My '88 GTA TPI 350 needs a new water pump. Are there any brands recommended to get or stay away from? I will call NAPA and Advance Auto, but I know they usually have different brands to choose from.

 

The brand new pumps at Advance are really good. Made by ASC I think

 

Great! I've got one of their ASC HDs on order. The description said "reverse flow" I think. Is that right? A friend of mine works there, and he said the Cardone brand pumps come back a lot, so he steered me in the direction of the ASC.

 

Yes the 88 and up with the serpentine belt system use a reverse flow design.

 

Reverse rotation, technically.

 

Thanks for the help. I have two more questions. Looking in my service manual, I see 30 ft-lbs is the spec for the four water pump to block bolts, but I do not see a spec anywhere for the four bolts that hold the pulley onto the pump. Does anyone know what they should be?

I did a search and have read a few differing instructions on coating the bolts. I have read to use the RTV on the bolt threads (pump to block), and I have read to put a little thread locker on the bolt threads. On my own, I was thinking of putting anti-seize on them. In one of the threads I read, it said the bottom two bolts pass through the coolant passage. What is the correct thing to use on the bolts?

Would a little threadlocker be fine for the pulley to pump bolts?