Water Pump Belt

[HB Chris]

I am reassembling my engine after pulling the head to do the valve guides. I have a brand new water pump and the pulley when mounted is extremely close to the short hose from the pump to the coolant housing. Also, the power steering belt which runs from the water pump to the PS pump is even closer (it has always been very close) to the alternator pulley. I realize that the water pump impeller might be a tad closer to the pump then the older one and my only thought is to place four washers (one for each bolt) between the pulley and the pump to give me a slight 0.5mm bit of clearance. Anyone else experience this or have a different solution? Thank you.

 

[Sven]

I had something similar happen with a pulley on a 65 Amp alternator upgrade. I shimmed the pulley with a large washer behind it. Adding some washers behind the pulley should not affect the operation. You want to make sure that the belts are all running parallel on the pulleys and not at a slight angle.

Also, while you are doing all this work, have you considered upgrading your belt set up (assuming you have AC)? Replacing the single small pulley on the crankshaft balance wheel with a duel pulley? This separates the PS pump from the WP and ALT loop on cars with AC. It is supposed to reduce the stress on the WP.

 

[deQuincey]

something similar happened to me,

my problem is that the support for the alternator in the engine is wider than the alternator fixing point, and also this fixing point has some rubber silentblock,

that means that the alternator has a bigger play than what you will think is normal, and so is slightly bend towards the front of the car resulting in a non-parallel position of the belt compared with the one of the PS, in my case the gap between the PS pulley and the alternator belt is only 3mm, and also the nut of the alternator pulley plate is close to the PS belt

Ii am not happy with this but I am not finding a solution

I have an idea to check later on, that is to use a longer alternator belt that will get the alternator away from the PS belt

I will check in a near future

regards

 

[HB Chris]

Sven,

I have removed the A/C components for now but the crank has two rows for belts and I would have to change the crank damper pulleys. For `73 and earlier the PS belt comes off of the WP. I upgraded the alternator and the mounting bracket is solid, no play. A longer belt than 1060 can not be used, the next size is 1075 and the Alt is then beyond the adjusting arm and hits the battery tray, I tried that one.

deQ,

Yes, the belts were always very close but the Alt is solid, the 2002s had rubber mounts which flex more and sounds like your issue. I am going to pull the WP pulley and compare the depth of the mounting flange relative to the shaft and then compare to another new pump at Mesa Performance this weekend.

 

[HB Chris]

After laying a straight edge across the face of the WP and Alt pulleys I think my Alt is sitting slighty forward of where it should be. This is a rebuilt 80A Alt that I am just now installing after buying it 2 years ago. Since the mounting flange is already a tight fit in the bracket, I am going to grind 1.5mm off of the rear end of the mounting flange and add a washer to the forward edge of the mounting flange which should give me the clearance I need. At least I hope so, wish me luck! That will be this weekend's project, then I can reinstall the radiator, distributor and carbs.

 

[MMercury]

Since the mounting flange is already a tight fit in the bracket, I am going to grind 1.5mm off of the rear end of the mounting flange and add a washer to the forward edge of the mounting flange which should give me the clearance I need.

Unless you are in a hurry, or the part is awkwardly positioned, you might forgo the grinder in favor of a hand file. Otherwise, you may find yourself shimming two areas instead of one.

Good luck.

 

[HB Chris]

Thanks, I am going to remove the alternator to file or grind the back of the alternator itself. A thick washer is anywhere from 1.5 to 2.0mm and that will be my guide. To remove the alternator bracket means removing the PS mounting bracket one more time, what a pain that is, and I don't want to weaken the alt bracket.

 

[HB Chris]

Update: When all else fails do the most obvious! I removed the alternator and then removed the large nut that holds on the pulley and fan blade. I had assumed that this was pressed on but it is not, there is a small key that orients it to the shaft. I put the pulley from the old alternator on the new unit and measured it with a caliper. Viola, it does not protrude as far as the new one did. The new pulley was a bit thicker than the old one. I put the alternator back in and I now have 3 or 4mm of clearance to the PS belt. I am now one step closer to getting everything buttoned up and back on the road. Thanks for everyone's suggestions.

 

[deQuincey]

i´m happy to hear that you got a solution

regards