I recently had to pull the water pump off my FE to do some other repair work. Once I had it off I saw that the thermostat bypass nipple had corroded badly and there was some leakage out of the weep hole. I figured it was time to buy a replacement pump. Wholly cow! $300+ for a replacement. But then I saw that Edelbrock says they'll rebuild their own pumps. Just send it back to them along with a money order for $75. I figured that was a good deal so off it went. 4 weeks later, I finally received my rebuilt pump. See the pics below for what I got. The first 3 pics are the pump after the rebuild. The 4th picture is how it looked before I sent it to them.
Was I wrong to expect them to replace the corroded nipple? Wouldn't you expect them to hot tank it or otherwise clean it up? It's nearly as greasy and grimey now as it was before I sent it to them.
I guess I'm once again in the market for a new water pump but this time I'm already $75 poorer. You can bet the next one won't be an Edelbrock.