water pump replacement

[milo]

It looks like I need to replace the water pump on our '71 1608 (noise, wobbly pulley, intermittent leak from the front of the pump). My manual says to drain and remove the radiator, but it looks like I could just remove the electrically driven fan and its housing from the back of the radiator and have adequate access. Do I need to drain the whole coolant system and remove the radiator, or drain the whole system but just remove the fan assembly, or what?
Thanks!
--Milo

[vandor]

Yes, removing the fan assembly will give you enough space to replace the water pump. You can either let the antifreeze flow out when you remove the pump, or you can drain the radiator and the engine block (drain petcock is on the right side, in the middle of the block), and then you will know that most of the old coolant is out.