VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Mechanical - Engine, Trans, etc '32 vane oil pump

My '32 's oil pump is off so I thought I'd check the vanes for wear. Can a worn vane be obvious to the naked eye ? All looks fine inside, just like the picture in the parts book. Oddly there was NO gasket on the cap's mating surfaces as the book depicted. If I could find one or if not, make one, would you guys recommend putting one in ? Thanks !

The wear is not generally on the sides of the vanes but on the ends. Originally they were a bit rounded (matching the inside of the pump housing) and 1/4 or so as wide as the fat part of the vane. The gasket is approximately the thickness of a piece of notebook paper. I use copier paper to replace the gasket. In over 40 years of driving these old Chevys I have never had an oil pump failure. Have a couple of gear pumps that I never found a reason to install.

It looks like there's plenty of steel left on the vanes. An eccentric shaft ? Normal ?
Thanks for the gasket tip. At $349 for a gear driven replacement pump , they look even better.

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If the vanes do not bind without the gasket I would not bother to put one in. It acts more as a spacer than a gasket. Also if the housing is worn on the flat where the vanes ride it might need to be dressed. The less clearance will help to increase the pressure.

If it were mine I would insert something like a piece of paper (as mentioned above) betwen the rotor and cover. Bolt the cover down and see if it binds.......it should. If there is too much end play it will allow the oil to by pas and cause low oil pressure.

Well, the piece of paper I inserted certainly added resistance to the point where I could barely spin the shaft. I'm inclined to leave any gasket out for now, bolt it back together, and just keep a keen eye on the oil pressure upon start-up. It showed good pressure when I shut her down. I smoothed out the face slightly with 600. I'm now poking out all those gummed up copper screen openings with a sewing needle.

Sounds good.

Clean it out with brake clean.

I don't understand how adding a gasket between the bottom cover and pump body would increase the resistance to spin the pump. That is particularly if the gasket is cutout to match the upper part of the body. That should give slightly more space between the cover and rotor/vanes. It should only provide a bit better seal between the parts.

I don't think the paper is cut out as it's being used to check the rotor clearance.

That could very well be but he was somewhat vague on his explanation.

To clarify, I inserted a solid piece of standard fax paper with no cut-out section for the inner rotating parts. I tightened the 3 bolts and had resistance. I didn't try it with just the paper around the edges like a normal gasket.

If inserting the paper locked it up with no gasket remove the paper and install as was with no gasket.

Roger that.