Don, Man that just sucks. I also am of the opinion that Summit will replace the pump. I would be surprised though if the remburse you any of the other costs, hope I'm wrong, and I also hope you push this as hard as you can but sadly I know how these things usually go in this day and age.

Now with the above said, I also would not expect another pump to be a lot better. Looks like someone has a real quality control problem. Maybe sense this is your car and not Summits you could come up with a fix even for the replacement pump I am sure you will recieve. Looking at those parts and just a thought, why not drill the difuser ring and then rosette weld it to the vane? That way you are in control of the quality. Sad that you may need to do this or come up with some other remedy, but theres always the Hot Rodders way.

Roland