what sort of water pump would i need for an el camino..i noticed that a hose comes from the top and back to the fire wall of the car..sorry im green to el caminos..so the question may sound very simple

A standard long water pump would work. the hoses going to the firewall are for the heater core, should be one from top of water pump and one from top/front of the intake manifold. I took the a/c and heater box out of my camino, made a aluminum plate to block off the hole in the firewall and used allen headed pipe plugs to plug the holes in the watre pump and intake manifold where the hoses came from.

I just put a new one on my 85 in July and got it from the Auto Parts Giant on the net. They were the cheapest and it was the correct one, no problems so far. Drove her 973 miles last week end to St Louis and she ran like a little humming bird!

I got one from autozone. Standard v8 long pump. Works great.

Eighteen bucks at NAPA. Be sure to remove the fitting that connects to the hose to the firewall (the one to the heater core) so you can take the old one with you to save the core charge. Perfect time to replace any old belts and old hoses and thermostat while you have all the things that hang on the pump taken apart. :)

so basically all i need is a long style water pump..now do i have to specify that i need that outlet on the top?? any special hoses or fittings that i might need?

All standard LWP's come with the hole for the heater core hose on top. you will need to remove the hose fitting from your old pump to use on the new pump since the new one will not come with this fitting.

Chris

where do i find a fitting..is it an easy part to find..the thing is i am building the engine as we speak..i have none of the original engine parts...

Here's a link to a picture of chrome ones that opg has Intake/Water Pump Hose Nipples (http://www.opgi.com/EC_Cart2.asp?Group=11294&ProdCode=WP20551&head=0) but your local parts store should have them as well.

Chris