Okay, I see that this is an old thread and it was "jacked" from it's original subject, but the question of whether reverse rotation equals reverse flow is relevant to a project I'm doing and I want to either buy the correct water pump for my standard flow sbc or scrap the plan to put the factory 88 camaro serpentine setup I have. Belt routing scheme has everything but the waterpump and fan turning engine direction. The fan and water pump turn opposite which logically would indicate that the pump would naturally flow the coolant in reverse.
After visiting both NAPA and Autozone, I returned without the question of FLOW DIRECTION answered, but the pumps for serpentine WERE marked "reverse rotation" in the parts catalogs.
I suspect that a "reverse rotation" pump is somehow modified so that it passes coolant from the radiator to the engine just as a normal rotation pump does.
This thread doesn't seen to have consensus on this. Does anybody know for sure what flow direction I can expect from a "reverse rotation" pump for an 88 Camaro?