Been lookin for some for months

The fiberglass shell bucket seats are available from more sources than you could count. Where are you located?

You want the solenoid R wire to go to the key switches ignition terminal.
Whether or not you need a ballast resistor entirily depends on what igntion coil you're using. If you've got an HEI on your Olds then you don't want to run a ballast resistor. Allmost all ignition coils require a ballast resistor. Ignition wire from the key goes to the starter R terminal and to one side of the ballast resistor, the other side of the ballast resistor goes to the coil's + terminal.

NO, NO, NO, NO NO!  The wire from the "R" terminal of the solenoid does NOT go to the ignition feed. It goes to the positive terminal of the coil, or the coil side of the ballast resistor. The circuit is called the "ballast bypass". It is only active when the starter is cranking. If you connect it to the IGN feed, you negate its designed function.

Ballast resistors are used almost exclusively with point-type ignition systems. The only electronic ignition that I have seen use a ballast resistor is the Mallory Unilite.

i dont think 4800 is too high as long as the motor was prepped for it. do you have an oil temp gage?? oil temp will tell you a lot. how much does your oil pan hold?? heat will be the enemy with rpm.

Keep in mind that not only will high rpm create higher oil temp, so too, will increasing the load on the engine by increasing impeller size. Going from an A to an A3, for example , will seriously increase the load your engine sees at every rpm across the board. For a "stock" engine this could be a recipe for disaster.

The suggestion to run an oil temp gauge is on the money.

....Here is a pic of one of the five I have done....

That pic kind of looks like a standard split bowl?

I thought you were referring to modifying a 1-piece bowl into a 2-piece? If so, who is performing the bowl modification? And do you have pics of the modification process?

You know I'm trying to stay within my very tight budget this year. But it's looking like I might have no other choice but to save my pennies and grab an energizer kit. It just kills me that I just got a brand new diverter for it about a year ago. oh well

You may want to contact Place about that when the time comes. I believe all the major components are the same for all their diverters. It looks like they just use different cable brackets and tiller arms, but check with Place to make sure.

Ratboy, define "bay area".

Definitely an oddball. Looks to be in a big wood cruiser. Some parts may fit the more common/conventional Berk pumps. If you have a jet boat and are looking for a pump to rebuild for it....this isn't what you want.

Beerjet, when the change was made to the shouldered wear ring, the impeller needed to be shimmed rearward to accommodate the shoulder as well as to establish the correct impeller-to-wear ring clearance of .025-.035". If this was not done the impeller damage probably started as soon as the pump was first run. The second cause of the damage you describe, if the impeller was properly installed, is a thrust bearing that has failed. This allows both the impeller and shaft to move forward together.

You will need a new wear ring if contact has been made with the impeller. I would suggest replacing the impeller. To reuse it will require machining the leading edge as well as, most likely, the rear shoulder of the wear ring area(damage you aren't likely to see until the impeller is removed. A new aluminum impeller is not that expensive. Check with CP Performance for price on Berkeley brand impellers and RexMarine for Legend and American Turbine brand replacements for Berk.You might also contact Duane @ Hi-Tech Performance to see if he has any reconditioned impellers available.

May I ask who installed the shouldered wear ring? Was it done as the result of damage to the suction housing? When it was installed was the lip on the liner removed? Pump ever get submerged in water above the thrust bearing?