Pontiac Repair: water pump, teflon sealer, pipe dope

Question
i am changing the water pump on my 92 firebird 3.1 and was wondering if i can just take all pump bolts out or do i have to fashion some kind of holding clamp to keep timing cover from coming loose? my manual says that is only on early model 2.6's but this one looks like it could loose as well,thanks

Answer
Hey Cody:
No the timing cover has more bolts than that of the water pump to hold it onto the engine. It's been a while since I had one of them a part but the pump bolts to the front cover with may 6 or so short bolts and I think 4 long bolts that go through the timing cover and into the block. No need to remove the timing cover and the gasket for the timing cover to the block is okay the other bolts that hold the cover to the block keep sufficient force on the gasket that it will not fail. The 4 long bolts that you take out the more than likely have a 13MM head on the when you put them back in use a heavy bodied sealant/pipe dope "teflon sealer" on the threads they go itto the engines water jacket and the coolant can have a tendency to wick out past the bolt and cause a leak. Also be very careful taking those one out because of them going into the water jacket they can rot out pretty badly and break off and then you will have to take the timing cover off to remove the broken off bolts. Good luck :) Buy a good pump you don't want to do this again in 6 months!