Shredding belts
 

I just resurrected an '86 Iroc equipped with an LG-4 and V-Belts from the scrapheap to use as a daily driver, but its got the habit of eating alternator belts. Replacing the belt with a new one lasts for awhile, but after some time squeals like mad and soon afterwards becomes junk. Belt dressing solves the problem temporarily, but I would rather fix this properly.

I've noticed the pulleys are a little bit wobbly, but not over the top. I've also noticed that the alternator sits slightly farther towards the front of the car than the crank pulley, throwing the alignment off, albeit slightly.

I'm banking on the alignment of the belt being the problem, causing the belt to rub on the side of the crank pulley. If the alternator sat too far back towards the engine, I would just use a washer to push it forward, but how is this problem solved the other way around? I'm guessing whoever replaced the alternator (it looks brand new) bought one that's too large or something and I was thinking of milling the back of where it bolts up down a bit so it lines up, but is there a better, easier way?

Anyways, thanks in advance.

Can you somehow bend the alternator mounting bracket? Mind you, if you ever bought an alternator to fit then the bracket would be wrong..

Mark.

Had the same problem with my car.It had sat for a couple of years.Sand or wire brush all the pulley grooves until all the rust is gone.This fixed my problem.

I had that problem too. The best way I found to fix it, is buy a matching set of brackets from a vehicle out at the junkyard. I took the upper alt bracket, the tube that goes on the bottom of the alt, and the lower bracket all from one truck at the junkyard. That solved my problem, and only cost me $5.

Mid-70s trucks are good to look in too, because they have an alternator bracket set that will work if you've removed all the emitions components (mainly the AIR pump and its bracketry) since they never came with an AIR system.