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88 Burb V-belt to Serpentine Conversion

cabledawg

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My 88 Burb has v-belts and I wanted to add OBA and a larger alternater. Problem was I couldnt find an AC bracket to replace my broken one. I was alos having issues with the PS pump bracket not keeping the pump lined up which was wearing the belts out prematurely. Then I had an epiphany; why not steal the serpentine off the 90 R2500 (Big red as the kids call it)? On top of a working setup, it gave me two extra spots for accessories. I wasnt keeping the engine from that truck anyways.

Day one involved removing all but the PS from Big Red. I had to get a pulley puller to get the pump out so the bracket could be removed. That night I measured the smog pump bracket to see if I could fit a second alternater and with a modified bracket, I could make it work.

Day two got the PS pump and the drivers sdie bracket off the donor. the pulley puller wasnt very user freindly, but I managed to make it work. I dove into removing all the stuff from the 88 (Little Red) and found out the PS pump was already shot ( I think the bearings are toast). Good thing cuz the pump mounting holes didnt line up in the new bracket. With everything off, I could line up the brackets to make sure it would fit. The water pump was in the way, but a little work with the demel and it was lookin good.

Sometime in the night I realized the water pump was standard rotation, and the serp needed a reverse rotation pump. Search on CK5 confirmed this. Damn!

Day three: AZ and Advanced Auto are used to seeing me by this point. Now they just ask which part and which Burb. Smartasses. So I got my water pump and extra coolant and PS fluid. Since the weather was bad, I couldnt work onthe truck itself. So I spent some time fabbing a bracket for the second alternater. I'll post some pics later. Everything looks sturdy enough. I gotta wait until the bracket is on the truck to make sure it wont hit anything.

Day four: I installed the new water pump and mounted the brackets. Torqued all the pulley bolts for the crankshaft and the bracket bolts were snugged down at 30 ft/lbs. I couldnt find specs in the manual for the brackets, but they werent hard to take off. Mounted the primary alt and PS pump. I found out the lines inthe 90 were in alot better shape than the 88, so I need to swap those out before the job is done. I also mounted the second alt and it fits just fine. The connections will hard to reach, but it is clearing everything. I did have to move the lower rediator hose so the belt wont hit it. All I did was twist the ends to manipulate how the hose was positioned.

So far it looks good, but I'm not done yet. I'll post pics and the rest of the swap as it happens.
 
What is the purpose of the second alternator? On board welder maybe? I'm interested in seeing what you did and what alternator you used.
 
I'm running a ton of electronics as well as a big inverter. I already have two batteries with an isolator, but the inverter is going to suck alot of juice and I dont want to fry the one alternater. I was going to replace the CS130 with a CS144 but why buy another alt when I have a second at my disposal and a place to put it:D
 
You will need the reverse rotation clutch fan assembly cause the other one won't fit.
Tarey
 
Just did the same thing to my '88 blazer a couple months ago. Had to go get the wiring harness adapter from AC Delco with the built in resistor so the newer style alt. would work in my truck...
 
The alt was the same so I didnt need to change the harness, but I am splicing the second alt so the charge cycle comes on.

Speaking of alts, I did find out that I have a little issue with clearance on the lower bracket. Thankfully it wasnt with the engine running. I still havent taken pics, but the corner of the lower bracket interferes with the blades of the alt. Not by much, maybe an 1/8th of an inch. I'll trim it down but I still need to get a belt long enough to reach. Everything else works great, but I really wished I'd taken pics. Oh well, there will be a next time.:D
 
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