Hi guys, I am currently building a new ProCharged 383 Stroker engine (Dart Block) to go into my 88 Trans Am GTA and I am trying to find the best water pump to go with my set up.

Will the standard Trans Am pump keep up with the engine?

Do I need high flow pump?

Any help and recommendations would be greatly appreciated

 

Stock works just fine but i tend to use aftermarket aluminum pumps.

 

Agreed on the stock pump.

It's usually the other parts of the engine/cooling system that are the culprit in terms of inadequate cooling. Too small a radiator, insufficient airflow (either due to blockage, too small a fan, no/incorrect fan shroud, etc), wrong thermostat, incorrect mix of water/antifreeze, too lean fuel mixture, too much timing, etc.

The flow is regulated by the thermostat anyway, so the pump mainly needs to produce good block pressure, which the stock pump is more than capable of.

 

I always used stewart stage 2 pumps on my builds.

used them in my 383, 400” twin turbo, and now 555” twin turbo bbc. They always worked well for me but are somewhat pricey

i stayed away from electric ones after having one fail unexpectedly and another goin bad with alittle corrosion in the coolant system from sitting over winter. Pump was too sensitive to it and i was running mostly distilled water with water treatment and some coolant. But not totally 50/50 like most do due to concerns on the racetrack

 

Thanks guys, it seems that the stewart stage 2 pumps get mentioned a lot so I shall look into them I think.

 

I have a Flowkooler pump on my Vortec 383 in my Express van. Very happy with the way it cools even with the travel trailer behind it combined with a 34x19x2-5/16 core aluminum radiator and dual 16" Flexalite flex wave fans on a proper shroud. Has a march 25% underdrive crank pulley and the march water pump pulley is slightly larger than stock too. Water pump is about 30% underdriven. I know a 3rd gen will never fit a radiator that size but its also not having to cool a ~500 hp engine moving around 12,500 lbs.

With the stock belt ratio the stock pump worked fine but it ate alot of power. With a stock pump and underdrive it cooled fine while driving even towing but would heat up a bit with the a/c on idling around town at slow speeds (~210°F). The Flowkooler + Underdrive stays right at 180°F and still saves alot of power compared to the stock belt ratio and pump. The Flowkooler pump is basically a stock pump with a high efficiency billet impeller.

 

Are you saying you actually felt a seat of the pants gain in power (or rather, reduction in water pump power consumption)?

 

Runnin Stewart here as well, with be cool radiator. Soo far soo good. Aluminum surprised me how light it was

 

Stock rad with a cheap electric water pump (proform I think)
Stock rad fans as well
Street driven...

 

 

Why respond to an old post ?