[6pack] Unusual oil pump failure

[Foster, Stan]

I recently lost all oil pressure and after the usual checks decided the oil
pump was the most likely culprit even though sudden catastrophic failure
seemed unlikely.

On examining the pump and comparing the innards with a new pump it was clear
that something was terribly wrong as the shaft on the old pump was .25 inch
shorter than the shaft on the new pump and it no longer engaged with the slot
in the shaft on the dizzy drive gear.

You can see the differences in this photobucket album, old pump shaft on the
left, new pump shaft on the right.

http://www.photobucket.com/TR6oilpump

One of the images shows the new pump with the rotor pinned to the shaft. The
old pump has no such pin and this allowed the shaft to migrate down the pump.
I verified that I can tap the shaft up and down.

The old pump is not the original. It was installed around 1980 when the PO did
a minor engine refresh. I'm wondering if there is a history of pumps purchased
in that era having this problem ?. There is nothing on the old pump casting
that would indicate who made it, just a few numbers. The body is aluminum.

Stan