Water Pump Parts Questions

[Kevin in NJ]

I have been sorting through my water pump parts. I have a kit from A&L that my brother just bought at Hershey.
The shaft with pinned impeller was ground to size and very nice and I do not know who made it.
The small parts were all bagged with Bratton's labels.

I will start with the front bearing felt retainers. The 2 repro ones are on the left. The others are were taken out of WP's. The originals are much thicker gauge metal and have a very clear 90 degree edge that is flat. The repros are a much thinner metal and flair out.
I believe the thicker type are originals since a bunch had them. I threw away the ones that were rusty or damaged on removal.
My question, is the thicker ones the type found on factory WP's?

Packing nuts and packing. So on the left you find a zinc (?) packing nut that is unused and looks like the originals, just not all buggered up from being used. The packing is lead packing the is new unused.
The right 2 pieces are the Bratton's items. I must comment that the bushing I have has a seal at the rear so it is leakless. I intend to also have a functioning packing. The nut is made of aluminum and is well made, but I will use the zinc item. The packing is too small in length and the packing almost bottoms out before it is engaged. I feel one is kind of useless and I plan on using the lead packing cause I have it. Unless someone gives me reason not to use the lead.

The bearing. The one in the middle is the one that came from Bratton's. It is unmarked and a bit of a leaning tower of Pisa. You can see the left has a gap at the top while on the right the tops are kissing. Given the play in the holder holes I doubt it affects operation, but I note things. I have used items and new ones that all have the rollers measuring good and have no surface issues.

Finally, The bearing race. It looks thinner then the others I have so I measured and it is thinner. I have 2 that measure .030, one at .029 and the modern one is .028. The used ones look OK, but they clearly have been used. Not sure if I should reuse them or use the new item. I would like to hear thoughts from the peanut gallery on this one.

I have already checked the balance and shape of the late 31 fan that I have. It fits tight on the taper. Still need to lightly paint it one of these days.

Thanks!

[DaWizard]

Kevin, the only problem I can foresee is that if you use a seal on the rear of the shaft at the impeller, and packing in front you could put too much packing into the seal and negate the seal usage. Other than that, good luck, use what feels good.

[Tom Wesenberg]

When I rebuilt my pump in 1994 the only thing I replaced was the rear bushing, square thrust washer, and 2 lead packing rings. I reused the felts, bearings, race, and felt retainers. I had a very slow drip until I unscrewed the brass nut and put Mystik JT-6 red grease around the lead packing rings. For the next 20 years it never leaked a drop and I only greased it a few times, and checked the nut maybe 3 times, and only gave it a light snug. Since they now sell a brass bushing with a double lip rear seal, that's what I use for added protection, but still used lead packing rings with grease on them. This is the most reliable leak free pump I know of.