Hi Guys,

My build is slowly getting closer to completion, but as with every other step in this project so far, nothing is working as it should.

I'm trying to find out exactly what pulleys I need to finish off the motor, and what brackets.

I had a 350tpi motor that i sold, and with it went the crank and pump pulleys of my v-belt pulleys.

I've bought a 3 groove crank pulley and have a single groove water pump.
I also have Power steering and A/C.

First problem, I lost my alternator bracket somewhere, and have heard its specific to 85MAF TPI? I bought a (69-75?) high mount passenger side bracket and cut the intake mount bit off to fit it, so it still mounts to the water pump bolt hole, will this be ok, or will I need to shim it?
I also can't remember which groove the alternator is supposed to go on, and whether the old crank pulley had 3 equal diameters, or a large and two smaller like the current one.

Next, and hopefully not my biggest problem, my AFR heads mounting bolt holes look different on each side, like 5-6mm less meat between the base of the head and the bolt hole. I had the heads prepped and assembled by a shop and they didn't mention anything, so I'm hoping some idiot hasn't milled the **** out of one head, or maybe they have different mounting hole positions depending on the direction they face?

Anyway, because of the mounting hole differences on the drivers side, the A/c bracket that bolts to them, fits the hole pattern fine, but then changes the height/angle of the second a/c bracket and doesn't quite line up with the exhaust header stud.. This problem I solved by just grinding out the hole so it clamps to the stud nut, but isn't the primary force holding it.

The bigger problem is the water pump is now too close to the bottom head accessory bolt, so i can't actually put a bolt or stud with nut on there to secure anything, which is also the power steering anchor, so i had to grind it as well, but still can't fasten it to the head.

I was about to grind the **** out of the water pump section where the bolt goes, but thought maybe someone here has a better idea?

I have 2 full serp setups, but they're the stupid truck brackets, not f-body/tpi so i think i have to just work with v-belt.

Lastly, I'm in Australia and TPI parts are basically non-existant, so specific brackets are a lost cause, and shipping is pretty expensive.
Eventually I'll try and track down an online wrecker from the states that can send me the tpi serp bracket without costing an arm and a leg, but until my budget allows for that, I'm stuck trying to macgyver what I got.

Also, reference to passenger/driver side is in USA to save confusion.







Any ideas gurus?

 

You've got a lot of problems, there. It seems to me you have a mismatch of pulleys and brackets and water pump. I have built a v-belt TPI and everything works fine if you get all the accessories off the same car or truck. You have to take one thing at a time and start somewhere, I'd say with the water pump and the crank pulley. Those are the basis for mounting everything.

 

Yeah its been non-stop problem after problem with this project.
I'm surprised I didn't expect it to do this at this point.

I found a pic of the old motor coming out and saw my old water pump had a 3 groove pulley on it, and the old crank pulley was equal 3 groove diameter, not like the replacement one which has a larger one at the front and 2 smaller diameters at the back


Has anyone successfully modified a truck serp setup to fit in an fbody?
I'm wondering if I can use some brace bars to angle the serp setup out of the way of the throttle body at the front and bolt it on over the side a bit with bracing or brackets to secure it?


Also here is a perfect picture of the head bolts I was talking about left to right comparison:

 

Let's see,.....

If staying "V-Belt" you've got 2 options,.... pre-84,.... or 85-87 pulleys.

You should be fine with the Alternator brace you have pictured as well as the Alternator Rod sleeve, regardless of the style V-belt set-up you go with. The Alt Bolt sleeve is the same length for carb or TPI cars so as long as it is factory length ( + a washer to compensate for now non-existent factory SMOG bracket ) your good to go. The factory TPI upper alternator bracket had a little "arm" built into it so it could mount to the front TPI runner stud,.... so a stock 85 TPI alt bracket would need to be cut to fit your set-up any way.

Your Power steering pulley is fine for all "V-belt" set-ups too. All pre 88 Thirdgen V8s used the same type of pulleys. ( 2 V grooves for AC and 1 grove for non-AC. ) It also looks like you have the correct Power steering brackets installed too, might need to modify the AC Compressor bracket at the exhaust manifold,.. a common problem spot when hot-rodding !

Pretty sure the AC "rod" brace is installed in the wrong spot. DOUBLE check to be sure,... but I think that rod connects UNDER the top AC compressor bracket and then to a stud on the factory intake. ( might help more where it is now due to the intake your using !! )

This leaves your Crank, Water Pump, and Alternator. 84 and earlier cars used a regular "V-Belt" for those parts. From 85-87 they used a wide ribbed belt for those 3 pulleys. ( can be seen in your pic ) If you stay 82-84 you can probably use your current Alternator, ( I don't know what size pulley is on it now ! ) If you decide to go 85-87 than you'll need the matching "rib" Alternator pulley.

I don't know what pulleys you've got for the water pump and crank,... but you "should" be able to find a part number on them if they are GM.

I've got 82-84 Crank & Water Pump Pulleys,... also got 85-87 Crank and Water Pump Pulleys. ( some stock and some blasted/painted ) While they are heavy parts to ship 1/2 way across the world, they should fit into a "flat rate" package and that might keep shipping cost down. I've also got a (almost) full Thirdgen serpentine set-up too, but that is a REAL REAL heavy shipment and shipping costs for that stuff will be - significant ! ( I don't include a water pump or AC compressor, everything else should be there )

I don't know how the truck serpentine set-ups run, but I'm pretty sure they are not exactly the same as Thirdgen parts. They can probably be modified to work the same,.... search this site for more info on that topic. I do remember that 88+ heads had an additional hole tapped into them to accept the stock serpentine brackets,.... holes that were not present in 87 and earlier heads.

Hope that helps a little !!

 

Thanks for the info, it definitely clears up some of the confusion.
For some stupid reason I had this idea in my head that GM used the same parts over multiple models to keep costs down and make parts more available, but between the "4L60E" disasters I've had and the brackets, I can see it's just another cluster**** of an inventory sheet for the GM storeman.

I actually have all the serpentine bits except for the AC/smog bracket.
Everything elkse can be used from the truck serp stuff, I could probably even unbtol the tensioner and put it on, so how heavy would just the passenger side bracket be to send?

 

I wouldn't be splitting up the 'full' set-up just to part with 1 serpentine bracket, so someone else will need to answer the shipping question,.......

You should look for the part numbers on your WP and Crank brackets. GM did use the same brackets on various other cars may times so the best way to know what you've got is to check those numbers. It looks like all you would need to stick with all the other V belt parts you already have right now is those 2 84 and earlier V-belt pulleys.

P.S. Don't forget; If you go with serpentine you'll need to use the "reverse" rotation Water Pump !

 

yeah, i've got the vortec pump as well.

How much would you want for the 85-87 pulleys shipped?

 

Does anyone have the part numbers for the brackets for both truck and fbody?
(answered my own question below)
I just want to confirm if the alternator & p/s bracket is the same for both and only the a/c smog bracket changes between the 2

TPI AC Bracket -10055800
TPI Alt/PS Bracket -10118701

Truck AC Bracket -10118751
Truck Alt/PS Bracket -10105212

Using these two ebay images for the different AC brackets, they have identical mounting bolt holes except for the compressor mounts, so same position different model compressor?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/CHEVROLET-BL...NW8LVS&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/POWER-STEERI...BWTGfk&vxp=mtr

 

*Note - Guy in charge of drawing arrow for 3rd track should be killed, seeing as its pointing to the 2nd track belt.


Ok, well for now I have it sorted.

Plan A - Just bought a 2 groove water pump pulley which will fix this issue for now.

Plan B - In a few weeks order the ridiculously overpriced bracket from the states and upgrade the accessories at a later date

Plan C - Look into using serp belt pulleys with current accessories without tensioner.

I've seen "C" done before, just not sure what brackets would do it.

Thanks guys for the help.

Also this image helped work out I only need 2 grooves for the system if I don't have smog.

 

v-belt pulley setup depends not only on year,but A/C compressor style used as well -pulleys in reply #1,single groove WP pulley, used ~1969-75 with A-6 compressor.1976-81 with A-6 same crank pulley,but two groove WP:1 large and 1 smaller groove.Pulleys seen in reply 3 are 1976-early 85 R-4 compressor style with 3 grooves of same diameter on crank pulley,WP with 2 main grooves of same diameter.