I'm rebuilding my '60 170, and unlike my last rebuild, the original aluminum-bodied Chrysler 6-bolt hole oil pump came away cleanly and in one piece. Drive gear is perfect. The red paint is a single coat, with some green metallic under-layment, kinda weird. It's not two coats, only one coat, but the red when you chip it off is green on the other side of the paint chip.

It's got all the stamping #'s, it has the forward-look emblem cast into the aluminum, and impressively, has CDPD cast onto the top of every bolt on the cover of the oil pump and the pump body. Even says "59" on the pump. I guess Chrysler was quite proud they'd designed a new engine/car. How cool. I am planning on cleaning, inspecting, checking all tolerances, and if good, re-using and re-painting.

Is this a bad idea, even if everything checks out? What wrench do people use to remove the oil pump relief valve square-headed cover?

I see no reason why you wouldn't rebuild the pump. In Australia the oil pumps were a slightly different design to cater for steering box clearance on Right Drive cars,but were all aluminium housings and the same basic design as yours. The last replacement pump for our cars have long been used and all rebuilds over here have used pumps and give no issue at all. From what I've read about oil pump gear problems on replacement pumps in the USA I'd say you are saving yourself a lot of hassle by using it again with the same cam and just get a regrind of your choice. There is no special tool to remove the relief valve cover,I honestly can't recall what I used last time,but I'd say just grab the correct sized open ended spanner ( wrench on your side of the pond) and go for it.

AM interested to see what you do with this.... my '62 Dart has the same looking pump.....I gotta check the housing number to see if it is the same. Trying to stay as clsoe to 100% original as I can.

If you decide to not use it, I'll happily trade you a NIB Melling 3/4" for it. I've been looking for an aluminum one (to shave a few more ounces off my HAMBster), and a 5/8" would be fine for my needs.

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Thanks. It's nice and light - true enough. I do plan to re-use though, assuming all is good. Sorry!

I actually recommend that people only use old used pumps to avoid the pump drive gear failure. I just stuck an old used one (unmodified and not rebuilt) into my new 64 Dart engine and the oil pressure behavior is just fine, so why mess with it.

Lou

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^^ Is there a time where the pump gears' manufacturing got 'bad' or is an old pump just a proof/predictor that the particular gear has good hardened faces?

(BTW, I see you are 'down the road' in Blacksburg.....)

There's nothing such as paint that's red on one side and green on the other; that's two layers of paint. The metallic green is the colour used on '60 225s in the bigger Dodge-Plymouth cars. Interesting mystery how that paint wound up on your oil pump.
DPCD, Dodge-Plymouth-Chrysler-DeSoto.
No reason not to if you find it to be internally good. If you can swap on a later cover plate (with the two kidney-shaped protrusions) it will improve pump efficiency.
An open-end wrench.

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I got a new pump once for my Duster. O'Reilly special, lasted about 6mths. After that I replaced it with the original one from my 71 truck with god knows how many miles on it. That pump is still in the car.

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Yes, that makes sense. Yet if you examined a chip of this red paint and see the reverse side of the chip as metallic green - and then see how thin this paint flake is, I can't see how there are two coats. It's impossibly thin. If it is, then the whole pump wasn't painted green, only parts of it. Some red paint flakes off with green. Other red paint flakes off and it's just red. Weird.

Agreed. I can't imagine someone taking a green-painted pump like this off a 60 full size D-P, stripping it, and then repainting it red. But I guess it's definitely possible. My machinist informed me that my 60 170 has been rebuilt before (contrary to what I believed was the case) so who knows the story behind this engine. Or what the real mileage actually is. Or if it's the car's original engine. That was kinda like someone popping my balloon.
Thanks. I might be able to swap one off a Melling parts pump I have. If that will work.

Pump gear problem started to occur I believe around late 90s. I would not trust a pump made since then with a new gear. Doug Dutra has an article on this site?? Others are more expert about this than I.

Lou

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OK, I read the article but did not get that info out of it. I may re-read.

Can you post a link to that article, I would like to see it.

Thanks again, lots of articles there, Id like to see the one Doug wrote that was mentioned. Im sure its in there somewhere though.