march performance makes aftermarket serpentine pulley kits for all engines from ford to chevy bb or sb. they make brackets and have kits for all different applications and different accessories. if you care to look at what they have you can go to their website at http://marchperf.com/ .

now although thier parts look great and they seem to have good prices as well. so naturally, after buying my CSR water pump i looked at them for brackets so i could re-locate my alternator and powersteering pump. well when the pump and brackets came erly december i got all horned up that i went and assembled it on the carpet there on my living room floor and i was shocked to notice that 2 cruitial brackets DID NOT FIT. so being a machinist, i grabbed my calipers and noticed that there was more than 1mm (0.040") interference on this bracket so it would not fit over the pump like it should, there should be clearance. the parts were powder coated and the coating was only .005" thick so this was not the problem, but after i machined the parts i got pissed cuz the powercoating was gone.

i phoned march performance and asked them about it and they say that they KNOW about the problem and decided not to do anything about it, even tho its a CNC machined part and it can be easily fixed with a few #s on the computer program.

after i gave up on talking to them i took my calipers and checked all their other brackets and parts and noticed how poorly engineered and machined they were. holes were out of round or "flared" from dull drills and insufficent coolant, edges were not filed away (powercoat likes to chip at a sharp corner), threads had to be re-tapped because they were full of powdercoat.

is this really what american companies have been reduced to to keep up with japaneese products? or is this just one guys "get rich quick" scheme. ive noticed this a lot on american made products. products that i buy from companies should not require modification unless specified (which it is not) and should look nice so when i slip it onto my car it looks like a million bucks. i was really dissatisfied with this companys quality assurance and engineering staff and am sending a warning to people who decide to buy from this company again.

 

Thanks for the detailed complaint... I was considering those for a ... err... brand F project but now I think I'll forget that idea, especially at the price. I can make my own for what they charge and that way I know it'll fit.

 

Wonder if this stuff is actually made here, or down in Mexico and packaged here. For the price of those parts I'd sure expect more quality though.

 

nah i think they are machined in america, they have one big warehouse which houses the offices and machine shop. making stuff in mexico isnt as cost effective any more, those mexicans are getting smarter.

 

Thanks for the post. You have not been the only one to post about March pulleys and their poor quality. You are lucky that you could modify the parts yourself. Because of these posts, I have not purchased the serpentine conversion kit as yet. I have been looking elsewhere.

 

yeah i had the same isssue. I bought a whole setup and moved the alternator to the passenger side. two bracket had to modified and i had to use a bunch of washer on another part to get everything to work correctly. for the price you think they'd fit.

 

which water pump did you use and which bracket setup did you use for your sb?

 

March used to have good products... But like you said they have to keep their equipment maintained ir it goes to crap... bad cuts, irregularity between parts... It is expensive to maintain that equipment I'm sure, but that is part of business, keeping your products A+... Atleast jap products are consistent. lol

 

im thinking that CSR updated thier components and changed their dimensions and march didnt adapt. but judging by the ppl on the phone, it doesnt seem like they know anything and probably have some HAAS CNC machines which are crap for percision. ive taken a deeper look into it and noticed that they machine big material away before drilling big holes, its no wonder pieces warp and holes are elongated...thats poor engineering, simple as that and i will continue to spread the crappy word on those guys.

 

Sorry took me a sec to respond. here is the info on what i have.

March Pulley setup 22061
1993 Chevy Caprice Cop Car Alternator
Old style long standard rotation water pump
Stock 1992 steering pump
Lokar brackets and cables

 

sounds like a good setup after all said and done eh?

 

got to this link to see pics of my setup.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tech...ley-setup.html

 

Thanks for the feedback. Think i'll stay away from March and look elsewhere for pulleys. Anyone have suggestions?