I was having a nice drive the other day in the coupe, enjoying flying along some country lanes. Stopped to check something and noticed a steady drip drip drip from under the car- dripping off the sump... Looked around but couldn't see the source of the leak. Checked my water in the expansion tank, still plenty in there- and decided to head for home whilst keeping an eye on the temp guage and heater... I only had a few miles to get back home. After a few mins the heater started to cool and the car developed a misfire, then conked out completely... I coasted down a big hill and came to a stop on the side of the road. Had a look in the back and found the top hose had come off and water was all over the engine. I put the hose back on and filled the tank with water from a spare container I keep in the boot for just such an emrgency. Pushed the car along a bit cos she wouldn't start and parked her up fearing the worst. I dried things off as best I could and waited for it to cool down and dry out a bit more then gave her a try- and she fired up straight away and ran back the last mile or so fine. Phew..! Anyway the leak seems to be coming from the water pump, and I am assuming the misfire and conking out was just down to wet electrics..
Crazy I know but I quite enjoy these kind of adventures in old cars. And it's nice to get it back in one piece.

Ed

It depends on how much water hit the electrics and what it hit, hard to say but I would assume you are ok with the car starting up after cooling down/drying off, just check for the usual milky substance in the oil (signs of blown head gasket) but if this are ok and the engine temp sill reads ok then I think you got away lightly, yes the waterpump on a "A" series engine is a failure point, there is a little release hole in the pump housing that starts to leak once the bearing inside fails, an easy repair just remove the old one and replace with a new one, make sure you get the cast iron impeller not the tin one as these cavitated badly. Just on safety side replace the top/bottom hoses with either silicone or the kevlar type as they are much better.