Learn me reverse rotation vs standard rotation water pump

Having continued my long fight with the v belts on my duster, im ready to go nuclear. Swap to serpentine. 

Problem is that using the later model magnum parts requires a different timing chain cover, water pump, and oul pan. The difference primarily is the water pump rotation. 

So, what actually changes with referse rotation pumps? Like, is it just the pully and impeller? Could i take a reverse rotation impeller, weld it into a standard pump housing, and go? Thats obviously oversimplified, so, learn me whats different please!

Should be mostly the smooth pulley (to run on the back of a serp belt) and impeller to still move water properly while spinning the other direction.  I'm not sure if they changed anything else important from LA to Magnum in the Mopar world. 

Which engine do you have in your Duster?  318, 340 or 360?

You’d have to confirm, but my expectation is the casting is different to locate outlets in the correct orientation for the pump rotation.  That would probably explain why the timing cover is different, and the oil pan may be a casualty of the timing cover redesign  

The best analogy I can come up with is a traffic rotary. If you go go around it counter-clockwise (looking down from the sky) the entrances and exits are oriented for smooth flow of traffic into and out of the rotation around the traffic circle. 

If you go around it in the opposite direct then the exits aren’t oriented correctly for traffic to smoothly enter or  exit out of flow of traffic.  You would need swap the the entrance and exit to have smooth flow into and out of the traffic circle. 

Now a centrifugal pump isn’t going to be exactly the same as a traffic rotary, but the concept is the same. The inlets and outlets need to be oriented properly, otherwise the flow will be messed up. 

360

And it is a smooth pulley on the magnum. Im not sure if this is the ultimate solution yet, but if the major difference is the pulley and impeller, it may just work!

In reply to No Time :

I need to look at that! Wouldn't have thought about that .

If you've got a 360, you should be able to swap timing covers without an oil pan swap.  Just have to keep using the 2 piece LA gasket IIRC.  If you've got a mechanical fuel pump, the Magnum timing cover is a no-go, however. 

However, I just found a solution for you: You need a water pump for a 90 or 91 Dakota 318.  That had a serp belt setup on an LA engine (92+ Dakotas had Magnums). 

If you need a Magnum timing cover I can donate the one from the blue truck's dead 318 for the cost of shipping. 

In reply to rslifkin :

I saw reference to those, however i have not found ANY pictures of the pullies, brackets, etc. Just references. 

Rockauto has pictures of them, although none of the pictures show the pulley installed. 

Whenever I think about belt wrap I think about my friend Denise. May her twisted soul rest in peace. 

  Some people enjoy being beaten with whips, floggers, or old fan belts.  You can beat them across the back and shoulders and they'll be screaming in pain, "OUCH!  ARRRGH! OH, JESUS CHRIST!!!" as you leave red welts or even bleeding gashes on them, but if you make a mistake and "wrap" the whip so that it goes all of the way around their shoulders and hits them in the neck or the front of the shoulder, they'll calmy turn around, interrupt you and say, "Wrap.  Watch the wrap", then you tell them that you're sorry and you start beating them again.

  

-denise

Oh Lordy,      Well it's Only Kinky The First Time!!!

Here is a site with someone putting a Magnum engine into older car. About 3/4 of the way down they talk about (and show) the different timing covers. timing covers  It looks like you would have to swap the timing covers as well.

Yeah, reverse rotation water pump is going to be a deal killer. 

I think I may have figured out how to get serpentine with a standard rotation water pump. 

How thick of aluminium would i need to make essentially a motor plate to hang all the accessories from?

In reply to Stampie :

She sounds like fun. 

Theoretically you could do it with a standard pump, just need to find a pulley that fits with grooves on it and make sure the grooved side of the belt is wrapped around it and everything else still turns the right way. Should be simple enough.

In reply to Daylan C :

Exactly my current plan failing to fix the v belts 

ShawnG said:

In reply to Stampie :

She sounds like fun. 

She was. She was a regular on a Cadillac site I moderated. Every few months I'd have to tell her that she crossed the line again and I had to ban her for a week. She's just say ok and start right back a week later. 

In reply to Stampie :

I know a sweet little old lady who may have been a Denise at one time... The things she's said to me while looking me square in the eye make me think she was a whole lot of fun to hang around with.