TracTuff DIY J Series RWD Water Pump Inlet

When I made the M28 to -16 port adapters I had no plans on making something to hold the water pumps inlet tube; I figured the end-user would get creative and come up with something. After months of requests, I decided to dive into the issue and devise a solution. 

The DIY kit includes everything you need to create a water pump inlet. A block bushing that has a machined shoulder that stops against the block, 1-1/4" counter-bore to receive the 1-1/4" u-bend, and an o-ring groove to accept the OEM crossover tube o-ring. The u-bend is 1-1/4" on a 2.00" CLR. The billet triangle has a 1.290" bore, allowing for some misalignment, as well as slotted mounting holes which give additional flexibility with misalignment as well as accommodate for engines that may have had cylinder head or block work done that affect the deck height.

NOTE: Billet parts are cleaned in a ultrasonic cleaning tank with a proprietary solution just prior to packaging. No prep is necessary. It is important that you add a few drops of oil to your finished products threads prior to assembly to prevent galling. If you are going to check thread mesh prior to welding, be sure to lubricate the threads and clean again prior to welding.

I recommend cutting 6.00" off of one u-bend leg and 2.50" off the other as a starting point. When inserting the shorter leg into the block bushing, you may find that you need to force the bend down, essentially cheating the bend in order to get it to line up with the billet triangle plate. This will help when you remove it to weld... it will stay in place as long as you don't handle it roughly! Be sure to leave the o-ring off until you are finished. When welding this combo together, you have two choices on where the billet triangle gets mounted. You can either have it mounted in front of the belt cover backing plates or behind. The front option is more aesthetically pleasing (in my opinion) but does create a problem if you ever want to remove the inlet. There is no way to slide it out of the block... well, unless you remove the belt, the cam gears, and then the backing plates. Mounting the billet triangle to the backside solves that issue but you may find that screwing in the bolts is a bit awkward. The choice is yours!