Put studs in place of the bolts,put the fan on the studs and turn on the
nuts.Makes it easier to line up and saves time.Hope this helps.Bobby

Removing the radiator is easy, and is the right way to do it, time wise.

Spdloader

Pulling the radiator isn't a big job, but most newer vehicles (i.e
early 90's and on) have a split shroud so you can pull the top half to
get at bolts like that.

Removing the radiator is always a good idea when working near it...
you don't want to mangle it with a slip of a wrench.  And it's pretty
easy to do (you already drained the coolant to replace the water pump)

thanks for all the suggestions-
i haven't fully completed the job yet (still have to tighten a few things &
add water).  If, for some reason, I have problems I will use these
suggestions.
I recently replaced my water pump; the old one was leaking a little.

Mostly, the job went OK, just taking me some time, since I'm not really a
mechanic.

The part that caused me to profess a few cuss words was reinstalling the fan
blade.  You have to line up the four bolt holes in the water pump, pulley,
and the fan blade.  This is not an easy task.  In addition, you do not have
a lot of room because of the plastic shroud-it appeared that you had to have
the shroud on while attaching the blade.  I couldn't see how you could
install fan blade first, then shroud.  I did finally get the fan installed,
but it took 1-2 hours just for this one part.

My question then,  is there an easier way to re-attach the fan blade short
of removing the radiator?

1982 F100
302 V8, 136000 miles
AC, PB, PS, Auto

C'mon guys. This is an easy one. Done it dozens of times. Remove the bolts
holding the shroud in place, move it back toward the engine as far as
possible, might require a bungee cord or two to hold it back. These fans
(with heat-activated clutch) usually have slots instead of simple mounting
holes. Start the bottom bolt a turn or so in the water pump flange, slide
one slot over this and push the pump into place over the center pin on the
water pump flange. Start the remaining bolts without tightening any of them,
which can be a little tricky, but is easily accomplished. Using an open end
wrench tighten all the water pump flange bolts and then bolt the fan shroud
in place. Works every time for me.
The stud process works also but make sure the stud will turn by hand to
remove it once you have a bolt started. Good luck

It looks like I will be doing the job again.

Got everything back together but the @/?!!@ thing leaks.  I'm fairly certain
it isn't the water pump (it was new).  I probably either 1) did not properly
seat the new gasket or 2) did not get all of the old gasket off before
installing the pump.  I suspect the latter, although I thought I cleaned it
good.   I checked hoses, etc., and they look OK, no apparent leaks.  The
water is leaking toward the rear of the pump, near where the heater hose
connects.  Also, I used sealant on new gasket.

So I guess I will be pulling it off & re-installing.  Any advice would be
welcome.

I suppose that's why I'm not a mechanic.
I recently replaced my water pump; the old one was leaking a little.

Mostly, the job went OK, just taking me some time, since I'm not really a
mechanic.

The part that caused me to profess a few cuss words was reinstalling the fan
blade.  You have to line up the four bolt holes in the water pump, pulley,
and the fan blade.  This is not an easy task.  In addition, you do not have
a lot of room because of the plastic shroud-it appeared that you had to have
the shroud on while attaching the blade.  I couldn't see how you could
install fan blade first, then shroud.  I did finally get the fan installed,
but it took 1-2 hours just for this one part.

My question then,  is there an easier way to re-attach the fan blade short
of removing the radiator?

1982 F100
302 V8, 136000 miles
AC, PB, PS, Auto