47-55.1 Water Pump Disassembly Fatal Error(?) in 1954 Manual

[11Werner11]

I think I found a fatal flaw in the 1954 Chevy Truck shop manual this weekend while working on my mother-in-law's '54 3100 with a 235. If someone is knowledgeable on this issue, please let me know your thoughts.

The water pump in her truck went out and so I removed it for inspection. Following the instructions in this manual (https://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.co...4ctsm0681.html) I attempted to press out the pump shaft. I had it in my hydraulic press and, as I attempted to push it out, there was a little movement, then I heard a loud pop and the old bearings had started to crumble. I believe I had been pushing in the wrong direction. No big deal, I'm just going to buy a new pump instead of a shaft and bearing kit. I just wanted to take it apart to see how bad it was.

Today, I was watching one video in a series (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQiiFAvWEcg) about rebuilding the water pump for a '49 GMC truck and the pump looked very similar to the one in the '54. I noticed the gentleman was pushing the shaft out from the opposite end that I had tried, which I found strange. What had I done?!?!

I went back to the manual and certain info in the manual is opposite of the video. After thinking about it, I believe two images have been mistakenly switched in the original manual with catastrophic potential. The picture supposedly for pressing out the shaft (figure 99, see link in prior paragraph) is actually an assembly photo, and picture for supposedly pressing in the shaft (figure 101 - next page in manual) actually shows the shaft being pressed out. The two are switched and it poses potential calamity for users of the manual, like me... Doh!


Again, if there is anyone knowledgeable about this, please correct me if I'm wrong. I'm no pro... just having fun!