I think you'll be all right.
sure ...a little efficiency will be lost .
it's not like it's a positive displacement pump ..
it's more of a paddle wheel spinning in water..
some 'leaks' around the side anyway.

but then I fix things like this with 'psychic power' sometimes, on my
personal stuff ...and do just fine.

diesel vanagons ( an gas rabbits etc ) can suffer from the impeller face
being eaten away some ..
there's some margin for some material to be missing there.

I just go over the choices..
do nothing,
some repair such as weld and resurface ( not even advisable on an aluminum
case I don't think )
I wouldn't do any epoxy/ JB weld thing myself.....stuff could fall off into
the cooling system..
or another case ..
or some thin plate ..but I don't like that idea either.

given the choices..
I'd say the two best ones are another case in better shape or ..
live with it.
and do a little more than the 'usual tricks' to make the cooing system work
well.

Scott
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Lambas" <twlambas@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2011 3:49 PM
Subject: Re: Water pump impeller wore into case

>I should have mentioned the pump I pulled off was fine, the problem must
> have been caused
> by an earlier pump, nonetheless, it'll get a new one.  I'm wondering about
> how that wear might affect
> the pump's efficiency.
>
> Thanks, Tom L.
>
> On Sun, Sep 11, 2011 at 5:28 PM, Tom Hargrave <thargrav@hiwaay.net> wrote:
>
>> Any water pumps I've been into can't rub the housing unless there is
>> something else wrong and I would think you need to take care of whatever
>> caused the blade to rub against the housing first.
>>
>> Corrosion is a different matter and I've temporarily filled corrosion
>> caused
>> voids, but only until I could get another water pump. I did this in a
>> 1959
>> Mercedes I used to own.
>>
>> Thanks, Tom Hargrave
>> www.stir-plate.com
>> www.towercooler.com
>> www.kegkits.com
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf
>> Of
>> Jim Felder
>> Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2011 5:05 PM
>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> Subject: Re: Water pump impeller wore into case
>>
>> Fill the pits with JB weld and file or sand the face smooth. I had one
>> that
>> was way worse than that.
>>
>> Jim
>>
>> On Sun, Sep 11, 2011 at 4:45 PM, Tom Lambas <twlambas@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> > How serious is, and can it be corrected? The wear is .6mm at the worst
>> > point. The engine came out for
>> > overheating issues and a little exhaust in the coolant.  I'm doing a
>> > complete rebuild because of the high mileage.
>> >
>> > *http://tinyurl.com/44q9da9*
>> >
>> > Thanks, Tom
>> >
>> -----
>> No virus found in this message.
>> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
>> Version: 10.0.1382 / Virus Database: 1520/3890 - Release Date: 09/11/11
>>