261 Chev Engine

[William Spence (RIP)]

Tony, Tks for heads up re adaptor plate to use 216 water pump on 261 engine. The main problem that I see here is that the small pulley on the 216 pump vs the large pulley on the 235/261 pump will cause that pump to turn so fast that it will starve the engine from coolant and then, more bad news, an engine seizure could follow. The 216 pump only gets it coolant from a hose, whereas the 261 pump fits right into the block & has lots of coolant to spread around. This would be OK for short runs before the engine gets really warmed up, but I wouldn't want to go for a longer run & chance an overheat & seizure.
Let me know if you know of anyone that has successfully used this adaptor plate without any overheating problems or if they have found a larger pulley to fit on the 216 pump to overcome this problem. Also, let me know if you have heard of an adaptor plate to use a 216 Carter W-l carb on the 261 manifold. I had one professionally rebuilt at a cost of slightly over $150 Cdn before I decided to scrap the 216 engine & go to a 261, but the 261 didn't come with a carb.

Many tks, Bill Spence MacDuff Piper