Crank Pully

[Cowboy91]

I'm sure someone out there has had the same or simliar issue I discovered this afternoon. The crank pully , 7.80" dia, rubs against the power cylinder connection at the bellcrank. You can't change any of the belts belt unless you remove the crank pully, this is not good. Open to suggestions. Yes I could conver to a serpentine system, but my goal of a "budget" build/fix would go out the door. Engine is an L31 5.7L Chevy crate that the prior person stuffed in using parts from other Chevy's.

Edited October 11, 2014 by Cowboy91

[Gunslinger]

I'm guessing there might be one of two issues. When the engine was replaced the wrong motor mounts may been installed...they're too thin...or if the originals have been reused, they've compressed.

The other thing that comes to mind is the crate engine may have the long nose Chevy water pump instead of the correct short nose water pump. They fit on the engine the same but the snouts are of different lengths.

It could be something else altogether but those are the things that can easily occur. One headache of older cars is you don't always know what previous owners have done that wasn't correct and you have to undo and correct.

[warren55]

I agree about the motor mounts. There isn't much clearance there to begin with, so if they're collapsed or the wrong ones it could rub. Cranking the wheel makes changing the belt much easier!

[Devildog]

Warren

I replaced the underdrive 3 grove pulley on the crank with a smaller diameter 3 grove pulley. The original one had a larger 7.8 dia grove on the front that drives the alternator and fan. The new pulley had all three groves of same diameter <7 inch so it gives about 5/8 clearance between pulley and power cylinder arm.

I have adequate clearance to remove the belts. Just changes alternator speed a little. I have long water pump. I ordered from JEGS or SUMMIT, is aluminum, can not find part number

Joe

[Avanti83]

Warren

I replaced the underdrive 3 grove pulley on the crank with a smaller diameter 3 grove pulley. The original one had a larger 7.8 dia grove on the front that drives the alternator and fan. The new pulley had all three groves of same diameter <7 inch so it gives about 5/8 clearance between pulley and power cylinder arm.

I have adequate clearance to remove the belts. Just changes alternator speed a little. I have long water pump. I ordered from JEGS or SUMMIT, is aluminum, can not find part number

Joe

Agree with Joe.

Same problem with my 83. I just picked up a set of smaller steel pulleys at a swap meet. Generally $5-10/ea. Nothing wrong with using the ones from Summit et.al. It will change you fan RPM also but probably not enough to matter.

[Cowboy91]

Thanks to all for your input. My vote goes along with Gunslinger. The motor mounts are new, but they seem slim. Going to check it out. I do have a long pump. Frankly I didn't think of this aspect. I visited with my local Chevy nuts this morning. For a six pack he gave me a complete serpentine unit he pulled out of a 99 truck but never used. Everything including a reverse flow WP but a belt. I'll dry fit it this coming week. The crank pully looks to large but it might clear since it deeper in depth. If not I did note that Summit as small dia ones so this is a fall back. If nothing else works, I'll vist my buddies in the machine shop and have them make one for me. Sweep meets are good they they are generally over in this area until next spring. I did pick up an air cleaner assembly two months ago. Will keep you all posted. Might be a couple of weeks, it is fall fishing time.

PS. The guy that worked on this car prior to me should be band from any auto stuff.

[warren55]

PS. The guy that worked on this car prior to me should be band from any auto stuff.

I know exactly what you mean! I've been dealing with that from the day I got mine.

[Gunslinger]

In the Corvette world, the same problem exists...they're referred to as "Bubba".

[Avanti83]

Thanks to all for your input. My vote goes along with Gunslinger. The motor mounts are new, but they seem slim. Going to check it out. I do have a long pump. Frankly I didn't think of this aspect. I visited with my local Chevy nuts this morning. For a six pack he gave me a complete serpentine unit he pulled out of a 99 truck but never used. Everything including a reverse flow WP but a belt. I'll dry fit it this coming week. The crank pully looks to large but it might clear since it deeper in depth. If not I did note that Summit as small dia ones so this is a fall back. If nothing else works, I'll vist my buddies in the machine shop and have them make one for me. Sweep meets are good they they are generally over in this area until next spring. I did pick up an air cleaner assembly two months ago. Will keep you all posted. Might be a couple of weeks, it is fall fishing time.

PS. The guy that worked on this car prior to me should be band from any auto stuff.

The truck serpentine setups are generally to tall on the A/C side. Your's may be different but if you find that problem look for an early 90's Camaro bracket. That's what I used on my 74 and with new urethane mounts there is enough clearance for a belt change. You could cut the bracket down but there needs to be a pulley in that position to allow the tensioner to contact the belt.

Another issue is the OEM serpentine setup puts the fan closer to the radiator than I thought was safe so I converted to an electric fan setup.

As another says your results may vary, but those are the issues to look out for.

Bob

Edited October 12, 2014 by Avanti83

[Cowboy91]

Avanti83. The AC is of concern. The one I took off was the R4 type, big and round. This setup has the new small one, someone siad it was a type 1 but I'm not sure that is correct. Early Camaro are hard to find at Pick & Put and when you do, they have been butchered. The fan on the vehicle is a 6 blade, about 18" wide and 3" tall with the fan clutch. The one in the box of stuff is a 5 blade, 20" wide and about 4 1/2" tall with the fan clutch. Be close for sure. I changed over to an electric on one of the Rolls Royce's and is super in keeping the big block cool in 90 degree weather. When you did the electric did you install a automatic switch? Did you keep the fan shroud on or mod it? I believe if I went electric I would also change the radiator out. I can see the radiator I took out been worked on in a couple of places so most likely I'll take it local shop and have it pressured checked. Thoughts.

[Avanti83]

Cowboy

To save typing, this is my setup. http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.com/showthread.php?73694-Avanti-Aluminum-Radiator-W-elec-Fan-and-Shroud

The brackets come up regularly on Ebay although they will become more rare as time goes on. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Chevrolet-Camaro-1988-350-AC-Compressor-Bracket-10055800-/131316340223?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item1e931055ff&vxp=mtr

I believe there was a post on this forum that discussed controllers but I used the one listed. It's not on the road yet but I did wire it so I have a switch that will turn the fan on if necessary,

I checked my belt to steering clearance today and I can get my little finger between the crank pulley and the steering arm connection.

Lastly, the Aluminum radiator I installed is described in the post. It hasn't been on the road but an equivalent radiator has been in my 83 Avanti for two years and has been keeping the 355 SBC cool in weather as high as 90 degrees using a mechanical flex fan in the OEM shroud.

The OEM Camaro A/C compressor R4 style should fit as the bracket was designed for it. . I purchased an after market A/C setup with an adapter for the smaller Sanden compressor. It's still in the box so we'll see how it fits next spring.

Good luck, Bob

[Devildog]

Here is a Sanden mounted on an adaptor that fits easily on the SBC. It was an easy install and greatly opens up that left side of engine bay to access valves, plugs, etc. One of the nice features about the Sanden is there are many different configurations of the rear heads to swap by bolting to mate the A/C lines.

Mount is stable, run a 90 mph for many miles (we have 85mph highways in Texas). I have run it many months 1500 miles, cools great especially since I wrapped my exhaust pipes and insulated under carpet. Even on humid 95°+ Houston days I have open the left vent to add a bit of warm air.

Joe

Edited October 13, 2014 by Devildog

[Cowboy91]

Thanks for the info. I barrowed a new set of engine mounts to check the ones on the car out. They were both the same dimensions. My dry fit of the system went well until I couldn't get the AC/PS bracket to mount in place. Issue is there are "tall" valve covers on the engine that will not allow the bracket to fit flush. So either mod the bracket or find a set of stock valve covers. The crank pully is long in depth and just clears the bellcrank connection. I'll going to see if I can find a smaller dia one. Current one is 7 3/4 ID so a 7 ID would be good. The Chevy nut said to check Buick, Olds and Chevy cars. So I'm off to Pick N Pull this morning. Once I get the bracket in place the hood clearance test comes next. Fingers cross of course.

[Cowboy91]

The serpentine setup is a no go. When I pulled the tall valve covers off to replace them I found a set of Erson rockers. Stock covers don't work with these. I did put the AC/PS bracket in place with the valve cover removed but the hood hits. So with two hits I'm back to V belts for now. I've got an alt and PS bracket but no AC bracket. Look through a lot of stuff on line. I can solve my crank pully size with either a 6.6" or 7.25" from several vendors. Any suggestions on a pax side low mount or driver side side mount systems for the AC. Has anyone use any of the vintage air brackets?

[warren55]

I don't have a picture handy, but the PO put a bracket on top of my motor with a Sanden compressor. It attaches to the top water pump bolts and I'm sure he didn't make it. It doesn't leave a lot of room for a standard thermostat housing, but whoever did it managed to find an offset one.

I've never seen another one like it, so I don't know who made it. Let me know if you need a picture, I'll email it to you.

Edited October 28, 2014 by warren55

[Cowboy91]

Warren55. Not sure how it is going to work out but the son marked the AC braket up and is going to cut if off and re-weld it to the right side. I've not gotten it back yet but it appears it should work. If it doesn't I've found a couple of serpentine pulley kits at Summit over the weekend that would do the job. One with and one without AC. Bigger issue is to figure out what aftermarket cam and it's specs they have in the motor. Appears it may be top end tear down time. The Chevy nuts coming over this weekend to provide advice.