I decided to install a motor plate on my truck. But I've been wondering what do I do with the water pump pulley? Won't the plate push the water pump out the same thickness as the plate(1/4")? Same with the tensioner? I was planning to mill down the alternator bracket or something...that should be the easy one. I'm just worried about the water pump pulley and the tensioner. Any advice or suggestions? It's an LQ4 with truck accessories.

 

Most anybody running a motor plate has either gone to an electric water pump or a remote mount water pump. If you are running full accesories(power steering, a/c) I really wouldnt bother doing motor plates, they will be a headache with all that junk. Its also going to space the power steering pump away from the head, get a manual rack or remove the pump and loop the hoses, a/c should already be removed if you are running a full drag truck, the cheap route is a remote mount pump or yoou can get the one that mounts right to the block.

 

Thanks, that's what I needed to know. I was just about to buy a motor plate setup...and it sounds like it would have opened up a whole new can of worms.

 

Yea no kidding haha. Motor plates are cool but its really for a full race car, if your still running p/s and a/c im assuming your car sees street time.

 

No, this one only has waterpump and alternator and no street time. But I really don't have the funds for an E-pump right now.

 

not to hijack the thread.

who has the cheapest/most efficent remote water pump setup?

 

The downside to a remote setup is the price of fittings and hoses. The blocks are $80-$95, then usually another $60 in fittings, then you need hoses made to go to the pump. It gets pricey but I like it better than the block mounted pumps.

 

60.00 for fittings is very cheap. Some of the 90, 60, and 45 deg -16 or -12 fittings are that much each. We have done a lot of these if you are interested in assistance.

 

Oh yea easy. Even the straight fittings are $18 ea from jegs and you need four just for the blocks in the motor. I bought the blocks for 3/4 npt, they don't look quite so pretty but at $10 less per fitting I'm going to give it a shot.

 

I wish I would have thought it over more...I already blew my "motor plate" money on solid mounts, sparkplugs, and carb accessories. I did a little research and I think I could have made it work with a stock F-body pump by using water pump spacers milled to the right thickness to line up the pulleys. Maybe I'll do a motor plate when I build the new motor in a few months. I've been told by a bunch of people that I'm gonna ruin my motor by running solids...so I may be building the new motor sooner than I planned.

 

I don't see there being an issue on my ls1 water pump with the added thickness of the motor plate because the pulley is so wide, the belt would just ride a little further rearward on it. I would probably have to have the tensioner bracket milled a little for the thickness of the motor plate, but that's the only obstacle I've seen so far for my swap.