Ron Earp
Admin
From time to time you see electric water pumps on GT40s. I've always been curious about the electric water pump installations because mechanical pumps will work perfectly well cooling a Ford motor - in many configurations, sizes, and hp outputs.
I know that the drag race crowd favors the e pumps because it saves them a few horsepower - notice the word few. But that is a big jump in usage pattern from street and track work that GT40s are used for.
A fairly exhaustive comparison of mechanical versus electric pumps was done by famed engine builder John Kaase. It was found a well-selected e pump could save up to seven or eight horsepower over a mechanical pump. However, for anything short of outright sanctioned drag racing most builders choose the mechanical pump for simplicity, reliability, and effectiveness.
So do e pump users choose the e pump because they have an inherent cooling issue that gets "solved" when they re-plumb for an e pump? Are folks that feel they are driven to e pumps have they looked a some of the modern mechanical water pumps available for engines including alternative impeller designs?
Just curious about the topic and for the record I'm not non-biased. I've always felt that mechanical pumps can get the job done and if they weren't working properly there is probably another issue with the cooling setup.
I know that the drag race crowd favors the e pumps because it saves them a few horsepower - notice the word few. But that is a big jump in usage pattern from street and track work that GT40s are used for.
A fairly exhaustive comparison of mechanical versus electric pumps was done by famed engine builder John Kaase. It was found a well-selected e pump could save up to seven or eight horsepower over a mechanical pump. However, for anything short of outright sanctioned drag racing most builders choose the mechanical pump for simplicity, reliability, and effectiveness.
So do e pump users choose the e pump because they have an inherent cooling issue that gets "solved" when they re-plumb for an e pump? Are folks that feel they are driven to e pumps have they looked a some of the modern mechanical water pumps available for engines including alternative impeller designs?
Just curious about the topic and for the record I'm not non-biased. I've always felt that mechanical pumps can get the job done and if they weren't working properly there is probably another issue with the cooling setup.