle - I am no expert and admit it) .......

| | PS Pump| ===|[]=======

Usually you have to loosen the pivot bolt also. Is the pivot bolt the one that is broken?

I don't understand your description. It sounds like you removed the pivot bolt and the bolt that adjusts the belt tension and you removed the belt. So now the PS hoses are all that prevents you from removing the PS pump from the car/ Is that what you are saying?

The bolt that is broken passes through the bracket, through the PS body and then thru the bracket again and has a nut on it. Is that Right?

Have you been able to turn the nut on the end of the broken bolt either way or is the nut welded to the bracket? You say it is frozen on with time but if you spin it out it locks the bracket tighter to the pump body. That doesn't make any sense. Does the nut turn or doesn't it? Have you cleaned off the grime so that you can clearly see what you are looking at?

-jim

vot bolt and the

of time. I fI can leave them on and fix the problem at hand as is, it would be great.

a lock washer. In addition it has a thinner nut that acts as a spacer betwe en the pump body and the inside of the support bracket. It is Seized on the bolt. I tried to depict that in my ASCII diagram.

either way or is

ou spin it out

early see what

*** The inside bolt acting as a spacer is the one that turns and is seized and locks the bracket to the body. Of course I have cleaned off the grime. I have even taken a torch to it to try to loosen it but I have to be careful in such close quarters.

I have a replacement bolt, nuts and spacers. I will try the torch again when I have a little more time to devote to it. Failing that, I will try get in with a dremel tool cutoff bit to slice that nut off. Unfortunately there is not enough clearance to get a hacksaw on it.

water pump? I

pivot bolt and the

PS hoses are

e of time. I fI can leave them on and fix the problem at hand as is, it wou ld be great.

and then thru

and a lock washer. In addition it has a thinner nut that acts as a spacer b etween the pump body and the inside of the support bracket. It is Seized on the bolt. I tried to depict that in my ASCII diagram.

t either way or is

you spin it out

nse. Does the

clearly see what

When I say it turns - I have the end nut off and there is no head on the bolt so the entire bolt turns with the 'spacer' nut seized on between the pump and the support bracket.

water pump? I

bolt and the

hoses are

of time. I fI can leave them on and fix the problem at hand as is, it would be great.

and then thru

lock washer. In addition it has a thinner nut that acts as a spacer between the pump body and the inside of the support bracket. It is Seized on the bolt. I tried to depict that in my ASCII diagram.

either way or is

you spin it out

sense. Does the

clearly see what

A torch doesn't sound like the best solution. Are you sure you are not misinterpreting how this is assembled? Your description still isn't clear. Are you saying that when they assembled this they inserted this bolt thru a hole in the bracket , thru the body of the pump, threaded it thru a thin spacer nut , then it went thru another hole in the bracket. And then after that put a washer and nut on the end?

I have a SBC w/ PS from this era. The 2 bolts that hold the bracket to the pump just go thru the bracket and pump. There is no spacer nut. But this is without AC so if yours has AC the bracket may be a little different. Is this what it looks like:

I also don't understand what you mean when you say that turning the nut and bolt "it locks the bracket tighter to the pump body". Are you saying that one of the hole thru the pump is threaded? I don't think that is possible.

Is there enough threads on the end of the bolt to put 2 nuts jammed together? Tighten the 2 nuts against each other and then you have something to put a wrench on to keep the bolt from turning. Remove the other bolt that holds the bracket to the pump if you haven't already done that.

-jim

Is this what you have?

Click on the technical diagram to see a blow up drawing of the assembly. I don't see any spacer nut.

-jim

jim wrote:

water pump? I

be the only

pivot bolt and the

PS hoses are

what you are

of time. I fI can leave them on and fix the problem at hand as is, it would be great.

and then thru

a lock washer. In addition it has a thinner nut that acts as a spacer between the pump body and the inside of the support bracket. It is Seized on the bolt. I tried to depict that in my ASCII diagram.

either way or is

you spin it out

sense. Does the

clearly see what

description still isn't clear. Are you saying that when they assembled this they inserted this bolt thru a hole in the bracket , thru the body of the pump, threaded it thru a thin spacer nut , then it went

pump just go thru the bracket and pump. There is no spacer nut. But this is without AC so if yours has AC the bracket may be a little different. Is this what it looks like:

and bolt "it locks the bracket tighter to the pump body". Are you saying that one of the hole thru the pump is threaded? I don't think that is possible.

Tighten the 2 nuts against each other and then you have something to put a wrench on to keep the bolt from turning. Remove the other bolt that holds the bracket to the pump if you haven't already done

In message , jim writes

Here, we would call that a lock nut, because when tightened together, they lock onto the thread.

nd of the bolt to put 2 nuts jammed together?

Yes - I can put two nuts jammed together on the end, but when I tried that, they just spun - besides. I am unable to get at that nut to secure it...

Not a lock nut I don't think. Maybe this will better explain the situation....

In message , " snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com" writes

the bolt to put 2 nuts jammed together?

Well heating it isn't going to help much, if there isn't the room to get a hold of it.

I don't think that is the way it came from the factory.

If you can't get a good hold of the spacer nut then cut the bolt with a hack saw. You may have to put a small wedge of wood between the pump and bracket to get the .04" gap you need to fit a hack saw blade between the bracket and the spacer nut. You should be able to cut thru a 3/8" bolt in about five mins. with a good blade. After the bolt is cut the pump will lift out of the bracket.

If you need a spacer in their on reassembly in order to make it fit securely use a washer for the spacer.

-jim

the bolt to put 2 nuts jammed together?

I don't have wrenches to fit a plain white screen either.

e end of the bolt to put 2 nuts jammed together?

Probably need some metric wrenches

he end of the bolt to put 2 nuts jammed together?

Yes - That is the next plan, but I can't get a hacksaw in there because of the shape of the bracket and pump housing. I think I will see if I can get in there with a cutoff wheel on a Dremel tool. It may take a bit though....

It didn't make sense to me either. With a spacer it would be a piece of cake to remove... (Unless they had issues with that bolt shearing and this was a fail-safe mechanism).....

end of the bolt to put 2 nuts jammed together?

The pump really can't go anywhere if the bolt broke. All it can do is bang around inside the bracket.

Is this picture the way yours is set up?

-jim

on the end of the bolt to put 2 nuts jammed together?

ut the bolt with a

Yes Jim it is very similar to that. Not sure it is 100% exact, but close. Here's a pic off corvette central site.

Bruce

>

It looks like The 63-74 pump had a hole thru the pump and a long bolt like in your drawing you posted earlier. the 75-82 had a short bolt in front and a stud in back. Both pumps will fit in the same bracket. The stud on the back side of the pump does have a thin nut on it. The thin nut is part of the stud so it is not going to unscrew. If you look closely that bracket hole next to the thin nut is slotted. That slot is so the pump can slide out of the bracket without removing the stud with the small nut. But you do have to unbolt the bracket from the engine to get the pump out of the bracket.

Are you sure the bolt in front is broken? It could be just missing. This is what the stud in back looks like:

-jim

Well - would that not make a whole lot more sense? I was wondering how that bolt head would snap off. You could very well be correct. - I did have the pump off the engine, but I must profess I did not really try too hard to move it out of the slot being so fixated on this damned nut and seeing a long bolt running thru it all from the diagrams. It looks like there are two similar stud assemblies - one for the support and another for the tensioning guide.

It is entirely possible - I ran into something of a similar nature last year when I replaced the rad support bracket which had rusted out. The 76 was a 'transition' year and early models had the 63-75 support and later models in that year had the 77-83 I think it was. This could be a similar situation.

If your thought is correct, that would explain the 'spacer' and the lock nuts on the back of it and how a bolt head in that position could snap off! Maybe as you suggest, the damned thing just fell out!. I'll check on Monday since I do not think I have a proper bolt to try to thread in there.

Thanks a bunch for your research and interest and keep you posted!!!.

Bruce

Well - Jim - thank you very much!

I dug around today and it took me awhile to get it, but it was a bolt missing! I had to take it out of the bracket to make sure it would thread and you have to get it *just so* to start properly, but my car is running again without sounding like a run away garburetor. Best of all, old Betsy lives to ride another day!

I was pretty leery the way it sounded with the banging - it really did sound like a major engine issue....

Many thanks to you and others who so freely share their expertise with folks like me who, while not exactly mechanically challenged, certainly don't have the experience base others do.

Thanks again everyone!!!!

(Now to see why the carb secondaries do not seem to be operating and a tune up, and some front end parts to tighten up the steering, and... and... and ....)