Hi all i'm new here and looking for some advice.

I have a 72 350 chevy truck that had worn water pump bearings (short pump)so i just replaced it with a new unit ( not a rebuilt per the parts guy) it spun ok after i bolted it up to the block.

During this time i also converted my alt to an internal regulated unit, i had a little bit of pulley missalignment before the replacement which i beleve was responsible for the wp and alternator bearings going. After the new alt was installed there was a little more missalignment than before.

I had to stop there and got back after a 2 hour drive around the engine was making a low sounding squeel or some kind of rubbing sound, not a metalic scraping or growling, I thought the pulley missalignment was causing the alt to make the noise so i pulled the alt belt off and spun the alt by hand, nice and smooth and no bad sounds at all. I spun the fan blade and i could hear a squeel, reminded me of the sound i had when my main seal dried up, steady sound spinning the fan one direction, intermitant spinning the other direction, kind of drags a bit but feels smooth.

The back of the pump does touch the timing cover which is a chrome aftermarket unit, i am not sure if this is normal for them to touch?

Is it possible for a bit of pulley missalignment to cause this noise? I did shim out the alt bracket before i buttoned it back up again but still made the noise.

Could it be possible that if this is in fact a beand new waterpump that the seal could have dried out?

Any advice would be appreciated, i'm not looking foward to replacing a brand new water pump right after i installed it.

Thanks!!